Thing To Do Today: pamper yourself.

Henry Luttrell's idea of heaven, according to his friend Sydney Smith, was eating pâté de foie gras to the sound of trumpets.

It's not mine.

So: what's your idea of heaven? What situation would put you into the most complete possession of relaxed and contented bliss?

Would you like to be fanned by palm leaves? Massaged with scented oils? Or would you be happiest completely alone with your sofa, kitchen, or swimming pool?

What would you eat? Steamed broccoli? Chocolate? Venison? Champagne? Coca cola?

Will you be having a friendly chat with someone dear to you? Or be at a noisy party? Or would you like to be surrounded by the melancholy strains of a solo oboe? Or a soprano, a musical, a film, a sit com, an opera? Bach? Gershwin? Techno? Or a bit of peace and quiet to read a good book?

By Austen? Enid Blyton? Dan Brown?

And how about the view? Will it be Mount Everest? Manhattan? Madras? A wildflower meadow? The sea? Suburbia? Harrods? A cathedral? Wembley Stadium? The Rokeby Venus?

What scent will beguile you? Coffee? Fresh bread? Something by Chanel? Freshly laundered linen? A good clean pig? Wood smoke? Incense? Rain? Lilies?

Oh dear...

...I've got an horrible feeling that a lot of us have just discovered how shallow we are.

Whoops.

Thing To Do Today: pamper yourself. This word used to mean to feed to excess. It's a Germanic word originally. Pampfen is a German dialect word meaning to gorge oneself.