"Physical Energy", sculpted by GF Watts as 'a symbol of that restless impulse to seek the still unachieved'. The moon glowed behind and the sun dazzled ahead, and Hyde Park felt more like October than January.
I was in town to see 'Marianne Dreams' at the Almeida, a transformational story in the mould of 'The Secret Garden'- a little girl fulfilling every little girl's dream: to become a healing angel and thus truly deserve love. For Marianne it's literally a dream. She meets her version of Mary's Colin in the night-time journeys of her imagination but, as she says, "What you do in your dreams is just as important as what you do in real life." Vibrant dance and charming acting, a delightful production leaving much to ponder. Like the restless energy of the sculpture, a metaphor of creativity for the writer too. "My head's empty" whines Marianne, staring at her pencil. "Well that's a good place to start" her mother tells her crisply, "anything may appear."

Thrilled to see at WH Smiths the speedy success of two recent books by writer friends: Debby's novel The Trouble with Marriage is planted firmly on the centre of the best-seller shelves, having charted at the half-way position of 52, while in the Business & Management section, Annie Lionnet's Brilliant Life Coach is at number 11!

And finally for this week...
If you've every wondered how many 5 year olds you could take in a fight, here's a handy website to work out your stats. I could manage 8, apparently. If I'd had experience of being chased by a swarm of pissed-off bees, or been prepared to use my adversaries as weapons, I'd have scored more. I also found out my body is only 24% effective as a human shield, though the value of my corpse is $4665. Presumably not after being shredded in a fracas, though. Great fun for all you writers needing other procrastination while waiting for your next turn on Facebook scrabble.