Now that Xmas and New Year are finally behind us and our reason to stay in bed until lunchtime has dissipated, I feel the inertia of facing the prospect of a new year and what it will bring. Owing to a chesty cough, which kept me indoors all last week, I greet the prospect of a new year without a hangover for the first time in years. As with every day that we awake, the days of 2011 will be what me make them in our minds, and so we must as ever be on our guard against everything and everyone that seeks to manipulate our minds, as to create the most positive outlook for ourselves.

I was on the right track I think, the last time I updated this blog, when I planned a mid-winter trip to Guadeloupe, spending a week under coconut trees with a rum punch. Driving about on the wrong-side of the road, ambling around rainforests and lots of French-speaking (and a little feigned apprehension) left me on a high, only to arrive back in snow-covered England to a cough that kept me indoors to master my Bob Fleming impression. I think 2011 might be the year I steal away somewhere continental.

There is something affirming about travel, even if its pacing to and fro, and its effect on the body. Its the very real realisation of achievement, manifested in material form, of appearing at the top of a mountain, or discovering a hidden lagoon. Conversely, the depressing effects of remaining stationary are immediately felt, the gloomy feeling of going nowhere. So I think that travel is something that will feature prominently in my 2011.

I think 2011 might also become the year of realisation. For many, that is the realisation of government spending cuts and job losses, but it might also be when we recognise that we live in an unreality, a dream-within-a-dream. Whether its pretending to be somebody, love somebody, hate somebody, pretending to enjoy oneself, the truth is invincible, and we cannot ignore it forever. For me, I have some loose-ends that I need to tie-up, or cast-off, but 2011 will be the year. I have tried for two years to build a band that sounded like bands I admire, without much success, and whenever I have achieved anything it was almost by accident, when I opened my mind to new opportunities. In my music, I will be creative and concentrate on being brilliant, rather than following Radiohead and Coldplay. I've always liked myself best when I carve my own path, so I'm going to forget about looking for a generic singer, I'm going to make music and if someone can help improve it, so much the better.