WHEN you go to a concert/ art show/football match (insert cultural event of your choice), do you (a) remain in the moment or (b) film the moment?

A NEW book, What Every Parent Needs To Know, is apparently about helping your kids through primary school.

OFFLINE and unplugged during August, it takes a moment for the ‘more than a vessel’ hashtag to contextualise.

IF you ever want to test parental, familial and romantic bonds to see how cool-headed you really are, how much you actually love your children, and how strong your relationship is, pile them all into the car.

MOBILISING troop battalions of starships in a co-ordinated operation involving the invasion of a distant planet in the far reaches of another galaxy would be a doddle to anyone who has organised a family camping holiday. Oh. My. God.

The '50 Shades of Grey' movie is the wrong kind of fantasy, says Suzanne Harrington.

LONELY Planet just sent a marketing email – Best Places For A Break Up. Attached is a list of varied and interesting areas around the globe, accompanied by glorious photography of places where you ought to try and station yourself if you are about to either give or receive that old it’s-not-you-it’s-me speech. (Picture by Jim Broadhead, Skerries.)

THE comedian Jenny Éclair wrote recently of the five ages of swimwear. The bikini, the tankini, the one piece, the one piece with sarong, and finally, being buried up to your neck in sand. Chronologically, I am probably somewhere between the sarong and full burial.

THE summer holidays! Picnics and barbecues. Sunshine and beaches. Bombs and missiles. On the beach with my son the other day I wonder what it was like for those boys on the beach in Gaza, the bloodied ones running for their lives when the Israelis dropped the second bomb that killed them.

BOY George lists his breakfast. Almond milk, chia seeds, coconut nectar, buckwheat, brazil nuts. Not a bowl of Frosties in sight, or a bacon and egg fry up with a mug of three sugars tea and a mound of white bread.