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If I was short on wisdom, I hope my luck rubbed off

June 24, 2010

Goodbye columns are a bit self-indulgent, but I figured you might as well hear it from me: This is it for us — this is my last Relating column.

The underrated, oft neglected power of friendship

June 10, 2010

Friendship gets less glory and attention than other relationships. It’s too easy, too steady and self-supporting. Maybe it works too well to be taken seriously.

Matchmaking done Call of Duty style

May 13, 2010

I wrote a few weeks ago about the endless and often overblown warnings we get that our handheld gadgets and online social networking are killing human interaction as we once knew it.

The perfect gift for couples: A little gratitude

May 13, 2010

There seems to be something a bit futile in the scientific study of in human relationships.

Finding a separation of libido and state

April 29, 2010

It can be awkward when your government sits you down for a sex talk.

Surprise! It's 'Couple Appreciation Month'

April 15, 2010

You learn so much on this beat. I’m informed, for example, that April is “Couple Appreciation Month.” No doubt you already have big plans.

Road trips test-drive your relationship

April 01, 2010

I don’t write much here about my own relationship. It’s a happy one, after all, and that’s a boring read.

There is no 'we' in iPod

March 18, 2010

After more than a half-century of worries, warnings and studies about what our media habits are doing to us and our relationships, FCC chairman Newton Minow’s famous 1961 condemnation of the “vast wasteland” of network TV seems somehow quaint.

Stupid is as stupid does when it comes to infidelity

March 04, 2010

This just in: Cheating is dumb.

The changing rituals of saying goodbye

February 18, 2010

Modern life is geographically scattered, computer mediated and subject to change without notice.

Pronoun may be key to happiness

February 04, 2010

According to the latest cutting-edge relationship science from the University of California, Berkeley, the key to peace, love and happiness for couples is using the word “we,” instead of divisive singular pronouns like “I,” “me” and “you,” which may ramp up conflict.

When it comes to the benefits of marriage, the jury is out

January 21, 2010

Is marriage good for you? The research continues.

Avoiding the pitfalls of his and hers resolutions

January 07, 2010

So, it’s been almost a week. How are those resolutions holding up?

Have yourself a merry little Whatever

December 24, 2009

I have no way of knowing under what circumstances you’re reading this, whether you’re on your way home for the holidays or headed to work, trying to finish your shopping or just catching your breath.

So, it turns out we all watch porn after all

December 10, 2009

I feel I owe an apology to Simon Louis Lajeunesse on behalf of my (and his) gender.

Watching a stranger emerge from your lover

November 26, 2009

I dropped in on an old friend who, since I’d last seen him, has not only gone into business for himself, but is working with his wife. Couples who can manage to do this sort of thing fascinate me.

The 'mysteries' of men and their undies

November 12, 2009

The bottomless mysteries of our relationships — and corporate desire to offer a product as the key to those mysteries — results in a lot of dubious data for your delectation.

Couples and their ‘stuff’

October 29, 2009

It’s not the most romantic of impulses, but the economic cold snap of the past year has increased the temptation for couples to huddle together and split the rent.

Cuddle up with popcorn, movie

October 15, 2009

The critics have not been at all kind to Couples Retreat (The Globe and Mail warns, “Couples, Retreat”) but the romantic comedy led at the box office last weekend with $35.3 million.

Beware campus sex cops

October 01, 2009

You can’t legislate good manners, consideration or discretion, but the futile attempts never end.

Life in public, and private affairs

September 17, 2009

We are warn­ed again and again of the complications workplace romances can create, particularly when they end. But just where are typical working slobs, who spend most of their waking hours on the job, supposed to meet someone?

For the love of money

September 03, 2009

In matters of money, is your ideal mate frugal or frivolous? The answer may be itemized in your own credit card statement.

Facebook kills ... your relationships

August 20, 2009

Nobody likely registered extreme surprise at a new study suggesting Facebook users experience more jealousy in their relationships.

The final resting place

August 06, 2009

History is said to be written by the victors, but sometimes it’s written by its prisoners, those who just can’t stop thinking about it.

Penguin pair young and the restless

July 23, 2009

Iusually eschew celeb news in this column —that’s what the Celebrity Buzz pages are for — but the breakup of Pepper and Harry, the San Francisco Zoo’s famed gay penguins, seems momentous enough to merit an exception.

Coping with loss of man’s best friend

July 09, 2009

Mojo was the dear dog of a dear friend, a pit bull of undetermined but advanced age that finally caught up with her the week before last.

Pride starts adding up

June 25, 2009

In the middle of Pride Week, en route to Canada Day, it’s possible to conflate Pride and patriotism.

Life too short for feuds

June 11, 2009

Now that U.S. President Barack Obama is back from his make-nice mission to the Middle East, perhaps Air Force One could drop him off in southern Ontario to tackle another intractable conflict.

Bowlers roll right along

May 28, 2009

We spend a lot of time in this space parsing the pitfalls of life with your one and only, but what about everyone else? What about your relationships with family and friends, co-workers and neighbours, the vaguely familiar people you pass on the street?

Dysfunction dying out

May 14, 2009

As we continue our efforts this week to find the good in these tight-money times, it only makes sense to contemplate the unbuyables — health, happiness and, of course, love.