(From JT’s blog….)

As we grow up, we learn that even the one person that wasn’t supposed to ever let you down probably will.

Wait for the one who turns to his friends and says, “that’s her.”

Singletons: Only Doesn’t Mean Lonely

By JEFFREY KLUGER

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Posted Sunday, Jul. 2, 2006
All families, even big ones, start off with an only child. Some, however, stop there. Is that a mistake? Do kids denied the gift of sibs turn out to be spoiled, withdrawn, socially ham-handed?

The thinking used to be yes, yes, yes. But as increasing numbers of sibling researchers look at the question of singletons—the new, sensitivity-trained term for only children—they say such assumptions are becoming less and less accurate. No one has studied the only child more closely than social psychologist Toni Falbo of the University of Texas at Austin. In the 1970s, Falbo became interested in whether the popular singleton stereotype was true, and embarked on 30 years of research in the U.S., China, South Korea and elsewhere. She conducted personality surveys, administered questionnaires and conducted meta-analyses of other relevant research papers–essentially recrunching the singleton data in other scientists’ work. Her conclusion: single kids do just fine—most of the time.

Unlike kids with siblings, singletons may indeed start out with the sense that the moon and the planets orbit around them; awakening to the reality that they’re mortals after all can come as a jolt. But how much and how quickly the singletons adjust depends on a lot of things, including the kids’ temperament.

"Some kids are very outgoing and will figure out quickly how to be successful," Falbo says. Others take longer.

In general, though, Falbo insists that the myth of the troubled singleton is just that, and she confesses her astonishment that so many people still regard that as news.

"They’re amazed that, gee, singletons are just like anyone else," she says. From the Jul 10, 2006 issue of TIME magazine

to lessen the world’s burden. Heheheh.. I recently found out I’m currently in my heaviest, but I’m still like 2585.174554 metric tons underweight.

"Everything should be fitting. Your house should not be bigger than your heart; your bed not bigger than your sleep; and your food not a grain more than your stomach.

"Men should not put an ounce of extra weight on mother earth. The earth is already overburdened. Overburdened by flesh, overburdened by greed and overburdened by sorrow. When the balance tips over we will have apocalypse."
- The Alchemy of Desire, Tarun J Tejpal

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My friend and I pigged out on a huge bowl of pasta (pesto.. yumyum!) and gigantic (OA) pizza slices earlier. I must have gained another pound already. Not that I count or care much. I just want to share that they serve good stuff at a Venetto (or Veneto.. I didn’t quite pay attention to the name of the place cz I was starving when we got there) near Tower Records in Glorietta. Good stuff. Good, good.. heheh….. Oh and we had a good laugh prior to it as we watched "All in the Timing" by Peepolykus at the Equitable PCI Bank Tower, which I would normally avoid on weekdays.

And I’m glad to be hanging out with the Varsi peeps again. Miss ‘em lots (yiheeee!)…….. We just laugh almost non-stop until Leah says the words, "There’s no easy way to break somebody’s heart.."