Remembering an Inspiring Teacher

Dave Eggers tells a wonderful story about his high school English teacher,

"But near the end of the semester, we read "Macbeth." Believe me, this is not an easy play to connect to the lives of suburban high schoolers, but somehow he made the play seem electric, dangerous, relevant. After procrastinating till the night before it was due, I wrote a paper about the play -- the first paper I typed on a typewriter -- and turned it in the next day.

"I got a good grade on it, and below the grade Mr. Criche wrote, "Sure hope you become a writer." That was it. Just those six words, written in his signature handwriting -- a bit shaky, but with a very steady baseline. It was the first time he or anyone had indicated in any way that writing was a career option for me." - Reprinted at Salon.com

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• This piece originally appeared on TeacherLove.org, an online forum for sharing stories about teachers that have made a difference. If you have a story you'd like to share, please submit it here

Marriage - A Better Deal for Men?

Amanda Hess makes a strong case

"Married men make more money and get more promotions than single guys. They live longer, have less heart disease, drink less, smoke less weed, and experience less stress. Meanwhile, married women have less fulfilling sex lives and less free time than their husbands. They also have smaller paychecks. (They do get to keep smoking the same amount of weed). These factors help explain why women are less into marriage than men are."

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• One assumes there's nothing really that surprising here; why then are we surprised to hear it stated so bluntly?
• Hess also has some interesting observations on marriage and weight gain. Do they match your expectations?