Blog
If Microsoft isn’t listening, who is?
If Microsoft isn't listening to bloggers, what kind of example does that set for other organisations? I'm referring to the vast number of Microsoft's Windows XP fans, who have voiced huge disappointment on blog posts and also started petitions to save the...
Farewell Chris
Little did I realise when I had lunch with Chris a month ago that it would be the last time I saw him. I sadly learned on Friday that he had died. Chris was married to my dear friend Sue who died just over a year ago after she drank herself to death. Their great...
A weekend of music and dance
My mother was thrilled with the Buddy Holly show I took her to in Cambridge last night and sang along to all the old favourites from the Everly Brothers and Elvis. She said she could see it again and again and had to ring my sister during the interval to tell her what...
Rupert Brooke’s warning about Trumpington
I have either met the sacked vicar, the Rev Tom Ambrose, or spoken to him on the phone during my days as a Cambridge reporter, but I'm afraid I can't remember anything about him. I just know we made contact at some time. The vicar of Trumpington has been sacked...
A cautionary tale for bloggers
I'm a self-confessed blogoholic and feel guilty when I neglect blogging because of work and other demands on my time. This week has been like that, and I expect the next couple of weeks to be the same too. If you are as addicted as me, then please do read this story,...
My new role at Headway
I went to a trustees meeting at Headway Cambridgeshire last night where it was announced that I am to be its vice-chairman. I consider it a great honour and privilege and will do everything I can to help this wonderful organisation, which provides rehabilitative care...
There are worse things in life than a school report…
Just sharing this gem sent to me via a Newsnight email: The following story is passed on by an avid Newsnight viewer who wishes to remain anonymous: A father, passing by his son's bedroom, was astonished to see the bed was nicely made, and everything was picked up...
How do you solve a problem like Maria?
Being a naturally curious person and always fascinated by the lives of others, I am instantly drawn each week to the family secrets column featured in The Times T2 supplement. It is invariably a deeply personal tale of tragedy and despair, remorse and regrets, a...
Taking on the terrorists
It is often the ordinary citizens who are the bravest around us when faced with unimaginable horrors. That particularly applies to the relatives of the Omagh bomb which killed 29 innocent people and unborn twins 10 years ago after a 500lb car bomb exploded in the...