Humour is God's special gift to humanity. Handy, because it turns out to be necessary.

The notion that love is abroad in the world has shaped my life.

Nothing is as daunting as the threats associated with global warming. That's the biggie. Everyone bangs on about rising sea levels but the real challenge of a warming planet is ocean acidification. An acid ocean spells the end of life on earth.

Whether you're in the water staring up at a looming set or standing in front of 15000 people at a demo, you have to manufacture some courage and a sense of optimism in order to get through the moment, the day, the rest of your life.

Somewhere a bicycle bell rings. Somewhere else there's a war on. Somewhere else people turn to shadows and powder in an instant and the streets turn to funnels and light the sky with their burning. Somewhere a war is over.

I was in my thirties before I learnt that I too would prefer not to see what I could no longer have

It's sadness coming on like the old days, the vast seamless hopeless weight of sadness looking for a place to rest.