Michael Buday and Diana Bijon wanted to share a last name: hers. On Monday, he finally got his new driver’s license with the name Michael Bijon. He sued the State of California–and got a change in the law–when they told him it would cost $350 and require court appearances to get a name change women can make for free. According to Reuters, only nine other states include this...
Long-term, stable marriages have at least five positive exchanges for each negative exchange. Drop below that, and you’re in trouble. This comes from one of the best known marriage researchers, John Gottman. He has a remarkable track record of predicting the state of your marriage four years later based on watching only a 15-minute conversation about some problem the two of you face. What...
Another upside to being married: It’s the rational thing to do. In MIT Professor Dan Ariely’s new book, Predictably Irrational, he shows how irrationally we’ll behave to keep our options open, whether it’s TV surfing, paying extra for features we don’t even know if we have any use for, or pursuing interesting opportunities that distract us from our goals. Professor...
Politicians can wield a great deal of public power, but it is often how they conduct their personal relationships that takes it all away in an instant. People are human. They make really foolish mistakes, especially when it comes to feeding their very human desires for love, respect, intimacy, and sex, mistakes almost as shocking to them as to the rest of us. The preventative medicine is not fear...
What’s reasonable to expect from a husband? Or a wife? I had an interesting discussion recently with two single women. I told them I believe one of the keys to a great marriage is to expect only love. Well, of course they both expect love. But only love? Shouldn’t we expect fairness? If one cooks, the other cleans up? Unless there are kids at home to care for, both work? If she does...
