All the Smug Marrieds keep inviting me on Saturday nights now I am alone again, seating me opposite an increasingly horrifying selection of single men. It is very kind of them and I appreciate it v. much but it only seems to highlight my emotional failure and isolation. -- Helen Fielding, Bridget Jones' Diary

I don't often identify with Bridget Jones. In fact, I read the book quite a while ago, when I was much too young to understand most of what it was about; now I do, a bit. The only thing worse than the Smug Marrieds about whom she writes are the Happy Marrieds into whom my friends are mutating at a rapid rate. Happy Marrieds are worse because, whereas there's something detestable about a smug person which makes you feel more sorry for them than not, a Happy person is attractive and the feeling of wanting to be in their shoes is undiminished by any negative factors. By the same token, however, because they are so Happy you are not allowed to envy them. Instead, you have to rejoice for them; it's a great emotional strain. That's all I've got for now. :)