Well, I seem to have arrived more or less intact.  There's rather more of me than there was a decade ago, and several areas are starting to suffer the effects of gravity, but by and large, the whole assembly seems to be still largely ticking over.

It's often considered traditional to be a bit retrospective on these occasions, so, if you'll allow, I shall indulge myself a little. I shall probably stray into moments of pomposity and self-congratulation, so apologies in advance for that.  As far as possible, I'm not going to mention anybody by name - you all know who you are, and if I start referring to specific people, then I'll have to mention everybody, and I'm bound to forget someone, and then where will we be?

This has, without question, been one of the most eventful decades of my life.  Life didn't actually begin at forty, and indeed, one of the biggest changes (that of properly coming out) had already started a couple of years previously, nonetheless the sequence of events which this triggered have certainly coloured the last ten years in ways I could never have imagined.  I have been privileged to meet some wonderful people, some of whom have proved to be among the finest and truest friends I've ever known, and I love them dearly.  Other, longer-standing, and equally great and true friendships, have continued to flourish, where each meeting is like a continuation of the last, regardless of the length of the gap between.
I have left the secure but infuriating cocoon of the Day Job, and flung myself into the jaws of chance, in the hope of pursuing an acting career.  A decision which, though I might have done it anyway, helped along as I was by a chunky redundancy payment, was certainly made all the easier by the support, encouragement and belief of those friends I mentioned...

Particular highlights?  That redundancy is certainly up there among them, and the extraordinary feeling of liberty when I walked away from the office for the last time.  The swelling in my breast on getting the phone call calling me to my first audition, and the impossible-to-contain soaring elation of the subsequent phone call telling me I'd been cast.  The three months of that tour taught me an enormous amount; about acting, about people, and about being careful what I write in my blog. Ahem.
At the end of the tour, one of the first things I did was to audition for a panto.  I think it's fair to say that I made a woeful spectacle of myself, and went home vowing never to attempt a singing audition again.  A year later though, aided by some masterly singing tuition, and prodded by a few people, I went back and auditioned again for them, got the part, and had some of the most fun I've ever had on stage, with a wonderful bunch of people.  Quite proud of that.

This last year has, it must be admitted, not been quite so euphoric.  This has been true for a lot of people, of course.
My savings have completely run out, Barclays Bank no longer smiles upon me, and I've discovered that LiDL's 80 tea bags for 28p are false economy.
Auditions have been harder to get, and castings from auditions harder still.  So I find myself doing what has become a classic "resting actor's job" - working in a callcentre, telephoning people who don't want to talk to me, and asking them impertinent questions.  Probably good for me - given me a thicker skin.

There's a definite sensation of improvement though - the early spring sunshine blazing through the windows certainly adding to that.  Auditions are starting to trickle in again, I've had some very nice voiceover jobs recently, and I can feel the green shoots of enthusiasm pushing their way out into the light.

Onward and upward.  Fifty feels like a nice age so far.

On the other hand, this cheap tea really is vile.