My life being one mainly of procrastination I have decided that 2008 is to be a year of new things. 2008 also being the year of my 23rd birthday it seemes only natural to make use of this number. Therefore, I resolve to try 23 new things this calendar year. So far I've got to the 20th of January and have only added one new thing to the list; ice-skating.

Yesterday evening I rolled up at Somerset house to get into my skates and take my first tentative steps on to the ice. The rink itself was just as visually pleasant as I hoped, with no shortage of LED's in blues and violets to light up my experience like so many early 2000s public buildings at night, and flaming torches with that camping-gaz smell. These, with an eclectic mix of music (not out of place on my minidisk in 2002) served to excite all of the senses. Now ice-skating was an interesting first 'thing' for me to attempt. Being overly concerned with my own pretentions and keeping hold of some sort of dignity and British aloofness at all costs I have always avoided those things I think I'll be bad at. The fear of looking stupid has always been with me and I can only hope this is the first step on to the road of losing it.

The whole affair was good fun; in actual fact it occured to me towards the end of my hour-long session that I had barely spent more than a second without an enormous grin on my face. My face began to ache. This enjoyment was largely thanks to the wonderful Elena, who held my hand the entire time, happily she found this romantic, as did I. The hand-holding was also, importantly, my only safety net; in every sense of the phrase.

So there it is; a first step on the road of being less of a procrastinator, being someone who actually steps out of his flat in Elephant and Castle to get out and see the best (and worst) bits of the world. Need to come up with more things to do in a hurry, just two a month required ...