Nowadays anyone with a crap laptop and an Internet connection can sound their barbaric yawp, whatever it may be.

So the end may be a long time coming, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have a way of sneaking up on you.

It's sad, but a relief as well, to know that two things so closely bound together can separate with so little violence.

People want to care about people. People look after each other, given the chance. ... I believe just believing in goodness generates a tiny bit of the stuff, so that being so foolish as to believe in our better natures, if just for a day, we actually contribute to the sum total of generosity in the universe.

Sometimes, if you want to be happy, you've got to run away to Bath and marry a punk rocker. Sometimes you've got to dye your hair cobalt blue, or wander remote islands in Sicily, or cook your way through Mastering the Art of French Cooking in a year, for no very good reason.

The blog is certainly another tool for writers out there to break their way in. But being a blogger does not make you a great writer.

Nowadays anyone with a crap laptop and an Internet connection can sound their barbaric yawp, whatever it may be.