Usually my local net cafe is full of boys and young men playing CounterStrike for hours on end or staring at the lao wai girl (your results may vary). As internet gaming becomes more popular, it’s having some surprising effects in China.
China is home to the Beijing Internet Addiction Treatment Center. It may not […]

Stick called midway through my teenage girls class — I was telling them that they had to be more focused, that they needed to pay attention instead of coming to class with their minds somewhere else, and then my cell phone rang. Universe: 1, Meg: 0.
“I’m here,” he said.
“What? Here? You mean, Yantai? You […]

(Written on 6/1 but Dragon Boat Day is 5/31 so I’m backdating this)
Once there was a Chinese poet called Qu Yuan (??). Depending on who you ask, Qu Yuan either jumped or fell into a river and drowned, and the Chinese celebrate today as the anniversary of his death. (Maybe he wasn’t a very good […]

Stick just sent me a link to this MSN dating article, in which a girlfriend writes for advice on dealing with her computer game-addicted boy. In the spirit of Dear Abby’s Wastebasket, I’ve written a different answer.
Dear Tired,
Did you notice your boy’s fixation with videogames before shacking up? I mean, you must have dated him […]

Stephie and her new boyfriend are walking around in a perfect haze of love and adoration. I’m afraid to listen too closely in case I hear “I love being stuck in traffic with you!” or “Isn’t this hailstorm just beautiful?” They give each other those googly eyes over Latin homework and all in all, it’s […]

For the last six years of my life, people have looked at me funny and asked “Oh, classics… and what are you planning to do with that?” I would mumble something about teaching or my secret plan to be a female Robert Graves or change the subject.
I will never be stumped by that question again, […]

So there’s a new book out called He’s Just Not That Into You by Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo, and it’s a dating advice book. I read The Rules when it came out, notice I said “read”, not “committed to memory”, “bought” or even “left the bookstore with”. Let me defend The Rules as a […]

Stick, a candidate for Greatest Boyfriend Ever, got me three months of EverQuest 2 for Christmas. I installed my new game — all 10 CDs of it! It was like an old Sierra game! — and found out that I needed a new videocard. I’d actually just gotten my GeForce 4 when I started dating […]

On Friday I went to Prof. Antioch’s memorial service, it was at the bar of the Lord Jeff, which is somehow quite appropriate. I went with Marcus, and we got an odd look from Magistra. See, Magistra knew that I used to date him and also that he lives with Becky now and I’m seeing […]

The Sims 2 is coming out next month! September 17th, if you’re not already counting down. The Sims is a real tough act to follow. It’s the best-selling PC game ever, because it is hugely popular with a wide audience, regardless of sex or age or even previous gaming experience.
Which is not to say […]