I resented the pretence of dealing with a human before our trip, and it spoke after as if it were a friend

Erasing history – the physical evidence of all the life that has been lived around it – can cause pangs of regret

Gilbert O’Sullivan and I went to the same school. I wonder what his experience of it was like. Mine was one of fear and violence

While the building goes on, established places that used to have a centre are becoming hollowed out

If there’s one thing addictive doomscrolling taught us, it’s that no basic set of beliefs exist

It’s not fancy or expensive, and by the time I got it – a few weeks after the funeral – it had stopped

Time is slowly kicking the crap out of me and my friends. But I rarely notice the changes

At least they are deriving some small amount of style inspiration from actual human beings

For the Eurovision and international sporting competitions, you can’t have a rolling beauty contest where only ‘approved’ countries can take part

Interesting economic and philosophical questions, and the cost, are what have largely prevented holiday art purchases by Herself

They are loud and boisterous and invariably carry a portable music device which thuds sounds through the carriage, startling everyone

NCT testing couldn’t be more classist... all too often it’s expensive bad news. There’s humiliation too

To be suddenly presented with a choice, to not do something I had been doing every Sunday of my life, felt distinctly weird

There are groups for family, friends, colleagues, other colleagues who want to bitch about the colleagues in the first group

The couple can have spent years, and tens of thousands of euro, in an effort to produce a day that is fairytale perfect