Today five million people in the United States between ages 18 and 34 live alone, 10 times more than in 1950. But the largest number of single people are middle-aged; 15 million people between ages 35 and 64 live alone. Those who decide to live alone following a breakup or a divorce could choose to move in with roommates or family. But many of those I interviewed said they chose to live alone because they had found there was nothing worse than living with the wrong person.
Notes From A Dragon Mom
I want to stop here, before the dreadful hitch: my son is 18 months old and will likely die before his third birthday. Ronan was born with Tay-Sachs, a rare genetic disorder. He is slowly regressing into a vegetative state. He’ll become paralyzed, experience seizures, lose all of his senses before he dies. There is no treatment and no cure.
Top 10 Composers (according to an 8-year old)
Letters of Note had a charming note posted today.
In January of 2011, chief music critic at the The New York Times, Anthony Tommasini, concluded a two week project in which he discussed the world’s finest composers by unveiling a list he had personally compiled…As can be expected, much discussion was generated by his list, but it was the following written response from 8-year-old Lucas Amory — son of noted violists Misha Amory and Hsin-Yun Huang — that really stood out.
Does your top ten compare with young Mr. Lucas?
I tried to remember that no one is my property and neither am I theirs, and so I should just enjoy the time we spend together, because in the end it’s our collected experiences that add up to a rich and fulfilling life. I tried to tell myself that I’m young, that this is the time to be casual, careless, lighthearted and fun; don’t ruin it.
Want to Be My Boyfriend? Please Define (2008, NY Times college essay contest on modern love) by MARGUERITE FIELDS
Hmm…I think the stakes get higher when you contrast the college years to the transition from that to whatever the hell the 30s are supposed to be in this prolonged world o’ recession. But it also makes it apparent why you ought to stay the hell away from people who aren’t your age when you’re past that stage, because if you don’t, it’ll just mess you up. The world is moving faster than you realize, the culture changing in ways you’re not always aware of.
When you figure it out, it’s too late, but you still feel like a hulking idiot. For no good reason, I might add.
But as a side note, this unrelated story was super cute.
Learning by Playing: Video Games in the Classroom
Nicole Dodson, Dakota Jerome Solbakken and Nadine Clements, students at Quest to Learn, a New York City public school, play a game they designed.
Doyle was, at 54, a veteran teacher and had logged 32 years in schools all over Manhattan, where he primarily taught art and computer graphics. In the school, which was called Quest to Learn, he was teaching a class, Sports for the Mind, which every student attended three times a week. It was described in a jargony flourish on the school’s Web site as “a primary space of practice attuned to new media literacies, which are multimodal and multicultural, operating as they do within specific contexts for specific purposes.” What it was, really, was a class in technology and game design. Read more
A story worth sharing
I don’t watch reality TV (or any TV, really…) but since my teen years I troll the Weddings & Celebrations section of the Sunday New York Times each week. I have no idea what my fascination with it is remains and it often be trivial; but every once in a while you get one or two that are neat stories.
This one had a few good quotes including: “I adore her, and it’s all very uncomplicated,” Mr. Howard said. “We never really have any disagreements. There’s not a lot of negotiations. She’s very understanding. We’re very lucky in having a partnership that doesn’t require a lot of conscious effort or maintenance.”
“I’m still pretty incredulous that she’s with me,” Mr. Howard said on the eve of the wedding. “If anyone’s doubting the futility of a romantic endeavor, this is a shining endorsement for perseverance and hopefulness.”
The New York Times talks Color War
It’s a hard thing to explain, but…this article does an okay job of it.
Several sleep-away camps claim to have invented Color War, said Leslie Paris, an associate history professor at the University of British Columbia who spent years investigating the matter while writing “Children’s Nature: The Rise of the American Summer Camp.” The earliest reference she found: “Red and Gray Week” in 1916 at Schroon Lake Camp, a Jewish boys’ camp in the Adirondacks. By the 1920s, Dr. Paris said, Color Wars composed of a series of small contests, from checkers to swimming races, were a staple of the camp experience. As far as anyone knows, Wah-Nee opened in 1931 (though it was called Nee-Wah) and Color War was among its earliest traditions.
But Will It Make You Happy?
A two-bedroom apartment. Two cars. Enough wedding china to serve two dozen people. Yet Tammy Strobel wasn’t happy. Working as a project manager with an investment management firm in Davis, Calif., and making about $40,000 a year, she was, as she put it, caught in the “work-spend treadmill.” So one day she stepped off. Inspired by books and blog entries about living simply, Ms. Strobel and her husband, Logan Smith, both 31, began donating some of their belongings to charity. As the months passed, out went stacks of sweaters, shoes, books, pots and pans, even the television after a trial separation during which it was relegated to a closet. Eventually, they got rid of their cars, too. Emboldened by a Web site that challenges consumers to live with just 100 personal items, Ms. Strobel winnowed down her wardrobe and toiletries to precisely that number. Her mother called her crazy. Today, three years after Ms. Strobel and Mr. Smith began downsizing, they live in Portland, Ore., in a spare, 400-square-foot studio with a nice-sized kitchen. Mr. Smith is completing a doctorate in physiology; Ms. Strobel happily works from home as a Web designer and freelance writer. She owns four plates, three pairs of shoes and two pots. With Mr. Smith in his final weeks of school, Ms. Strobel’s income of about $24,000 a year covers their bills. They are still car-free but have bikes. One other thing they no longer have: $30,000 of debt. Ms. Strobel’s mother is impressed. Now the couple have money to travel and to contribute to the education funds of nieces and nephews. And because their debt is paid off, Ms. Strobel works fewer hours, giving her time to be outdoors, and to volunteer, which she does about four hours a week for a nonprofit outreach program called Living Yoga.
Getting Into Med School Without Hard Sciences
For generations of pre-med students, three things have been as certain as death and taxes: organic chemistry, physics and the Medical College Admission Test, known by its dread-inducing acronym, the MCAT.
So it came as a total shock to Elizabeth Adler when she discovered, through a singer in her favorite a cappella group at Brown University, that one of the nation’s top medical schools admits a small number of students every year who have skipped all three requirements.
(Via NYTimes)
I thought it was a good thing. Pre-conceived curricula don’t take into account the many things we’ve learned that go into making good professionals. In the end, if the outcomes are the same or not marginally worse than traditional curriculum med students then why not?
Of course, this article will blow the lid off of any shrouded mystery that existed before in the program. Oh well.
