a fleeting stay ...

Learning Curve contributor and guest blogger KOH SOO LING  writes about what happens when women are confronted with the choice of moving on or staying put in a marriage wrought with problems. She offers tips for staying strong in this situation. Koh Soo Ling in Coole Park, Ireland THE ROAD NOT TAKEN Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveller, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could  To where it bent in the undergrowth;  Then took the other, as just as fair,  And having perhaps the better claim,  Because it was grassy and wanted wear;  Though as for that the passing there  Had worn them really about the same,  And both that morning equally lay  In leaves no step had trodden black.  Oh, I kept the first for another day!  Yet knowing how way leads on to way,  I doubted if I should ever come back.  I shall be telling this with a sigh...

I am in the mood, dear Reader, to test your knowledge about white (read "North American left-leaning, city-dwelling white folk") popular culture. Question 1 : Why do some white people stay in for breakfast on a Sunday morning? Question 2 : Why do some white people like not having a TV? Question 3 : Why do white people love Japan? Three questions will suffice to illustrate my point. If you don't know the answers, I will offer you a preview. Answer 1 : White people love their brunch places but some have breakfast at home on a Sunday morning for the simple reason that they want to read the Sunday edition of The New York Times . Apparently reading the newspaper will make them look good on Monday morning when they need to impress their co-workers by telling them about the latest books in the Book Review section or a discussion of a thought-provoking issue in the Magazine section. Answer 2 : Some white people like making other white people feel bad and not havin...

Simon Cowell One of the world's most eligible bachelors is getting married. Yes, I am talking about Simon Cowell, the best known judge on American Idol.  His recent engagement to American Idol make-up artist Mezghan Hussainy ended weeks of speculation about his relationship with the Afghan-born beauty. The couple are expected to get married later this year.  What does Hussainy, 36, have that the others don't? Only Cowell, 50, can answer that. According to Cowell's UK rep Max Clifford, Cowell and Hussainy "are very suited" . She is independent and speaks her mind. And the sharp tongue Cowell "likes that". They have known each for a long time and began dating last year.  Other reports note that Cowell is a lot happier these days. Is that why his  criticisms of contestants on this season's American Idol seem softer? Cowell continues to offer comments of aspiring idols' singing abilities in his usual acerbic style but sounds less hars...