I maintain, and will do till I drop, that it is perfectly possible, in fact it's actually part of what being a human is all about, that just as eggs lie in a carton, we can hold complex and contradictory thoughts side by side.

I was told once that I'm culturally motivated; I cannot disagree, be churlish to. It's almost my factory settings. If I had a system restore then that's what I'd go back to. Literature, Art, Music, Good Food, attractive houses, heart-stopping sunsets, I love them, dearly.

Nevertheless, there's a secret part of me, deep in the rough, where I hide one or two guilty pleasures, the place where I warm my hands thinking about some things I would n't mind doing. Come a bit closer...that's it...you see... I've done one today. It's a quasi petrol head moment too. I went for a drive in a Porsche.

A colleague in the office has one (and before jumping to any conclusions, we're modestly paid where I work. Yes it's above the threshold for tax credits, not enough though to for pay high end sports cars on a cash down basis. He has saved hard for this, like a Trojan.)

A magnificent piece of engineering - a beautiful teardrop, washed and polished by the waves. It is a beast, an animal of a car, completely. Snorting, sniffing like a prize fighting bull. Foot-stamping, muscle sinews straining. A thrumming engine. Horsepower really is there, beating under the bonnet, frisking, steaming, hooves pounding. Fine Arab stallions let loose.

Look at me - I wanted to be the Montaigne of Blogging, and instead I'm gushing like the poor man's Jeremy Clarkson. Forgive me. Anyway, did n't I say right at the beginning, to pin it all down to being a fragile human, cursed to hold more than one competing thought or belief at the same time.