There is a different way to look at 2013. I recently posted a positive summing-up on Facebook, but here's how things also went:

After 5 years at failing miserably at freelancing I gave in and took the first corporate job offer that came my way.

After spending a year with a manuscript in contention with a big-league publisher I threw a hissy fit and went with a micropress who will reach about 50 people instead.

After 2 years of struggling to get my band somewhere, I finally pulled the plug just when things were starting to go well.

After trying very hard to make a difference to the lives of a displaced urban community I was overwhelmed by the responsibility and drifted out of the relief effort.

After being estranged from me since I was 16, my father died and we never had a chance to reconnect.

Really the only things that I can take any pleasure in are the fact that I'm still married, still happy that I'm married, and that I am playing some small part in a trust dedicated to animal welfare. Everything else is pretty much shit-flavoured mulligatawny soup served in an empty glass. But that's alright. It's only life.