No woman I would ever be involved with goes to school for an MRS degree.
Convenient, then, that I ended up married to one of the more ambitious, self-motivated women, nay, people I’ve ever met. Kerry certainly gets more press than I do, that’s for sure, but she also makes quite a bit more money.

Kerry made the cover of the local alt-weekly this week!
I’m totally fine with that, but there is that masculine bit of pride that creeps up any time I come up a little short at the end of a pay period.
In short, I can corroborate the information presented in “Modern Marriages: The Rise Of The Sugar Mama,” a story from Tuesday’s “Morning Edition.”
Whereas if the finances were the other way ’round, Kerry would probably never hesitate to let me lend her a little, I simply can’t bring myself to ask. Kerry usually has to offer. She’s kind enough to insist – even though I insist on keeping a tab, which I pay back immediately on pay day.
Our marriage hasn’t been a way for either of us to get ahead. We went into this intending to ignore traditional gender roles, and function as equal partners. In most areas of our lives, we’re successful in this. We share chores (some days better than others), and split the bills, but we are anything but financial equals.
I know exactly what Derek Monnig means when, talking about how his wife makes almost twice what he makes, he says “Well, she gets called Sugar Mama quite often.”
I don’t think I’ve ever said that out loud, but you get the idea.
I bring in what I can, Kerry brings in what she can, and that’s good enough for us. It’s just that Kerry brings more in. And again, there’s that masculine pride.
On top of that, my family never talked much about money when I was a kid, other than the occasional “be better about money than I am” talk from my dad, which never included information about in which manner he was bad about it, nor how to avoid it.
So I tend to avoid conversations about money.
That, along with the fact that I’d be worried that I wouldn’t be able to support us if I needed to, makes me feel guilty for making less. I know that’s silly.
I’m extremely proud to be associated with Kerry in any capacity, and I’m stoked that her boundless ambition – and drive to simply not suck – is being rewarded.
I’m just not sure how to handle my end of this new economic order.
New York Governor Paterson Makes Rumors Fun Again
New York Governor David Paterson is dealing with rumors that he’s about to be accused of something bad – he’s already admitted ‘marital infidelity’ and cocaine use. The rumors are going crazy, and much like with Britney Spears, we think we know, but we don’t know.
It’s gotten to the point that the rumors themselves have become an more important news story than what they might be about or whether they’re true.
If the rumors are the news, how do you report them while making sure that Paterson’s “alleged misconduct” doesn’t get shortened to “misconduct?” Well, we just use the word “alleged.”
The difference between "alleged misconduct" and "misconduct" is that we KNOW Fleetwood Mac all slept with one another in a bed made of pure cocaine.
But this story is more complicated than that. Gov. Paterson hasn’t been accused of anything. His ‘alleged misconduct’ hasn’t been alleged yet – the rumors are merely that the New York Times is going to publish a story laying those rumors bare.
What that means is this: David Paterson, governor of the state of New York, is under fire for rumored alleged misconduct.
WTF, news media, WTF?
At least “All Things Considered” has the decency and wherewithal to report the story as it is and investigate how it got that way. It even includes this truly classic public radio line: “This truly is the scandal that dare not say its name — because nobody really knows what the heck it is.”
It’s a perfect walk on the balance beam between reporting rumors and sussing out why we love rumors.
The lesson I’ve learned from NPR’s story? More questions.
I know times are rough for newspapers, but I’m not so sure that hiking up the Gray Lady’s skirt is the way to fix it.