Back again...

Yes, I confess, it's been a long hiatus. To be precise, six weeks since I last blogged.

I can't claim wild celebrations have kept me from my screen (although admittedly I have had a birthday since I last logged on - don't ask which one but it ended in a '9').

What I can claim is a slew of work. In particular - unusually for me, as my job rarely entails exotic foreign travel - a work-related trip to Istanbul to speak at the DISPAXWorld 09 conference. For those of you not in the know - as I wasn't until the conference organisers contacted me - this is an aviation get-together on the topic of disruptive airline passengers. Some impressive speakers, some fascinating topics, and a wonderful cruise on the Bosphorus, courtesy of our sponsor. In case you're wondering, I was presenting on sexually disruptive behaviour inflight; no, not so much the Mile High Club as sexual attacks, sexual abuse and public indecency. The model I've developed through the work I've done suggests that while there is no excuse for any of these, there are reasons - Air Lust is as induced an altered state as Air Rage and hence needs careful handling.

Other fascinating projects over the past six weeks? Developing a model of why we hate some celebrities and love others... writing about grey sex for the Menopause Matters magazine... preparing a paper on male contraception for the Journal of Family Planning. Also commenting on Posh and Becks's tenth wedding anniversary, giving my views on the importance of 'sharing', and holding forth about the pros and cons of mothers-in-law. It's a fun life.

But perhaps the thing that's most holding my attention right now is my weekly LBC programme. Listener figures are - gratifyingly - up yet again quarter-on-quarter, and Jim Davis and I seem to be building quite a community of supportive fans. The best bits, though, are the calls - about everything, anything, and things you certainly wouldn't mention to an above-mentioned mother-in-law. The caller who was planning to walk out on his family the next morning but hadn't actually broken the news yet. The sobbing girl whose partner had just abandoned her and her two-week-old baby. The gay police officer who was terrified to come out. The thirty-something woman who wanted me to tell her, in detail, on the air, how to masturbate. And these, of course, are the queries it's legal and decent to broadcast... the ones that aren't still get a reply, but by email.

OK, update completed and now I 'm fully back doing my blog, I hope to keep it a little more regular.

And if you need something else to read, check out the musings of Jane Matthews, a friend of mine whose delightful blog charting her self-imposed challenge to be "someone nicer" is something I myself read every day...