A fundamental question discussed in all forms of media is "Can I have it all?".

At the micro level, the answer can be best illustrated in the Pickwick household through the topic of cake. The Pickwick family are fans of cake, setting upon it like a pack of hyenas around...

The departure of our blessed Lady Thatcher means there is now only one Margaret in my life - Mrs Pickwick.

Both have been powerful Margarets - but have always been at different ends of the spectrum.

Lady T, capable of existing on minimal sleep whilst firing on all cylinders. Mrs...

The problem about being an adult is that to maintain some form of balance in life and ensure that the old grey matter does not begin to atrophy, it is advisable to participate in some form of Self-Improvement. The power of the Internet and availability of free sources of Self-Improvement...

Over the last two decades, Mrs Pickwick has presented me with three bundles of joy. The first two were the birth of the Ms Pickwicks. But the third was different.

Appearing on my birthday, I was presented with the bundle with the Pickwicks standing excitedly around me surveying the new...

A large proportion of the Country's population have taken on a key feature of the Victorian age since the Christmas period. Illness.

The Pickwick Household has resembled a consumption ward over this time. Started by Pickwick daughter number 1, I assumed the mantle on Christmas Eve kidding myself that my...

I thought of Greta Garbo this week, the beautiful, brooding and reclusive Swedish starlet of yesteryear, as I stood waiting for my morning bus.

The bus queue was growing, or more accurately the scattering of people who position themselves at a respectable distance from each other designed to make social...

I was reminded this week of the joke about the Bishop who is caught sunbathing nude and reacts by putting his towel over his head rather than over his private parts. On being challenged on why he has done this, he replies "people normally recognise me by my face".

The...

I had an epiphany at the weekend.

It was on a dance floor surrounded by loved ones and friends who scrubbed up for an evening do. As is customary, when the formal proceedings of the evening were over, guests hit the dance floor which was where my problems began.

I contemplated this dilemma on a crowded flight, as I sat sandwiched between two executives reading business journals of such unimaginable dryness that I longed to have the latest edition of "Closer" to balance them up. We were squished together on an evening flight so full of suits that it...

Now the kids have got to the stage when they don't set the house on fire anymore, Mrs Pickwick and I ventured forth to try something new in our relationship - an intellectual date. We attended this brain Zumba class at a nearby cultural establishment to hear a talk from...

I have grown a beard. The decision came from nowhere although was accompanied by an undertaking to my daughters that I would get an ear pierced. There was therefore a whiff of mid-life crisis in the air that day.

My hair growing prowess has never been strong. I have always...

The passage of time and onset of aches and pains in my body have made me realise that I am turning into a wimp. True, I have always had nerdy inclinations but they have now been accompanied by full blown wimpishness.

There are key differences between being a nerd and...

S&M has never featured highly in my marriage.

The issue came up this morning during a discussion with my wife about the "50 Shades of Grey" phenomenon when she declared emphatically "if you trussed me up, I'd be off". I reminded her that technically speaking this was not true...

I have reached an age where my peak can be seen disappearing around the corner behind me. I was resigned to this when it was still in focus. But now, my peak has become a blur,

To make matters worse, a few of friends and peers are currently wrestling with...

There is a time in every man's life when the tide goes out on his luxuriant locks. For some, this is in their early twenties, barely enough time for life experience involving hair. In my case, it was threatened but never came into effect, until my forties giving suitable time...

When we re-homed Dudley, a loveable but nervous Cocker Spaniel last year following the death of Roxy, our beloved Cairn Terrier, my children observed that we had gone from a dog that was my wife in dog form, to my doggy alter ego.

I knew what they meant regarding...

There is a woman who lives in my village that I see on my daily commute whose smartness of dress and beauty cause me to stop and wonder what life would be like living with her if I make use of one of those parallel universes of life much spoken...

My family recently welcomed a new dog, Dudley to our fold.

Dudley is a Cocker Spaniel for whom the term "hung dog look" could have originated.

To all apart from the short-sighted, he is ugly. However, Dudley's sole demand on those around is straightforward - "love me, love...

I have come to the conclusion that the humble sandwich needs to be dispatched to the annals of history to join the like of bloodletting, witch burning and powdered wig wearing - a good idea at the time, but let's move on.

As a food, the sandwich is a constant...

We've all done it - you are in a place where you suddenly come across a famous person you instantly recognise.

For me, it was on a train carriage this week where the person sitting in front of me was Virgil Tracy, the pilot of Thunderbird 2 from the...