Rather excitingly, Another Kind Of Mind hit 100,000 views yesterday. I’m absolutely thrilled by this – it’s really not bad going for a slightly eccentric and badly-promoted personal blog written by a chronically ill 40-something who should probably know better by now!

Self-deprecating jokes aside, it is genuinely a pleasure for me to see how many of you have popped by over time (“Popped by? Swarmed by is more like it!”), and the incredible diversity of where you are all from. In the ten years of writing this blog, I have had visitors from almost every single country in the world, something which never ceases to amaze me.

The next milestone is 500 posts, which I will hopefully reach by the end of 2019 with this year’s Festive posts – and that will be a satisfying conclusion to Another Kind Of Mind’s tenth birthday year if I manage it, so keep your fingers crossed…

Thank you, everyone!

On to what you’re all really here for: the Christmas stuff. Consistently some of my most popular posts (all year round, seriously), the Christmas celebrations on Another Kind Of Mind have become a bit of an unexpected annual tradition.

I can definitely be a bit of a Grinch at the best of times in real life, and, like many, I find the whole festive thing somewhat stressful – but I must admit I enjoy writing the Christmas posts as much as you all seem to enjoy reading them, so you’re getting some more this year!

Watch out for an in-depth and no holds barred analysis of Santa, some unlikely festive music (get your air guitars tuned up, readers), vintage Christmas shopping, 17th century mince pies, an orbit of Christmas in space, a bit of wassailing (and other boozy festive things), yet more pud, and an early 20th century Christmas movie, plus a return visit to the small community of Christmas, Florida and their giant concrete alligator…

And the bonus Grumpy Victorian Kitty? This beautifully disdainful example is the cover star of The Black Cat, a late nineteenth and early twentieth-century literary magazine that focused on short stories. Published in Boston, Massachusetts, it showcased writers like Henry Miller, Jack London and O. Henry over the years. The gorgeous feline cover art for much of that time was the work of Nelly Littlehale Umbstaetter, whose husband Herman was the magazine’s first editor.

For lots more Christmas reading (and viewing) from me, click here