Other articles on Life!

This is the home for articles on life in general by other authors.

Gonna Be A Rock Star: "You remember it clearly. The day your turn comes to sit with a teacher or a counsellor and talk about...'the future'. 'So, Johnny, what do you want to do when you leave school?'" Si, a Brit based in Canada, muses on how his youthful career choices eventually led him to become an expat.
Sex in History: "As we human beings have changed and evolved over our thousands of years of recorded history, so have our attitudes and expressions of all things sexual. The only thing that hasn't changed much is society's desire to exercise a certain amount of control over an individual's sexual behaviour." Al Link takes a look at how attitudes towards sex have evolved over the centuries and around the world.
In Search of the Perfect School Lunch: "The very mention of school dinners to anyone who has experienced them is likely to conjure up images of characterful dinner ladies and uniquely unpleasant meal options. Who can forget spotted dick, 'frog spawn' (tapioca), soggy cabbage, lumpy custard, 'gristle' pie (dog food?) and the much-maligned instant mashed potato, randomly garnished with hair-of-chef or fingernail-of-dinner lady?" All that may be a thing of the past, as Miranda Irving finds out...
All Housework and No Play: "In a feeble attempt to soothe my creeping sense of inadequacy, I rationalise that I may not be the world's best cleaner, but I have other talents and other priorities. Deep down though, I'd like to be one of those people who can keep a tidy house, look glamorous, write a PhD, hold down a decent job and raise numerous perfect and well-behaved children." Miranda Irving gets down and dirty in the home...
Parking in the UK - forget it!: "Parking is one of those 'Don't get me started' topics. Everyone has a story and everyone, but everyone, has an opinion whether it's the cost, the evil nature of traffic wardens, the lack of free spaces, the insidious spread of parking meters into residential and suburban streets, or the fact that machines will never give change..." Miranda Irving on the frustrations of parking your car in Britain.
Halloween Horrors: "I'm sure it was never this commercialised when I was little. There may have been the odd Halloween party - I remember one where (rather feebly) I went as a headless horseman, dressed in nothing more than a pair of jodhpurs, a polo-necked jumper pulled over my head and carrying a riding hat. But we never went trick-or-treating and we never had a pumpkin." Miranda Irving on Halloween in the UK in her youth and now, and in Abu Dhabi.
Neither a Borrower nor a Lender...: "I thought I was well prepared when I came back to the UK. I knew what to expect. I was ready to downsize and accept a lower quality of life. No rose-tinted specs; no high expectations for me. But I still ended up being surprised - because, despite all this, so many people seem to have (or spend) so much in this country - I'm not talking about clothes or everyday basics, but big things, like holidays, houses, cars and home extensions." Miranda Irving looks at Britain's credit boom, and wonders if we can really afford it.
How Not to Lose Weight: "Since I returned from Abu Dhabi, only slightly trimmer and more toned, I have managed to put on around six kilos in weight. Not surprising. I eat more in the winter and exercise less than I did in AD. But what I don't understand, is that despite a campaign of regular exercise combined with sensible eating and drinking for a whole year, there is no difference (except for some barely-perceptible toning). I have not lost even a pound and my waist is as wide as ever." Miranda Irving bewails the difficulties of keeping trim as the years pass.
Ten Top Tips for a Simple Wedding: California Style: "Neither of us had been married before and we hadn't any real experience of wedding organisation but we're both reasonably intelligent and organised with straightforward tastes. We didn't want chocolate fountains, thrones and doves released on the announcement of our commitment - just a simple, informal ceremony in a nice location with food and drink laid on for a handful of family and friends. It couldn't be that difficult, could it?" Wrong! Louise Muzio with some handy advice - based on experience - on how to arrange a simple wedding in California.
Best Man Speeches: Useful resources for best men preparing their speech - on British Expat Magazine.