nickhereandnow

I'm far too easily intimidated. There are so many things that instantly demolish my fragile self-confidence. Like people who're we...

It seems that a surprising number of those about to marry already doubt that the relationship will last. And quite a few of them consider ...

It's very odd when a judge excuses physical violence towards a child on the grounds that "cultural context" should be consid...

What's the formula for an enduring relation-ship? How come Jenny and I have stuck together for 34 years and not 34 days? What's th...

How often do you hear us Brits saying that we're embarr-assed by our ignorance of other languages? Over and over again. And how often ...

I find it extraordinary in this day and age that there are still so many taboos about menstruation. It's just a natural bodily functio...

When we don't understand someone's attitudes or behaviour, when they're outside our normal experience, what do we do? Do we as...

The confusion over Cate Blanchett's "relation-ships" is a reminder that platonic friendships can be just as intense and rewa...

I think it's about time I dredged up a few more random facts about myself. All those fascinating little quirks you're dying to hea...

It must be really hard for a parent whose child develops views they simply can't understand or sympathise with, and who gradually se...

We're all so good at acting normal, aren't we? I guess at least 50 per cent of the population are somehow screwed up but you would...

I have very mixed feelings about giving money to charity, and I know some of my blogmates are equally ambivalent. On the one hand, I wan...

Do some people decide when they're young that they don't want children, and then bitterly regret it when they're older? Not as...

Katie Price of all people has highlighted the abuse that occurs in some nursing homes, and suggested they should all have cameras in ever...

The utterly absurd row over a gay-themed cake shows no signs of abating. The Northern Ireland bakery that refused to make the cake has be...

If ever there was a phrase that means precisely nothing, it's "family values". Or rather, it can mean anything you want it t...

I don't like uncert-ainty. Or at least not the type of uncertainty that significantly affects my life. It makes me feel too vulnerable...

When I'm on holiday, I'm very conscious that I'm a tourist in someone else's country and I do my best to respect those I m...

People sometimes say that my shyness, my tendency to be tongue-tied with other people, is due to my being too self-conscious. I don'...

I know this is grim reading, but I was horrified by the sheer scale of the sex abuse scandal in Oxford-shire, not to mention the generally...