Work and medical stuff (mine and Colin's), and generally life getting in the way, have kept me out of here for a few months. And of course, once you stop turning up regularly, it's easy to stay away. But I missed you all!
Just to freak everybody out good and proper, I've been diagnosed with a dermoid cyst. This is something I was born with, a lump of embryonic ectoderm tissue growing where it shouldn't be. There's a distinct possibility that I was supposed to have a twin, but way back when we were just tiny hollow balls of cells... well, I ate him. In my defence, I was too young to know better, and I guess I was hungry. The dermoid is about the size of a golf ball, certainly contains skin and hair, probably teeth, and possibly other ectodermal tissues such as bone, muscle, nerve, fingernails, or even eyes. Yeah. And it's IN MY BELLY. Yeah.
You're never alone with a dermoid. I've named him my Hairy Tummy Pal. As long as he doesn't grow, he can safely be left to his own devices. Any guilt I had about eating my twin was assuaged when I realised I'd been giving him free food and lodging for 50 years, so I guess we're even.
In entirely other news, I went to see Derren Brown's "Svengali" last Thursday. Highly recommended. By far the lightest and funniest show he's ever done. Fellow members of Regretsy will appreciate the significance of the following photo:
If you've not read the book, you might want to look out a copy of Stephen King's, 'The Dark Half', where the lead character has exactly the same condition (though his own 'twin' ended up growing in his brain 
).
