One of the contestants on *Age of Attraction*, Vanelle, faces the best kind of problem: having to choose between several men. One of them is Jorge, a magnetic personality whose energy contrasts with her own gentle nature; the other is Justin, a man looking to start a family. The three of them are part of a group of perhaps two dozen people in Pemberton, British Columbia, all seeking to find their true love. Natalie Joy and Nick Viall host this new Netflix dating reality show, where these individuals have the opportunity to get to know one another. They also introduce each other to cultural references they may have missed out on over time—such as Madonna or the Spice Girls. These contestants lay it all on the table, save for one detail: none of them can reveal their actual age until they enter the "Promise Room." Some couples don't have significant age gaps; others—like Derrick and Pfeifer (mild spoiler alert)—are 43 and 23 years old, respectively. Couples with the largest...
When I was about seven or eight years old, I did something strange during a school exam. My mother prepared me for the essay section by having me practice the topics that, with almost total certainty, would appear on the test. And so it happened: of the four topics to choose from, three were the usual ones—the very ones I had practiced over a million times. But then, I decided to write about the unusual topic instead. After the exam, my mother was truly furious when I told her what I had done. My father, on the other hand, asked me why I had done such a thing. My answer was: "I simply felt like doing it." My father then said that was fine. He added, moreover, that no matter what I chose to do in life, he would support me unconditionally. And if things went wrong, he promised he would take care of fixing them. About two years later, my father passed away due to kidney failure. Sadly, he was unable to keep his promise. My life would have been infinitely easier had he still be...