I am so happy today. It's been freezing cold, been snowing all day, but, still, my brother and good friend both came out to meet me in spite of work for a great steak dinner accompanied by a bottle of champagne I bought a year ago for this day. Yes, it's my birthday! The first day of my thirties! Wooo!

I could write so much more about how the past year has been, about how I've had neighbours - proper neighbours - for the first time in my life ever, how there are cafes and restaurants who recognise me when I come in and notice when I'm not around, how, in spite of the few people I've met this year - as in few whom I'd call friends, as opposed to, say, Internet connections - I've managed to build a small community to call my own, a community consisting of people who, when they find out it's my birthday, share a bottle of wine with me, or put a candle on a cake and sing a birthday song, whether it's in Spanish, English, Mandarin or what not.

I could write how about how the last few weeks have been instrumental in my declaring this to be a phenomenal year, about how Argentina's changed my life, at least for a few weeks, about how I've learnt to trust myself again, and that being brave - in spite of the outcome - is never something to feel stupid over.

I could talk about how I've returned to my true love - dancing - after far too long a time away, and that that is something I cannot live without, even though I know I will never ever meet my soulmate there. My dance classes are almost exclusively 100% female after all.

I could write about how I haven't felt this confident in years, nor have I felt this zen-like in my life ever, even in the face of power cuts in the freezing cold, or mislaid BlackBerries, or work issues.

But I won't.

Instead, I'll leave you with a video of a most unexpected treat consisting of a collaboration between two awesome music acts from Brooklyn: The National and Sufjan Stevens performing Terrible Love at the Brixton Academy yesterday, a collaboration I hope is repeated tomorrow when I go to see The National.