The Girl on the Lawn
Forget anxiety, overcaution, or just plain unhappiness. The real problem with parenting is philosophy.
Forget anxiety, overcaution, or just plain unhappiness. The real problem with parenting is philosophy.
How one family schemed to be the best TV-watchers in America.
Not everyone who breaks your heart is a monster. And not everyone who wounds you deserves to be wounded in return.
Before he was America's favorite philosopher comic, he was just another comedian out on tour. And she was the journalist he wanted to meet.
Better to have loved and lost—and best to have written an essay about it. Surviving the Russian melodrama of young love.
In the last 25 years, more than two dozen new countries have been recognized by the international community. But secession isn’t easy, as Somaliland’s success story proves.
A couple’s decision to combine bookshelves supplies a series of revelations.
Writers who haven’t quit their day jobs, who cram in the writing hours around full-time work, discuss juggling office life, family, and creativity.
A marriage in the digital era begins with an invitation to listen to a record. Rediscovering vinyl, sonic memories, and the joy of sitting down to do one single thing.
The Bard’s most famous sonnet very nearly wasn’t a Shakespearean sonnet. Rejected pairings of content and form, from rondelet to an acrostic hiding his name.
Mainstream country music is dominated by bros singing about girls in cutoffs and drinking tequila. But some female country artists are ready to exchange fire.
Between love and tacos, sometimes it's better to choose tacos. Our series continues where we ask novelists to dine out, then write us something that 1) is a restaurant review; 2) is not a restaurant review.
Even a fake history of blogging—going back to the Old Internet, when HTML templates were so raw—offers insight into how we reached today’s web and survived comments.
The instinct to applaud boot-strapping and the comeback kid is as American as apple pie. So why does schadenfreude make us feel so good?
Eventually a man who’s always in motion, always fixing something, will stop. Decline of the patriarch reveals an entire family’s vulnerability.
The only thing worse than Valentine's Day is a crappy Valentine's Day. A handful of TMN writers and editors dish (anonymously) on their worst dates—crying men, rugby brawls, and a dislocated sacroiliac joint.
After seeing “Inside Llewyn Davis” I just had one question: Where was that cat supposed to pee?
Cracks are appearing in football’s helmet—injuries to athletes, injuries to the game. For one former high school and college player, the damage has gone too far.
Though mothers may gnash their teeth at forgotten flowers and missing brunches, the poets still sing of the worst Mother’s Day ever: that of Oedipus and his bride.
Experts answer what they know. The Non-Expert answers anything. This week, advice for a lovelorn atheist who wants to know if a Christian could love him back.
Victory has many faces—some of them just happen to be painted. A story of violence, true love, the road from New York to Lexington, and the religion that is college basketball.
For psychotherapists, maintaining a stable, flawless public image is critical. But when a marriage and family counselor actually goes through a mid-life crisis herself, all bets are off and here come the tattoos, affairs, and professional infidelities.
Once you begin imagining yourself as the romantic lead in a novel—and convince others of it as well—you won’t want to stop.
Once a relationship is past the point of repair, once her Go Bag is packed for leaving, some things are better set down on paper than spoken aloud.
For those of us who are single and looking, the world is full of opportunities and just as full of all sorts of regrets. Reviews of three places with three men.
Over time, a couple shares a bed, a past, and money. But when the relationship ends, as accounts are counted and paid, some debts are more complicated than they seem.
Experts answer what they know. The Non-Expert answers anything. This week, tips for a productive working vacation with your extended family.
Experts answer what they know. The Non-Expert answers anything. This week, we show you how a well-chosen nickname can bend your mate’s will.
Fortunetelling is easy to ridicule, frequently misunderstood, and, for some people, extremely powerful. Unfortunately, what’s very tough to predict is what reading futures will do to the person with the cards.
Pet people and non-pet people are different breeds for whom inter-species communication can be impossible. Then along comes the ugliest dog in the world. A study of one heart’s redoing.
You’ve died and gone to heaven. Well, unemployment is bad there, too. Sensitivity training, immigration snags, and the smell of bishops in paradise.
There’s a peculiar odor to burning hope—it’s the smell of exhaust fumes, human sweat, and a fast-food container interred under a seat cushion.
Maps are useful in jungles, classrooms, and when you need to cross a bombing ground during a storm. But they’re pointless when love implodes.
The internet’s been tamed, social media’s a food court, and everyone is positive, full of likes. But that’s only if you buy the algorithm of conformity.
At Thanksgiving, a family takes stock of what they’re thankful for by weighing the most valuable things they own: their heads.
You walk in to your bedroom and find your girlfriend in bed with another man. Blood boils. Violence is imminent. Wait, what's that he's saying?
After the dust settles from their own stormy relationship—and their torrid relationships with others—a daughter learns her mother’s big secret.
As the Cardinals fought for a playoff berth in August, I watched my father-in-law in his own personal battle. A tale of victory and loss.
Every mother worries her child could suddenly become ill. For one, motherhood requires living with the fear that her son could become just like her.
If anyone feels the pain of Facebook’s constant privacy updates, it’s marital philanderers. But take the time to calibrate your profile, and you can put all that worry behind you.
Middle school can be tough even if you don’t share your oddly spelled name with the class beauty. A tale of adolescent confusion and metamorphosis.
When pregnancy showed up unbidden, a writer demands a second test, and a third, and a fourth. But then she saw a result many women spend years searching for.
Sharing a bed requires rules. An important addendum comes along well after the blanket allowances and closet zombies have been settled.
Whether ruining a perfect game or mistaking your mother-in-law for a man, you can’t be expected to get every call right.
Your roommate, your girlfriend, and her (and your) boss: It’s a tough table, and they’ll scrutinize your food—and your dwindling frame.
All the magical realism in the world won't make you good in bed, or so recall the Nobel Prize winner's escorts.
Experts answer what they know. The Non-Expert answers anything. This week, we reach out to the masses on Chatroulette for advice on sexiness, with horrifying consequences.
First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the Opposite of Feng Shui. A marriage, told in four parts.
Anyone who says video games shouldn't appeal to adults, let alone women, has never flirted with General Carth Onassi. Exploring a virtual courtship.
To entertain themselves and their friends, two brothers formed a band, Birdhead. Now one traces the history of "the critically acclaimed power duo from Rancho Cucamonga."
Moving back to your hometown offers opportunities to rekindle old friendships—and start new ones. An 80-proof love story.
When you fold your arms or cross your legs, you unconsciously send a message that reveals your true thoughts. How to read my physical cues.
A passion for French cinema turns into an offscreen romance. Never mind the language barrier, because the cultural barriers are so much funnier.
Sometimes it takes the right pair of shoes to kick you over the edge into adulthood. For one writer, it’s other people’s shoes that do the kicking.
Looking for love in all the wrong places? Maybe you should try closer to home. Just in time for Valentine’s Day, a new book helps you ladies purge your self-loathing.
Experts answer what they know. The Non-Expert answers anything. Following our popular guide regarding girls, how to know if the ideal man digs you or not.
Is there room for civility in Civil Rights? On the day of Obama's inauguration, facing down the moment you nearly brought President George W. Bush to task.
Either you've done it or you know someone who has: online dating, the scourge and savior of contemporary romance. A panel of experts discusses love 2.0.
Parents can seem larger in life to their children, but some truly are giants. Recounting the death of her stepfather, for whom nothing was easier by being freakishly big.
In just a few short weeks, vice-presidential hopeful Sarah Palin's future son-in-law has traveled from the hockey rink to the political arena. What happened in between?
Parents love to appear unannounced on a grown child’s doorstep. Rarely, though, do they ship 12 cartons of belongings to precede them.
About us: A childless couple who pines for the pitter-patter of little feet around the house. About you: Fertile, with an athletic build, and maybe a tattoo.
The universe has odd ways of tying fates to fabrics, destinies to a swatch. Just when he and his girlfriend were moving north, a writer recalls an odd series of events all relating to a single material.
We need a president who welcomes responsibility, who can connect with people of all walks of life, and who will work to make our neighborhood great again.
When enough is enough, when federal investigators are on your trail, or you’ve decided to marry that cocktail waitress after all—it’s time to leave.
Experts answer what they know. The Non-Expert answers anything. This week we pull out all the stops to help a reader say "I love you," in precisely 100 different ways.
In a world that revolves around email addresses and instant messages, much human interaction comes in bits and bytes. We spent a day keeping track of our keystrokes around the globe.
Experts answer what they know. The Non-Expert answers anything. This week we apply cold logic to a hot topic: How can pre-adolescent hockey players become sexually active?
Experts answer what they know. The Non-Expert answers anything. This week we help a family travel safely to Chicago, and urge them to protect their daughter from the boyfriend from hell.
From choosing a mousetrap to moving across the country, parenting requires tough decisions.
New York is supposedly the home of the willful and headstrong, the forthright and brassy--but when a cousin from Nashville rolls into town, everyone else seems meek.
Experts answer what they know. The Non-Expert answers anything. This week we help a confused young woman make the best of a beast with three backs.
It stunned the nation that the Virginia Tech murders took place; it shocked Virginians that they occurred in Blacksburg. A former longtime resident traces his connections to the tragedy.
A journey halfway around the world culminates in a cave with surprisingly romantic lighting. Spending a night with the world’s most wanted man.
An adolescent tragedy forever changed Laura Bush; but instead of appreciating the sanctity of life—publicly at least—she promotes the reality of death.
What says true love better than ear-shattering shrieks interspersed with low, guttural growling? If you're in the market for a uniquely thoughtful Valentine's Day present, we have the perfect, possibly rabies-infected gift for you.
Ghost masks, trampy nurses, and razor-stuffed apples—yes. But Halloween’s true character, as a day to remember the dead, can still sneak up on you.
Hazing makes for hot courtship, and how better to love your woman than by hitting her in the face? Lessons learned from rewatching “Purple Rain.”
When you’re young and in love, it’s not so easy to tell the difference between songs of love and songs of protest. A tale of passion and seriously critical misreadings.
A guide to the major techniques, strokes, and hazards you will encounter during an average day on the links.
What does your kitchen say about you? Worse, what does it say about your relationship? Our food writer opens his Manhattan galley to an expert on tiny kitchens—and the domestic squabbles that can explode inside them.
Whether I acted as catalyst or played the well-meaning muse, one thing’s for sure: My writerly exes are a prolific bunch. But are they any good?
Before you know it, married life can become routine. One way to keep things interesting is by trolling video dating services. The consequences may be greater than you think.
Those afraid of flying get on a plane to somewhere, while acrophobes take elevators to the tops of skyscrapers. Confronting your deepest fear with a journey through a Parisian lingerie shop.
Experts answer what they know. The Non-Expert answers anything. This week we offer ways to avoid being kissless on New Year's Eve.
Bumping into an acquaintance can change your day in profound ways. This is especially true when your friend has recently died, ascended to heaven, and been reborn as a vagrant.
Though people around the world may measure success in slightly different ways, there is a single scale that is universally accepted. Because, in the end, it’s all about how you made out.
Experts answer what they know. The Non-Expert answers anything, even the oldest questions. Such as, how can you tell if a girl loves you or not?
It may be something in the sunscreen, but funny things happen during summer: dehydration, Lyme disease, brief romantic flings. Collected writings of love lost and won (but mostly lost).
Natural disasters have a senseless mode of destruction--earthquakes and floods don't care about what they wreck. But what if nature seems to be deliberately trying to erase your history?
Experts answer what they know. The Non-Expert answers anything. This week we pick up where Paul Simon left off and offers a multitude of ways--45, actually--to leave your lover in the dust.
Some people are there to sell a cheap computer. Others to divulge a personal rant, but let’s face it: Most people go to Craigslist for the missed connections.
Experts answer what they know. The Non-Expert answers anything. This week we show how to turn online friendship into internet love, and expose the truth behind Andy Kaufman's return.
Experts answer what they know. The Non-Expert answers anything. This week we come to the aid of a confused, heartbroken Romeo with a story of her someone else's troubles in dating.
Experts answer what they know. The Non-Expert answers anything. This week we help couples understand how cute lover-names can become butt-quaking insults.
“Sincerely, Help?” Having trouble finding the right words to thank cousin Sal for that mango slicer? How to write the perfect, honest thank-you note every time.
Experts answer what they know. The Non-Expert answers anything. This week we explain the many steps of recovery after your heart's been ripped out, stepped on, and sold for scrap.
Experts answer what they know. The Non-Expert answers anything. This week we tell you what to do when hundreds of people RSVP for your wedding and then don't show up.
The Guidry and Lunton families bear children, live their lives, and die in a world bubbling over with misunderstood words and cliché.
New Yorkers judge each other every day, but some days they get to do it in court! The dating pool of voir dire and the other joys of jury duty.