Older, wiser, and with more physical possessions

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a man in possession of a blog will, on the passing of his birthday, write all sorts of unadulterated guff about the ageing process and the gaining of wisdom.

But if he's a little less self-absorbed and in the lucky position of having an obscenely generous wife (no sniggering at the back there), he can sit back instead and bask in all the shiny goodness instead.

So this is what greeted me yesterday, on the occasion of my 38th birthday:

So I now have 32 gigs on which to fill up with music played by serious men with meaningful haircuts. And when I really want to annoy the neighbours:

Sorry in advance, Matt & Kate.

Add to this some gorgeous bite-the-back-of-your-hand solid silver cuff links from Charles Tyrwhitt and a beautiful book on cosmology (ask me about cepheid variable stars, go on) and I am a very lucky boy indeed. And Katie has officially won.

Sod the introspection. Stuff rules, every time.