The Do's and Don't of Love

Why you should date the "crazy girl" after all

OK, she's mostly just crazy flexible, but the premise still applies.
No matter who you take a chance on dating, there's no chance she'll be as crazyas your ex-girlfriend. Really ...

I’ve had some disappointing dates. For reference, my best Valentine's Day ever, the guy I was seeing showed up to my apartment with a half drunk bottle of Ste. Genevieve and took me to see a band. (Well, tried to take me. We were promptly kicked out for being too drunk/ underage.)

Yes, it was all downhill from there. I peaked at Ste. Genevieve.

After letdown after letdown, I began compiling some fail-proof reasons I’d make an ideal girlfriend. It's been in the works for half a decade. I originally intended it as a PowerPoint presentation complete with animated gifs, flying numbers and lots of the “dissolve” effect. (Love that effect!)

For brevity’s sake, I’ve resorted to list form and narrowed down my 100-some reasons to a lucky 13 best.

Why You Should Pick Me (or a disappointed girl like me) as Your Date:

1. I'm in pretty good shape, so I can keep up when we're running from the cops.
2. I don't have the AIDS.
3. I'm not your ex-girlfriend. What a crazy bitch she turned out to be.
4. I "get" you.
5. If I don't "get" you, I will pretend to really convincingly.
6. Want the secret of life? Good, because I have it.
7. Four words: Master of computer FreeCell.
8. I got fourth place in my eighth grade science fair!
9. I'm great with kids.
10. OK that's a lie, keep them away from me.
11. I can make us friendship bracelets ... for FREE!
12. I have spectacular taste in music, so you don't have to bother making me mixed tapes or introducing me to whatever "great" bands you like.
13. I'm pretty flaky, so you won't have to sacrifice any of your alone time for me.

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H-Town rising

Houston leaps back into top 50 'World's Best Cities' list for 2025

Photo by Adrian Newell on Unsplash

Houston made a big leap back into the top 50, ranking No. 40, after previously plummeting into No. 72 last year.

Lively Houston has regained its rightful place among the top 50 best cities in the world, according to a prestigious new report by Resonance Consultancy.

The Canada-based real estate and tourism marketing advisors ranked Houston the 40th best city worldwide for 2025 in its annual "World's Best Cities" list.

The report quantifies the relative qualities of livability, "lovability," and prosperity for the world's top 100 cities with metropolitan populations of 1 million or more. New to the 10th anniversary edition, Resonance partnered with global market researchers Ipsos to include perception-based data into the rankings, surveying over 22,000 people in 30 countries worldwide to determine "the most desirable places to visit, live or work."

Houston made a major rebound after plummeting to No. 73 in last year's report. In 2022, Houston ranked No. 42.

Resonance refers to its previous "World's Best Cities" reports and its 2024 "America's Best Cities" list – which ranked Houston in the top 10 – when explaining the Bayou City's successes. The report praised Houston's vast cultural diversity and placed a great focus on its economic prosperity, even going so far as to suggest Houston residents make more money "and can sock more away."

"...[W]here America’s fourth-largest city truly takes off is in its economic heft and wealth, ranking No. 9 globally for GDP per Capita and No. 14 for Fortune 500 companies in town," the report said. "All that rolls up into an overall Prosperity index ranking of No. 36, which is even more impressive given the No. 14-ranked Price-to Income Ratio [of the city]."

Elsewhere in Texas, Austin and Dallas also earned spots on the World's Best Cities list for 2025, but only one made a similar rebound from the previous year's rankings. Dallas moved up from No. 66 in last year's report to its current rank as No. 55. Meanwhile, Austin took its first tumble out of the 43rd spot (which it had occupied for two years straight) and now ranks No. 53.

London held onto its crown as the No. 1 best city in the world for 2025, followed by New York (No. 2), Paris (No. 3), Tokyo (No. 4), and Singapore (No. 5).