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Single in the city
Making the most of every day, relationship
- JOAN: What is single life like for a 47-year-old divorced woman who has tried everything to have a baby?
Survey says, trust yourself, not the research
- Nowadays, there doesn’t seem to be a subject on Earth that someone in a white lab coat isn’t delving into via a clinical trial soon to be reported by the New England Journal of Medicine and People magazine. The topics range from vitamin supplements to love, but can science truly provide solutions to our romantic woes? Our resident doctors of détente, Joan and Dan, offer their prognosis.
From friend to lover: a tough barrier to cross
- Huffington Post writer Andrea Syrtash recently mused on Yahoo how to cross “the friend zone,” that ephemeral buffer between the platonic and the romantic, that horrible realm from which there is seemingly no escape. Or is there? This week, Dan and Joan discuss if you can dig your way out of the stalag of friendship.
Dare you say the words?
- You’d think it was Nietzche, but the quote, “Print is dead,” seems attributed mostly to Professor Egon Spengler — the nerdy guy from “Ghostbusters” — if a quick Google search is to be believed. Point is, you don’t see too many new forays into print nowadays, so kudos to Howard County resident Paula Bisacre, who recently launched a new quarterly publication “reMarriage” (www.remarriagemagazine.com), which takes a look at issues facing the 103 million Americans who are remarried or considering retying the knot.
Afraid to test the dating waters?
- There’s a saying, “Once bitten, twice shy.” Relationship disappointments can pile up like the sand, leaving one reluctant to test the dating waters. Why are they so shark-infested? Perhaps it’s not the waters, but your attitude. The lifeguards of love, Dan and Joan, are here to help you keep afloat.
To be or not to be ... faithful
- Recent studies indicate that only about 10 percent of the birds and mammals that supposedly mate for life are, in fact, faithful to their partners. So it would seem that infidelity may be standard operating procedure in the animal kingdom. Man’s an animal, right? Especially on Friday and Saturday nights. Kidding aside, should we be more forgiving of our loved one’s affairs because of biology, or should our snugglebunny be made accountable?
That darn ex, Part II
- Last week, Dan and Joan tackled the question of “What do you do with your ex?” Say goodbye forever? Keep her around as a friend? Take him to the exchange desk at Macy’s? The topic got our binary stars of the dating universe really twinkling, so they keep on where they left off.
How to deal with the x-factor in relationships
- Like Dandy Don Meredith used to croon on “Monday Night Football,” “The party's ooooovvvaahhh.” The guy gets the dog, she gets the goldfish. Now what? Do you never see this person, with whom you shared your thoughts, dreams and frozen yogurt, ever again? Is a clean break the best for all? Dan and Joan, who have broken up relationships more times than an audience at a Chris Rock concert, offer their insights.
Divining the mystery of the eternally dumped
- Ever look out across a giant landfill and think, “It’s like looking into a mirror.” No, not because you collect garbage and seagulls, but because you’ve been dumped as regularly as the trash. Why does this happen? You’re a good person, right? You didn’t vote for Sanjaya on American Idol. You believe in truth, justice and liposuction, so you look good and are good. But you keep getting left in the proverbial love dust. This week, our two Titans of the Tryst explore the mystery of the perpetually dumped.
‘Single in the City’ meets ‘Sex and the City’
- For those of you who just can’t get enough of four uber-entitled women, so self-absorbed they’re practically inside-out New Yorkers who go through men like lungs go through oxygen — and you’ve got $299.95 to throw away, the new DVD collector set, which is encased in a “rose velvet photo album” no less, of HBO’s “Sex and the City” can be yours.
- For those of you who just can’t get enough of four uber-entitled women, so self-absorbed they’re practically inside-out New Yorkers who go through men like lungs go through oxygen — and you’ve got $299.95 to throw away, the new DVD collector set, which is encased in a “rose velvet photo album” no less, of HBO’s “Sex and the City” can be yours.
Make it an offer she can’t refuse
- The hard part is done. You’ve managed to find someone who can stand your presence on a regular basis. Time to pop the question — but how? Do you kick it old-school, dropping low on bended knee, or do you get creative — skywriting, “will you marry me?” on the Orioles’ new Jumbotron? An engagement ring at the bottom of her champagne glass? Is there a full-proof method guaranteed to get results?
Talking about skeletons can be spooky experience
- So maybe Mr. Rochester should have admitted to Jane Eyre early on that he had a crazy wife living in his attic. She might have decided to date other people. Seems all of us have a skeleton or two in our life’s closet, but when’s the best time to trot them out in a new relationship? After one month? Three months? On Halloween?
Time Off for Sad Behavior?
- A Japanese marketing firm was recently reported offering employees time off for “heartache.” Is “I can’t work today, I got dumped over the weekend” is a viable excuse? Or have we all just gotten a little too sensitive?