Golden Brown

I've had a really really good week - and yet the surprising thing is that next week, it's only going to get better! After the excesses of last weekend (another 'lost' one I'm afraid), I decided to calm down and get on with some work. There are some people who live by the adage that whatever you put into life, you take out – and they're right, aren't they? So I've been putting loads in this week and consequently, taking loads out. I've managed to finish my year end accounts at last (fourth attempt) and have appointed some new accountants who are very, very nice people indeed. In fact, a rather strange thing happened when I went along to see them yesterday – I bumped into Gordon Brown, our esteemed Prime Minister. He was in Nottingham visiting the building where my new accountants are housed and as we were walking up the stairs, he was casually walking down, accompanied by a bodyguard. It was one of those random photocopier moments when both sides have to give way to each other, and he just smiled at us and said 'hello' then continued on his way. Whatever you may think of Gordon (and some people don't think very much) he's nevertheless a major player on the world stage and to meet him haphazardly on the stairs of a Nottingham office block was a rather surreal (and not unpleasant) experience.

Then last night I broke my week-long abstinence by going out to dinner to celebrate the birthday of my lovely friend Cat. The fact that I was twenty years older than the oldest other person there didn't seem to matter as we chatted and feasted away in one of Nottingham's better Italian restaurants. These talented young people design and write games for Sony Playstations and what they produce gets enjoyed by millions of youngsters across the globe from Beijing to Murmansk to Capetown to Rio de Janeiro. It was amazing to consider that I was sitting in a room with people whose work and output engages all these anonymous people sitting inside their millions of unknown homes, thumbs twitching. We had a lovely evening and ended it in the hidden caves of one of Nottingham's most well-known pubs (no, not Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem) where I also bumped into another friend of mine, the iconic designer John Whittington – look out for his new design for the iPod box which you will be able to plant in your garden and get an apple tree (get the connection?).

On my way home I discovered my little stray cat scurrying along beneath the walls of the city. He came in for a saucer of milk and for a moment seemed content to sit still and purr indulgently. However, very soon he felt the tug of his wandering star and was off out of the catflap, disappearing into the night, leaving me to reflect on how lucky I am to have had such a good week. Watch this space for more good news coming my way. Yay - a result!