Almost eight years have gone by since Albert Arnold Gore Jr, the Democratic nominee for president of the United States in the 2000 election lost the presidency in a controversial recount of votes in the state of Florida.

Now, eight years later, the man who would be president is a popular figure worldwide, while the incumbent president George W. Bush is struggling with a legacy as the man who lost the hearts and minds not only of his own people but the world at large.

In the eight years since he conceded the election, Al Gore has risen to prominence as an environmental activist, getting regular people to rally around the man-made climate change crisis and raising awareness among businesses and governments to help solve it.

Last week I was bombarded with literature related to beauty. Hair, skin, nails, spas, non-invasive therapies, wrinkle irons, whitening systems… it certainly boggled my mind.

For someone who has been instilled with the idea that one man’s beauty is the other man’s bimbette and that one does not need much more than soap and water, a touch of lipstick and a dab of perfume to feel beautiful, I wondered who’s buying?

Well, according to the organisers of Beautyworld, the international trade fair held last week in Dubai, Dh28.25 billion was spent in 2007 in the Middle East alone.

Traditionally, marriage and children have gone hand in hand and couples who consciously decided to hold back on bringing kids into this world were looked upon scornfully as selfish.

The traditional outlook on marriage, children and extended families, still rings true in many parts of the world. However, the advice to go forth and multiply has slowly changed to go forth and pursue happiness in many other parts.

Many young couples now tie the knot in the hope of permanent wedded bliss and decide not to ruin it with brats who would suck them dry of their money, time and peace of mind and then flee the nest without so much as a ‘Thank you, mum and dad’. Well, a Harvard professor has now revealed that "marriage without kids is the key to bliss".

Last week, while visiting the eastern part of the US on a company-sponsored study tour, I bought a self-help book called How To Deal With Annoying People. The perfect tome, I thought, to read on the 14-hour flight back to Dubai.

Simultaneously though, as if by coincidence, a certain Ms Jones sent me an e-mail accusing me of being a self-satisfied, self-obsessed woman who blindly believed that I was right all the time.

I don’t know Jones and I don’t believe she knows me except perhaps through this 360-word personal blog that I write every week. My blogging persona has obviously, seriously annoyed her.