Modern manners
Permanent ink
Brooklyn Shall I have my sister’s skin peeled off for display after she dies? Specifically, the tattooed bits — the…
Great news for fatties: it’s really not your fault
I’ve noticed for some time now that thin people, genuinely slim ones, have a secret loathing of fatties. Kindly though…
The snowflake factory
We’re training our children to be thin-skinned, censorious and belligerently entitled
Call yourself a friend?
Should we be surprised that friendship isn’t always mutual? That is one of the findings of a team of researchers…
Your problems solved
Q. We moved recently and new neighbours invited us to join them for dinner at a nearby restaurant. I planned…
Dating stinks
Why I went looking for love in the armpits of strange men
Diary
Not only are today’s young girls having to work hard on their abs, butts and glutes, now the likes of…
The internet’s war on free speech
The web was meant to empower us all. Right now, it’s empowering censors
Guilty displeasures
It is now entirely cool to adore the uncool. But what about the things we can’t admit to not enjoying?
The death of the funeral
I mourn for the traditional ceremony
Dear Mary
How do you persuade your pleasant dinner guests to go home when they will stay into the early hours if…
Soho in Somerset
It is summer and the listless metropolitan thinks of grass. It cannot afford to stay at Durslade Farmhouse, Somerset, a…
Beware the Lycra louts
Cycling in funny clothes is bad for the soul
The axeman next door
What happened when I tried American neighbourliness in London
Tea and honesty
We recently moved -offices from Canary Wharf to Blackfriars bridge. When you move after a long time in one place,…
Indoor gardening
A year or so ago, I inherited a cardboard box filled with plants. It was an offshoot from an enormous…
The game of the name
How Wolf and Skylar pushed out John and Mary
Stress point
It’s not work that’s killing us. It’s the irritation and confusion of modern office life
The cult of clean
It starts with tidying your sock drawer. It ends with emptying your mind
Live fast, die not too old
At 77, it is clear to me that increased longevity can be a curse rather than a blessing
Dear Mary
Q. What should a host do when a guest says something so embarrassing in front of the assembled company that…
I have seen the future, and it’s a racist, filthy-mouthed teenage robot
‘I’m a nice person,’ said the robot. ‘I just hate everybody.’ Maybe you know the feeling. The robot in question…
The poetic state of the nation
What I’ve learned from reciting verse in the street
Confessions of a Saga lout
Baby boomers like me aren’t giving up irresponsible hedonism as we age. We’re just getting worse at it
The moths are coming!
After this mild winter, you can expect a clothes-ruining epidemic. They’ve already got my best suit
