Not even a dreaded chest infection is going to stop Nicky Bryson from filing her monthly column.

The equality debate has taken an increasingly serious tone so it’s time we explored the frivolous side of gay marriage. After all, we homos know how to throw a goddam good party, writes Nicky Bryson. 

Anti-gay marriage campaigners are banking on parental hysteria to get their message across by targeting sex education. Fortunately, young people today are not that gullible, writes Nicky Bryson.

Settling for a compromise does not equal make, as exemplified by the latest push for civil unions, writes Nicky Bryson.

Family, friends and even the media do it, but more often than not, the worst offenders of body shaming are ourselves, writes Nicky Bryson. 

In amongst all the bright and happy messages of Christmas cheer are dark notes of gloom and despair. While I am personally uplifted by the lights, carols, decorations and window dressing that come with the festive season, I can't help but be drawn to see the dark underbelly.

I feel kind of sorry for the newspaper folk who reviewed Dolly Parton’s concerts over the last few weeks. The poor things went along, seeming to expect a two-hour version of 9 to 5 and a bunch of stories they hadn’t heard about before. Her performance was variously described as a “disjointed journey” complete with “recycled life stories” delivered by a “tightly-controlled, calculated and oddly mechanical creature”.

I have a new girl hero. Her name is Tavi Gevinson. She is smart, sassy, funny and has been a better writer than me since she was 11 years old. By the time she was 13, Tavi had already cemented herself as an influential fashion commentator with her blog Style Rookie. She dressed like a funky grandmother, had the approval of Anna Wintour, front-row seats at New York Fashion Week and designers knocking on her door to collaborate on collections. 

I downloaded Ellen DeGeneres’ new book just the other day. Yes I download; yes I am one of the people who sent bookstores out of business by never setting foot in one after iBooks entered my life.

My elderly aunt has always held that the internet will make people lazy and 'rot their minds'. She also likes to advise me that I will stop buying books or knowing what intelligent folk have to say because of my obsession with 'Friendbook' and 'MyPlace' and 'Computer-Pads' (yes, that is what she thinks they are called and yes, she appears to think that MySpace is still popular. The babe's 70, get on her level).

After reading that award-winning gay writer and Independent columnist Johann Hari has admitted to plagiarising a slew of the interviews that led to his success, I had to realise I have a skewed set of morals. Many professional transgressions bother me, such as embezzelemt, insider trading and nepotism. However, I don't really have a visceral reaction to them.

It’s no secret that over the last decade, the major dance parties that were once so successful have suffered from a massive decline in interest.