2005-02-18 - 11:04 a.m.

Considering I haven�t worked, or really even left the house in two weeks, I�m feeling weirdly buoyant. I�m going to the cinema like it�s going out of fashion, the plus side being that during the day, you can watch films without anyone even in your peripheral vision, because if there�s one thing I hate, it�s being aware of other people, insensitive people who have the nerve to buy a ticket for the same performance as me, in a cinema. Until I can afford my own, this is the next best thing. On top of that, my internet gambling on live sporting events (backing heavy favourites for pitifully small incremental returns) is making me in the region of two English pounds a day. Tax free, mind you.

It�s all about the pipeline at the moment, though. A week ago, the pipeline looked dull, rusty and clogged up with old bits of tissue and half-eaten ready meals for one, whereas now, it looks, well, about the same to be honest, but I can at least hear fate flushing, and the heady waters of change gurgling in the porcelain cistern of my destiny. Nice imagery, there. Cheers.

I was feeling all inspired after watching The Aviator, and not just about filming a spin off called the Aviary-Rater, about an eccentric billionaire who devises daring, pioneering ways to assess bird houses. If Howard Hughes could live such an extraordinary life, then why can't I? OK, he inherited sickening amounts of dosh from his parents, was an obsessive engineering genius with grand cinematic visions, dated some of the world�s most desirable women before becoming a demented, physically repulsive tyrant who had built up one of the world�s biggest airlines. But apart from that, there is NO DIFFERENCE between us. Oh, he had a moustache. But the other similarities are hard to ignore. All I�m saying is � I could be a demented, physically repulsive tyrant. I just need to get off my backside and DO something.

Morning matinee first, though.