I've only recently become something of a regular coffee drinker. Up until a coupla years ago I was a Tea Man, with occasional cups of coffee interspersed throughout my tea regime. Ritualistically, the first thing I used to do in the morning (after getting out of bed) was throw a teabag into my favourite mug - a stars, sun and moon themed mug I got for participating in the Shakespeare Festival when I was in Year 12. I would do it without thinking. My morning cuppa tea started the day.

The first image that pops into my head when faced with this week's subject is Ralph Wiggum from The Simpsons episode I Love Lisa (9F13, Fourth Season): "Can I walk you home...valentine?" I'm so glad you cho-cho-chose to read this blog, but I don't really have much to say.

Clive always loved being an actor. He loved pulling at the heartstrings of an audience or making them roar with laughter. It's a special talent that can take years to hone, or in some cases, you either have it or you don't. Clive had it; he'd always had it. From as early as he could remember he had found himself centre stage in every school play. It wasn't a question of 'if', but 'when' he would make it big. Opportunities came up for him to make movies and schmooze with the young starlets, but he never wanted to just mug for a camera. Clive liked the stage. He craved an audience. Feelings that were all too easy for him to share with a gallery of strangers would remain locked inside once the curtain dropped. No one ever really knew Clive. They got glimpses of the man, but never the full picture. If he put a bit of himself into each character, you never knew which bit. Clive didn't act; he became another person.

I loved books as a kid. It wasn't unusual to find me in a corner at parties or family gatherings, just reading away. I was a bigger fan of comics than novels, but I would give most age appropriate books a go. I was reading from a fairly early age, thanks in no small part to my religious watching of Sesame Street. I surprised my dad and grandfather at the age of 2 by reading a newspaper headline aloud. As I got older I leaned towards the Asterix and Tintin titles. They struck me as the perfect merging of the comic and book worlds, with more pages than regular comics and having denser plot lines. A few jokes (particularly the rabid punning in Asterix) have only just revealed themselves to me as an adult reader. I went through a phase of trying to get my hands on the complete collections, but only managed to do so with Tintin. Still have a few holes in the old Asterix catalog...