Oh good grief, we all look so young.

Glad to see *that* joke is still going strong: almost as much a New Year's tradition as a concert from Vienna...

...an overall greater measure of satisfaction than would otherwise have been the case?

....with appropriate perspective - to have presented themselves in a manner that you might have found at the very least not to have been at all remotely disagreeable, and even - one might venture to the point - conducive to having produced... (cont.)

...to one's personal preferences, may turn out in such a manner that you, and if relevant and appropriate those whom you would wish to consider your family and friends, may consider them - with full and careful consideration, viewed in the round and... (cont.)

...to your own wishes, intentions and beliefs, a desire and (if I may be so bold) an expectation that the present closing phase of the calendar year, notably the various institutions, traditions and festivals, religious and secular, according of course... (cont.)

Two? 1996 and 2020?

The most inadvertently brutal use of the word “enthusiastically” this whole year.

There’s a lot in there for The Guyliner to get his teeth into. Small plates! A savage 8! An inability to count to three!

…and other tough times. It was a jolt, too, to realise that I’ve been back for three years, almost as long as I spent there; and looking through the approval signatures, to remember my first ambassador, the late Christopher Yvon, whom we lost far too young. Where does time go?