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Village Writes Its Epitaph: Victim Of A Graying Japan
by Norimitsu Onishi, New York Times
As rural Japan becomes increasingly depopulated, many villages and hamlets, along with their traditions and histories, risk vanishing.

The Science Of Me
by Tim Rayment and Ariel Leve, The Times
Scientists say they can map out your medical destiny: what diseases you'll get and how you'll die. But would knowing the future improve your life?

A Romantic Date In Paris
by Tom Robbins, The Observer
A budget is no barrier to love.

The Next Generation
by Verlyn Klinkenborg, New York Times
I often try to explain why my wife and I live where we do. But it really comes down to living as close to wildness as we can. I realize that now. What makes it easier is that so many wild creatures don't mind living near us — so near that we hardly think of them as wild any more.

American Pie
by Hanna Miller, American Heritage
Almost every American food — from egg foo yung to empanadas — is covered in the phone book under the generic heading "Restaurants." Only pizza stands alone.

The Chef Will Serve You Now
by Frank Bruni, New York Times
The room, with flickering candles, exposed brick and dark wood, is romantic. It feels extremely relaxing — at least until you ask whether you might be able to nibble on a salad while you decide whether you'd like the duck or the snapper.

You, To, Can Right Like A Blogger
by Tony Long, Wired News
Were Truman Capote alive today he might be moved to say, "That's not writing. That's blogging."

Do They Really Want The Part?
by John Horn, Los Angeles Times
The actors who play terrorists, suicide bombers and hijackers in this new crop of films are caught in a delicate predicament: The very things they find attractive in playing these parts — three dimensional characters, understandable motivations, the occasional love interest — also open up their films to criticism for humanizing individuals that some consider monsters.

Never Mind Mars And Venus: WHo Is 'The Decider'?
by Jennifer Steinhauer, New York Times
The president has unwitingly added to the lexicon of marital relations.

A Blog Smorgasbord
by Providence Cicero, Seattle Times
A new blog is created every second of every day, according to Dvid L. Sifrey, the founder of Technorati, a web site that tracks the blogosphere, keeping tabs on 36.5 million blogs. Perhaps a thousand of those are devoted to food, with several popular sites based in the Seattle area.

Good Enough To Fine
by Gabrielle Hamilton, New York Times
While the inspector is mandated to have a single-minded focus on the Department of Health's taste-illing rules, a good chef is driven by many concerns — the health and well-being of her customer paramount among them — and it is in her hands that I would rather entrust my eating experiences.

In Praise Of Loopholes
by matthew Baldwin, The Morning News
There's something to be said for working smarter, and not harder, and humans have been looking for — and finding — loopholes to enable it for centuries.

At U.S. Entries, No Welcome Mat
by Joe Sharkey, New York Times
A business traveler from Germany got my attention when he described what travel to the United States could be like these days. "Before unification, I was treated better at the checkpoints going into East Germany."

One Day, That Economy Ticket May Buy You A Place To Stand
by Christopher Elliott, New York Times
The airlines have come up with a new answer to an old question: How many passengers can be squeezed into economy class? A lot more, it turns out, especially if an idea still in the early stage should catch on: standing-room-only "seats."

Learning On Their Own Terms
by Nick Anderson, Washington Post
Maryland school with no curriculum challenges conventions of modern education.

The Writing Life
by Frank Deford, Washington Post
As a writer, the worst two things that ever happened to me were, number one: I had a happy childhood. Number two: I belong to the absolute and utter majority. Perhaps this is why I ended up writing about sports.

The Party's Over
by Rachel Donadio, New York Times
Few events evoke such reminiscences more than book parties. And while they certainly still take place — giving writers and editors a chnace to eye one another warily across crowded rooms — book parties are decidedly not what they once were.

In Search Of A Secular, Nonsectarian Time
by Robert F. Worth, New York Times
In a city ever more constricted by religious fundamentalism and terror, the Hunting Club, and its older cousin, the Alwiya, have become islands of relative safety and hedonism.

Eat Less, Live More
by The Economist
How to live longer — maybe.

Philips And Time Inc. Agree To Keep It Simple
by Brian Steinberg, Wall Street Journal
Finding the table of contents in a magazine usually means flipping through ads. Now one advertiser is turning that system on its head.

Policing The N-Word
by Charles Mudede, The Stranger
When Secrest asked me what I personally thought of the word, I told her that it was a very bad word and should not, in theory, be used because black Americans still sufer from poverty, underfunded and overcrowded schools, police violence, job discrimination, and so on. But despite all this, I felt the word was out of my control.

Coupling
by Chloe Veltman, SF Weekly
How I landed onstage with my husband, and what I did about it.

The Latest Trend In Titless? We Can't Print It
by James Sullivan, Boston Globe
If Mark Twain once said that every household should have a room to swear in, these days the habit is completely out of the closet.

China's New Home Life
by Elaine Louie, New York Times
Guan Yi, a self-taught architect, is one of a group of artists and designers with varying levels of formal training who are changing the definition of the Chinese house one idiosyncratic project at a time.

Edible Bouquets: Giving That Special Person A Taste Of Your Feelings
by Stephanie Dunnewind, Seattle Times
When flowers don't seem quite right for the occasion, givers can opt for a growing number of bouquets that are both beautiful and edible.

This Is My Last Entry: Why I Shut Down My Blog
by Sarah Hepola, Slate
Somewhere between the bedsheets and 6 a.m., I realized something: Blogging wasn't helping me write; it was keeping me from it.

Your IM Status Can Say It All
by Yuki Noguchi, Washington Post
You don't have to actually send a note to communicate by instant message. Availability icons or away messages can be quite revealing.

How Much Do Chefs Really Make?
by Judith Weinraub, Washington Post
Celebrities aside, the short answer is: less than you might think.

Weaving A Tangled Web
by Steven Barrie-Anthony, Los Angeles Times
"Thumbsucker" author Walter Kirn takes on technology in an online novel for slate. If Big Brother had a blog, he would be its webmaster.

The Lonely Planet Guide To My Apartment
by Jonathan Stern, New Yorker
WILDLIFE: The dog's name is Sadie. Don't touch her.

Steal This Newspaper
by David Carr, New York Times
At some point — perhaps when reporters are denied access to newspaper — publishers are saying something else to their employees and their readers: What you're holding has no value.

Up With Grups
by Adam Sternbergh, New York
He owns eleven pairs of sneakers, hasn't worn anything but jeans in a year, and won't shut up about the latest Death Cab for Cutie CD. But he is no kid. He is among hte ascendant breed of grown-up who has redefined adulthood as we once knew it and killed off the generation gap.

Elvis Has Left The Building. Now 30,000 Impersonators May Have To Go As Well
by Tim Reid, The Times
In a move that has made the ranks of the lookalikes queasier than the thought of a deep-fried peanut butter and banana sandwich, a New York businessman has bought the rights to Elvis's name and likeness and has threatened to ban "unauthorised" Elvis clones.

Becoming 'Flexitarian'
by Greg Atkinson, Seattle Times
Carnivores are learning, it's easier than ever to embrace vegetarian food.

Life In The DVD Lane
by Jeanne Marie Laskas, Washington Post
I was all "save the children from too much TV." One more place to watch was one place too many, I figured.

Wristwatches Get The Back Of The Hand
by Leslie Earnest, Los Angeles Times
Is time running out for the wristwatch?

Confessions Of A Tourist: It's Only Rock'n'roll, But I Like It
by Lydia Masters, The Times
As souvenirs go, the tape surely beats an I (heart) New York T-shirt.

New York Leads Politness Trend? Get Outta Here!
by Winnie Hu, New York Times
Somehow a city whose residents have long been scorned for their churlish behavior is now being praised for adopting rules and laws that govern personal conduct, making New York an unlikely model for legislating courtesy and decorum.

Why Stars Name Babies Moxie, Moses And Apple
by Alex Williams, New York Times
Skeptics scoff at the mad rush by stars to come up with exotic baby names as another means for the attention-hungry to grab headlines. But psychologists and others who have worked with high-profile performers say that the naming of children can function as a window into a psyche.

Junk-Food Jihad: Should We Regulate French Fries Like Cigarettes?
by William Saletan, Slate
So, we've found a new enemy: obesity.

A Sour Note On Modern Times
by Tony Long, Wired News
Next time you feel the squeeze, stop. Put on that CD of Beethoven's Sixth languishing in your stacks. Listen to the entire symphony.

Working Girls, Broken Society
by Alison Wolf, Toronto Star
While the benefits of career equality are axiomatic, its negative repercussions are wilfully ignored.

Mi, A Name I Call Myself. And You Are?
by Stephanie Rosenbloom, New York Times
Nicknames have been around for centuries, even before Shakespeare was scribbling iambic pentameter with an inky quill. But the process of acquiring a nickname was changed by the advent of e-mail in the 1980's.

Publishers' Solution To Slow Sales: My Story (And His, Too)
by Robert J. Hughes, Wall Street Journal
Everyone has a story, whether it's a family of Dumpster-divers, a nun who had an affair with a priest, or a self-mutilating teenager. Now, however, there are more publishers willing to put out these personal histories as memoirs.

The Manly Myth
by Justin Davidson, Newsday
What makes a real man? Hollywood and Harvard answer it different ways.

Obscene Word Now Often Seen And Heard
by Amy S. Rosenberg, Philadelphia Inquirer
Are we ushering in the era of f—? Has hte word become acceptable in polite society?

The B-Team: After 'Airplane!' The Spoof Flickmakers Really Took Off. Scary.
by William Booth, Washington Post
That jiggling, he says, "as like a first taste of forbidden fruit." The "nonstop hilariousness." The gladiator jokes. "It was the discovery of how to do the spoof."

Want To Improve Your Marriage? Leave The House
by Garrison Keillor, Salon
The key to a happy union is to go make yourself miserable, then come home.

Word Count: Are There Really 988,968 Words In The English Language?
by Jesse Sheidlower, Slate
The problem with trying to number the words in any language is that it's very hard to agree on the basics.

When Will We Stop Saying 'First Woman To _____'?
by Jill Abramson, New York Times
There will now be a female solo anchor. But there are stil few women successfully leading the cornerstone institutions of our society. Maybe Katie Couric will become one of them. But unlike Walter Cronkite, I don't envy her.

Where Have All The Strivers Gone?
by Joseph Finder, New York Times
Imagine if literary novelists stopped writing about love and sex. We'd notice, wouldn't we? Yet that's exactly what happened to ambition, which used to be one of their great subjects.

Eat This Book
by Dan Neil, Los Angeles Times
It's a pity street fights don't end with spelling bees or the consummation of a hot date doesn't depend on proper conjugation. Studies in literature are their own reward. However, fries are usually free.

Pro-Life Nation
by Jack Hitt, New York Times
There are other countries int he world that, like El Salvador, completely ban abortion. El Salvador, however, has not only a total ban on abortion but also an active law-enforcement apparatus — the police, investigators, medical spies, forensic vagina inspectors and a special division of the prosecutor's office responsible for Crimes Against Minors and Women, a unit charged with capturing, trying and incarcerating an unusual kind of criminal. Like the woman I was waiting to meet.

Satirist Defies End To Resurrect Career
by Tom Baldwin, The Times
He has been refusing dialysis for weeks and doctors are baffled as to why he is not dead but Art Buchwald is finding new fame, and fun, in the process.

Music With Your T, Berklee Students Ask
by Mac Daniel, Boston Globe
T commuters have raised ignoring their surroundings to an art form: They hurry to work, head down, noses buried in books, ears plugged by iPods, achieving as little human contact as possible. But yesterday, things were different, even friendlier, at the Orange Line's New England Medical Center stop.

Testing The Bounds Of MySpace
by Catherine saillant, Los Angeles Times
A writer learns a lot from an experiment with the popular social networking site — especially about her 13-year-old daughter.

The Joys Of Rising From The Cultural Dead: Are HBO Shows Best Experienced On DVD?
by Sam Anderson, Slate
HBO's recent evolution from a place where you could watch Strange Brew 12 times a day into a gushing fountainhead of televisual high art has made my life complicated.

The Dirty Word In 43 Down: A New York Times Crossword Gaffe
by Jesse Sheildlower, Slate
So, how did "scumbag" make it into the puzzle? Simple: No one realized it could be offensive. Evidence suggests that many people, especially younger speakers, are unaware of the sexual meaning.

Dancers As Living Archives
by Martha Ullman West, Chronicle Of Higher Education
Dancers are the living archives of dance history. Long after they leave the stage, in their minds and muscles they hold the memory of form, rhythm, mood, and intent, constituting an irreplaceable resource for performances, historians, and frequently the choreographers themselves.

The Last Picture Show
by Nora Ephron, New York Times
Afterward, on my way out of the theater, I asked if I could speak to the manager. She turned out to be on maternity leave. I asked if I could speak to the assistant manager. There was no assistant manager on dutyr. So I ended up with my old friend, the ticker taker. I told her that the last reel of the movie we had just seen was out of sync and that they might want to fix it before the next show began. She promised me they would.

When You're Late For The Overture
by Daniel J. Wakin, New York Times
Late-comer policies are surprisingly varied, and considerable thought is given to them.

With This Ethical Ring I Thee Wed
by Kirk Johnson, New York Times
As the outsize environmental impact of gold mining has been exposed, jewelers have been trying to inoculate themselves against a consumer backlash. It is not here yet, but many people say it is sure to come.

Families With Full Plates, Sitting Down To Dinner
by Lisa W. Foderaro, New York Times
After decades of decline in the simple ritual of family dinners, there is evidence that many families are making the effort to gather at the dinner table.

Do Apple Slices Make The Grade?
by Kim Severson, New York Times
A little plastic bag filled with New York apple slices is a symbol of change in the city's school cafeterias. The question is whether it's a change for better or worse.

Looking For Poetry In The Newsroom, And Found It
by Dinitia Smith, New York Times
For David Tucker, an assistant managing editor of the Metro section of The Star-Ledger of Newark, there is poetry in the maligned and grimy practice of journalism.

Everything Is In Sequence. So?
by Anthony Ramirez, New York Times
01:02:03 on 04/05/06. Eerie? Transcendental? A harbinger of fire and brimstone?

Living On Impulse
by Benedict Carey, New York Times
For scientists who study mental illness and addiction, impulsive behavior — the tendency to act or react with little thought — has emerged as an all-purpose plague.

Puzzles, Origamii And Other Mind-Twisters
by Edward Rothstein, New York Times
Solving puzzles often means seeing double — an experience singularly magical. And afterwards, one returns to daily life — absurdly confident that some day it too will begin to make sense.

The World Record-Breaking Capital
by Jack Boulware, Wired
The strongest hair! The youngest sumo wrestler! The longest pencil! In Malaysia, making your mark — any mark — is a matter of national pride.

A Dark Day Revisited
by Sean Smith and Jac Chebatoris, Newsweek
Five years later, Hollywood is betting that America is ready for films about what happened on 9/11. Are we?

Techno Thriller
by Sven Birkerts, Boston Globe
'The Unbinding,' Slate's serialized 'Net nozel' being written and posted 'in real time' by Walter Kirn, raises intriguing possibilities for the future of fiction. But is it a future we really want?

Golden Girls
by Jill Gerston, New York Times
There are blondes everywhere. But in New York, a city that thrives on symbols, they are often a breed apart.

Critical Intimacy
by Lisa Levy, The Believer
Comparing the paradoxical obituaries of Susan Sontag.

Heaven's Gate
by Dante Chinni, Washington Post
Will gaining admission to one of the nation's elite colleges guarantee a prosperous future — or just a mountain of debt?

Unhappy Endings
by Horatio Clare, Financial Times
Imagine you have written a book detailing your parents' relationship: how they met, married, divided and divorced. With their permission you used their notebooks, diaries and letters to track the course of their lives. You wrote down your conclusions and sold them to a publisher. Then your parents read the book for the first time and told you what they thought of it — and you. How would you feel? I have an idea, becuase I did exactly that. And I was terrified.

Not Tonight Darling, I'm Online
by Adrian Turpin, Financial Times
Can it be true that a great swathe of the UK population is spending its spare moments surfing for naked flesh and, if so, what effect might that have on the nation's collective psyche? What does it say about our emotional lives?

The Writing Problems Of Visual Thinkers
by Gerald Grow
This exploratory paper pleads for better understanding of the thinking processes that produce such writing problems and the development of new ways of teaching writing that directly address visual thinkers.