The "I Don't" Quiz

There's a new book just out titled I Don't: A Contrarian History of Marriage by Susan Squire.

One question from the "I Don't" Quiz:

1. Which of the following ideas were long accepted as fact?

a) Menstrual fluid is the female equivalent of semen.
b) Fasting on bread and water reduces lust.
c) To be born female is to be born a nymphomaniac.
d) Husbands who lust after their wives are the same as adulterers.
e) Women are capable of making penises disappear.
f) All of the above.
g) None of the above.

We got TSG to take the quiz. He (naturally) failed.

Take the quiz for yourself.

Learn more about the book.

Clooney: patron saint of single guys

From the MSNBC website:

updated 5:23 p.m. CT, Wed., May. 28, 2008

LOS ANGELES - George Clooney has split with his girlfriend of almost a year, Sarah Larson, according to several reports.

A rep for the “Leatherheads” star said “I do not comment on George’s personal life,” when contacted by Access Hollywood but sources told both In Touch Weekly, who first reported the news, and People.com, that the two had split.

Larson, 29, previously told the Las Vegas Review Journal that she met Clooney, 47, while he was celebrating his birthday several years ago at the Green Valley Ranch in Vegas. [read on]

So why hasn't Cameron Diaz called yet?

Cameron Diaz, from InStyle:

"I'm a woman," she says. Like, Duh! "Of course I'm dating. And is that so surprising? Oh my god, she's dating!" So when you make a reported $15 million per movie, how do you make the call that someone is boyfriend material? "I trust my judgment," she says. And though she won't divulge whom she's spending time with, she's clear on what she's looking for. "My list is all about balance. You can have smart but not funny. You can have funny but not very smart. You can have intellectual but not social. But ... I want it all!"

TSG had one question: "So why hasn't she called me yet?"

Vivian's response: [laughter]

The Eligible-Bachelor Paradox

Slate has just published an article that may be of interest to the dorks and social scientists intellectually curious readers of our site. It's titled "The Eligible-Bachelor Paradox: How economics and game theory explain the shortage of available, appealing men." The article, by Mark Gimein, opens:

It is a truth universally acknowledged that the available, sociable, and genuinely attractive man is a character highly in demand in social settings. Dinner hosts are always looking for the man who fits all the criteria. When they don't find him (often), they throw up their hands and settle for the sociable but unattractive, the attractive but unsociable, and, as a last resort, for the merely available.

The shortage of appealing men is a century-plus-old commonplace of the society melodrama. The shortage—or—more exactly, the perception of a shortage—becomes evident as you hit your late 20s and more acute as you wander into the 30s. Some men explain their social fortune by believing they've become more attractive with age; many women prefer the far likelier explanation that male faults have become easier to overlook.

The problem of the eligible bachelor is one of the great riddles of social life. Shouldn't there be about as many highly eligible and appealing men as there are attractive, eligible women?

Actually, no—and here's why. [read on]

If we were more clever, we might have something funny to say about the subject.

A Singles Map of the United States

Richard Florida is the author of the national bestsellers, The Rise of the Creative Class and The Flight of the Creative Class. His new book, Who’s Your City? is about the way people choose the places they live and how that affects everything from their real estate to their families.

In an article accompanying this map--
--Florida writes:

Which of these two decisions do you think has a bigger impact on someone's life: finding the right job, or finding the right significant other? No one's going to argue with the notion that where you live affects your employment prospects. But the place you call home has a lot to do with your chances of finding the right partner as well. Having an enticing "mating market" matters as much or more than a vibrant labor market.

It's not just that some places have more singles than others. If you're a single man or a single woman the odds of meeting that special someone vary dramatically across the country. [read on]

We need to re-assess our 2008 tour plans for The Single Guy...

Like cuttin' the steel band on a bale of cottton

"That's the scary thing about women," the day fireman volunteered, putting up three fingers to ask for his draw. "Marryin' 'em is just like cuttin' the steel band on a bale of cottton. First thing you know, you've got a roomful of woman."

--from "Died and Gone to Vegas" by Tim Gautreaux, collected in Same Place, Same Things (St. Martin's Press, 1996)

Single guy named "U.N. messenger of peace"

Reuters reports that famous single guy George Clooney has been named U.N. messenger of peace:

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon named actor George Clooney, who has campaigned for refugees in Darfur, as a U.N. "messenger of peace" on Friday to promote the world body's peacekeeping efforts. [read on]

Does this mean we'll have to re-work the poster?

Nah ... probably not.

One man's one-night stand is....

Stephen Marks is a political consultant with a specialty in negative advertising which he writes about in the book, Confessions of a Political Hitman.

Deborah Solomon of the New York Times Magazine interviewed Marks about his work and his book. Two of their exchanges:

Have you sent [your parents] a copy of your book?

No. Not yet. I’m a little nervous about how they may react to the personal content.

Yes, you do write about an alarming number of one-night stands.

That’s kind of trashy-sounding. I would prefer to say I haven’t yet found the right woman to settle down with.

"I haven’t yet found the right woman to settle down with" is another way to characterize the "one-night stand?"

Thanks a lot, Stephen Marks -- that's just the kind of bad PR that'll hurt single guys everywhere.

books that explore marriage with uncommon clarity?

Some blogger ran across a short list of "works [that] explore marriage with uncommon clarity" and posted a link to it on his blog.

We did a quick canvas of everyone at Darkbloomz HQ (who survived the New Year festivities) to see who has read these great works.

The results?

Zero.

Not one of us had read any of the books.

And The Single Guy says he's proud of it.

Sigh....

Wedding vows: "for better or girth"

"Many married and single people in their late teens and early 20s gain a significant amount of weight — an average of 15 to 30 pounds — over five years. But newly married men and women in that age group gain 6 to 9 pounds more than their peers who are single and dating," reports USA Today.

Not a reason to stay single, but....

Read the article: "Gain a spouse and you'll likely gain some pounds, too, in first 5 years of marriage," USA Today, October 23, 2007.