Smile! Your future marriage might benefit!

A recent study, excerpted in The Economist, draws a possible connection between high school yearbook photos and divorce rates. As it turns out, the less people smile in their yearbook photos, the more likely they are to divorce later in life.

So... happy kids end up in happy marriages?

Or, considering the misery of high school for so many of us, is grinning for the camera just an indicator of one's ability to smile through the pain?

I am in a cynical mood today.

Adventures in selection bias

I always love a naughty research study, and this one sounded like fun: Spanking 'brings couples together'...

Researchers at Northern Illinois University measured stress hormone levels in couples engaging in S&M activities, and found evidence that these activities, while causing some anxiety at first (which, I suppose is the point, right?) ultimately left the couples feeling closer.

And what was their research sample? People attending an S&M party.
Yes. Really.

So... S&M brings couples who are into S&M closer? You don't say!

Museum of Broken Relationships

Coming to San Francisco: an exhibition from a Croatian museum dedicated to the relics of past loves lost. The Museum of Broken Relationships.

"The Museum of Broken Relationships is an art concept which proceeds from the assumption that objects possess integrated fields - ‘holograms’ of memories and emotions - and intends with its layout to create a space of ‘secure memory’ or ‘protected remembrance’ in order to preserve the material and nonmaterial heritage of broken relationships.

"Unlike the ‘destructive’ self-help instructions for recovery from failed loves, the Museum offers every individual the chance to overcome the emotional collapse through creation - by contributing to the Museum's collection."

Among the artifacts showcased: a glass horse, a pair of panties, a broken garden gnome, a prosthetic limb (really).

Check out the exhibit or donate artifacts from your own failed love stories.

Happy Valentines Day.