Iowa Land and Sky: The Mississippi River
Explore the eastern border of Iowa along the Mississippi River including dramatic aerial cinematography, peregrine falcon restoration and river commerce.
Log Cabin and Sod House Pella, Iowa Historic Village
ROBERT E. LEE - WikiVidi Documentary
Robert Edward Lee was an American and Confederate soldier, best known as a top army commander of the Confederate States of America. He commanded the Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War from 1862 until his surrender in 1865. A son of Revolutionary War officer Henry Light Horse Harry Lee III, Lee was a top graduate of the United States Military Academy and an exceptional officer and military engineer in the United States Army for 32 years. During this time, he served throughout the United States, distinguished himself during the Mexican–American War, and served as Superintendent of the United States Military Academy. When Virginia declared its secession from the Union in April 1861, Lee chose to follow his home state, despite his desire for the country to remain intact and an offer of a senior Union command. During the first year of the Civil War, Lee served as a senior military adviser to Confederate President Jefferson Davis. Once he took command of the main field ...
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Shortcuts to chapters:
00:04:26: Early life and career
00:09:17: Military engineer career
00:14:07: Marriage and family
00:15:46: Mexican–American War
00:18:19: Early 1850s: West Point and Texas
00:19:50: Late 1850s: Arlington plantation and the Custis slaves
00:21:56: The Norris case
00:27:51: Lee's views on race and slavery
00:33:33: Harpers Ferry and Texas, 1859–61
00:33:53: Harpers Ferry
00:34:54: Texas
00:36:24: Civil War
00:39:08: Early role
00:42:08: Commander, Army of Northern Virginia (June 1862-June 1863)
00:47:42: Battle of Gettysburg
00:50:53: Ulysses S. Grant and the Union offensive
00:52:26: General-in-chief
00:54:21: Summaries of Lee's Civil War battles
00:54:34: Postbellum life
00:58:42: President Johnson's amnesty pardons
00:59:47: Postwar politics
01:05:18: Illness and death
01:06:40: Legacy
01:11:27: Monuments, memorials and commemorations
____________________________________
Copyright WikiVidi.
Licensed under Creative Commons.
Wikipedia link:
Dickinson Texas Historic Railroad Depot
The Dickinson Historic Railroad Center is owned by the City of Dickinson, Texas. It is comprised of the Dickinson Railroad Depot, the League City Railroad Depot, and the grounds surrounding those depots. It includes any artifacts, objects, displays, benches, or other physical devices or equipment associated with the grounds.
The Dickinson Depot sat along the railroad tracks not., far from Hwy. 3 and FM 517 East. The: Depot was part of the Galveston;. Houston, and Henderson (G.H. & H.) Railroad Line, which was one of the earliest railroads in Texas. Chartered in 1853 the G.H&H; was one of the oldest lines in Texas to retain its original charter name and the first railroad to reach the Texas Gulf Coast. The line gained financial stability in 1882, under the ownership and empire of Jay Gould.
The original Dickinson depot was built in 1859, and later burned in 1900. A new Depot was designed and built in 1902 by architect George B. Stowe, a prominent Galveston architect. More elaborate than the other depots along the line, Stowe's design called for a red brick mantle fireplace, double half-moon doors, and a bay window overlooking the tracks.
Through the doors of this beautiful Victorian-styled structure traveled thousands of visitors to the Dickinson, Galveston, and Houston area. Many of the visitors spent their days at the picnic grounds, racetrack, and various Dickinson events. It is no wonder that this Depot helped to name the town of Dickinson. Situated on property of once owned by 'John Dickinson, one of Stephen F. Austin's original Old Three Hundred settlers, the station came to be known as the Dickinson Station. So: many of the travelers came to know and enjoy the area as Dickinson, even though several other names were tried in identifying the region.
For these many reasons, the Weed N Wish Garden Club members came to love, and later own, the Dickinson Depot. They could not allow the little depot, which had been so significant in developing our city, to be destroyed. They took it upon themselves to restore, renovate, and maintain the Dickinson Station as an area community center and museum. •At a time when there existed no City government, the Garden Club ladies raised the money necessary to move and restore the Dickinson depot. Only a short time into the fundraising and restoration work, the Garden Club members were offered the League City Depot. Knowing its importance to the area; as well as the state, the ladies decided to add to their fundraising burden and save the League City Depot, as well.
For many years, these ladies provided a fabulous community center and museum to visitors and residents~, but the expense and hardship of maintaining the buildings became too much for the Garden Club, and it was donated to the City of Dickinson. Understanding the significance of the two depots to our state and town, the City of Dickinson aided in forming the Dickinson Historical Society. The Society took on the task fundraising and restoring the depots, with the assistance of tile City: Dickinson Economic Development Corporation, TXDOT, Texas Historical Commission, and many other supporters. Today stands the Dickinson Historic Railroad Center, a community meeting facility, visitor center, museum, gift shop, bicycle rest stop, and offices for the Dickinson Historical Society, as well as the North Galveston County Chamber of Commerce.
Haunted Highlands In Hampton Roads & Across Virginia
Obscure history and folk tales abound across the Commonwealth of Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. Join Author Joe Tennis and the Norfolk Historic Society on a journey of legends and ghost stories from Norfolk, VA and all along Route 58 including true tales from beach to bluegrass with a great railroads story in-between.
#norfolkVA
#757
National Park Service | Wikipedia audio article
The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations. It was created on August 25, 1916, by Congress through the National Park Service Organic Act and is an agency of the United States Department of the Interior. The NPS is charged with a dual role of preserving the ecological and historical integrity of the places entrusted to its management, while also making them available and accessible for public use and enjoyment.
As of 2018, the NPS employs approximately 27,000 employees who oversee 418 units, of which 60 are designated national parks.
Library of Congress Celebrates the Collection of Photographer Bob Adelman
Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden announces the Library's acquisition of the entire Bob Adelman photographic archive. Adelman was a renowned documentary and news photographer who captured many historic events throughout the latter half of the twentieth century. She is joined by United States Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera, Ann Beattie, novelist and short story writer, Verna Curtis, curator of photography, and James Estrin, editor of the New York Times' Lens blog.
Statue of Liberty | Wikipedia audio article
This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
00:02:55 1 Design and construction process
00:03:05 1.1 Origin
00:08:21 1.2 Design, style, and symbolism
00:14:04 1.3 Announcement and early work
00:18:07 1.4 Construction in France
00:23:28 1.4.1 Design
00:26:29 1.4.2 Fundraising
00:29:14 1.4.3 Construction
00:31:05 1.5 Dedication
00:34:21 2 After dedication
00:34:31 2.1 Lighthouse Board and War Department (1886–1933)
00:39:43 2.2 Early National Park Service years (1933–1982)
00:43:37 2.3 Renovation and rededication (1982–2000)
00:48:25 2.4 Closures and reopenings (2001–present)
00:51:46 3 Access and attributes
00:51:55 3.1 Location and access
00:53:56 3.2 Inscriptions, plaques, and dedications
00:55:39 4 UNESCO World Heritage Site
00:56:16 5 Physical characteristics
00:56:26 6 Depictions
01:00:29 7 See also
Listening is a more natural way of learning, when compared to reading. Written language only began at around 3200 BC, but spoken language has existed long ago.
Learning by listening is a great way to:
- increases imagination and understanding
- improves your listening skills
- improves your own spoken accent
- learn while on the move
- reduce eye strain
Now learn the vast amount of general knowledge available on Wikipedia through audio (audio article). You could even learn subconsciously by playing the audio while you are sleeping! If you are planning to listen a lot, you could try using a bone conduction headphone, or a standard speaker instead of an earphone.
Listen on Google Assistant through Extra Audio:
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Speaking Rate: 0.9989449524969899
Voice name: en-AU-Wavenet-A
I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think.
- Socrates
SUMMARY
=======
The Statue of Liberty (Liberty Enlightening the World; French: La Liberté éclairant le monde) is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor in New York, in the United States. The copper statue, a gift from the people of France to the people of the United States, was designed by French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi and its metal framework was built by Gustave Eiffel. The statue was dedicated on October 28, 1886.
The Statue of Liberty is a figure of Libertas, a robed Roman liberty goddess. She holds a torch above her head with her right hand, and in her left hand carries a tabula ansata inscribed in Roman numerals with JULY IV MDCCLXXVI (July 4, 1776), the date of the U.S. Declaration of Independence. A broken shackle and chain lay at her feet as she walks forward, commemorating the recent national abolition of slavery. The statue became an icon of freedom and of the United States, and a national park tourism destination. It is a welcoming sight to immigrants arriving from abroad.
Bartholdi was inspired by a French law professor and politician, Édouard René de Laboulaye, who is said to have commented in 1865 that any monument raised to U.S. independence would properly be a joint project of the French and U.S. peoples. Because of the post-war instability in France, work on the statue did not commence until the early 1870s. In 1875, Laboulaye proposed that the French finance the statue and the U.S. provide the site and build the pedestal. Bartholdi completed the head and the torch-bearing arm before the statue was fully designed, and these pieces were exhibited for publicity at international expositions.
The torch-bearing arm was displayed at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876, and in Madison Square Park in Manhattan from 1876 to 1882. Fundraising proved difficult, especially for the Americans, and by 1885 work on the pedestal was threatened by lack of funds. Publisher Joseph Pulitzer, of the New York World, started a drive for donations to finish the project and attracted more than 120,000 contributors, most of whom gave less than a dollar. The statue was built in France, shipped overseas in crates, and assembled on the completed pedestal on what was then called Bedloe's Island. The statue's completion was marked by New York's first ticker-tape parade and a dedication ceremony presided over by President Grover Cleveland.
The statue was administered by the United States Lighthouse Board until 1901 and then by the Department of War; since 1933 it has been maintained by the National Park Service as part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument. Public access to the balcony around the torch has been barred since 1916.
National Park System | Wikipedia audio article
This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
National Park System
00:00:48 1 History
00:03:41 1.1 National Park Service
00:05:10 2 Directors
00:05:19 3 National Park System
00:07:45 3.1 Holdings
00:08:01 3.2 Criteria
00:09:00 3.3 Special designations
00:10:01 4 Budget
00:11:02 4.1 Discretionary spending
00:11:48 4.2 Resource stewardship
00:12:17 4.3 Visitor services
00:12:51 4.4 Park protection
00:13:18 4.5 Facility maintenance and operations
00:14:00 4.6 Park support
00:14:23 4.7 External administrative costs
00:14:50 4.8 Park partnerships
00:15:15 4.9 Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF)
00:16:03 4.10 Construction
00:16:37 4.11 Historic preservation fund
00:17:06 4.12 National recreation and preservation
00:17:34 4.13 Offsetting reductions and fixed costs in various accounts
00:18:07 4.14 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
00:18:31 4.15 Great Lakes Restoration Initiative
00:19:19 4.16 Mandatory spending
00:20:09 4.17 Employees and volunteers
00:20:30 4.18 Economic benefits
00:21:06 5 Nomenclature
00:25:20 6 Visitors
00:27:09 7 Youth programs
00:29:58 8 Accessibility
00:33:34 9 Concessions
00:34:59 9.1 Litigation with Delaware North
00:36:23 10 Bookstores
00:37:14 11 Offices
00:38:46 12 Staff and volunteers
00:38:56 12.1 Employees
00:41:00 12.2 Volunteers-In-Parks (VIP)
00:42:56 13 Law enforcement
00:43:47 13.1 Jurisdiction
00:44:49 13.2 Law Enforcement Rangers
00:45:50 13.3 Special Agents
00:46:45 13.4 Laws enforced
00:47:44 13.5 United States Park Police
00:48:37 14 Special divisions
00:54:33 15 International affairs
00:55:42 16 Initiatives
00:59:28 16.1 Green Park Plan
00:59:46 16.1.1 Climate Friendly Parks Program
01:02:23 17 Related acts
01:02:33 18 See also
01:02:42 18.1 Areas
01:03:09 18.2 People
01:03:17 18.2.1 Individuals
01:03:46 18.2.2 Roles
01:03:58 18.3 Related organizations
01:04:13 18.4 Other links
01:04:50 19 Sources
Listening is a more natural way of learning, when compared to reading. Written language only began at around 3200 BC, but spoken language has existed long ago.
Learning by listening is a great way to:
- increases imagination and understanding
- improves your listening skills
- improves your own spoken accent
- learn while on the move
- reduce eye strain
Now learn the vast amount of general knowledge available on Wikipedia through audio (audio article). You could even learn subconsciously by playing the audio while you are sleeping! If you are planning to listen a lot, you could try using a bone conduction headphone, or a standard speaker instead of an earphone.
You can find other Wikipedia audio articles too at:
You can upload your own Wikipedia articles through:
The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.
- Socrates
SUMMARY
=======
The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations. It was created on August 25, 1916, by Congress through the National Park Service Organic Act and is an agency of the United States Department of the Interior. The NPS is charged with a dual role of preserving the ecological and historical integrity of the places entrusted to its management, while also making them available and accessible for public use and enjoyment.
As of 2018, the NPS employs approximately 27,000 employees who oversee 418 units, of which 60 are designated national parks.
Clara Barton | Wikipedia audio article
This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
Clara Barton
00:00:37 1 Early life
00:03:22 2 Early professional life
00:06:08 3 American Civil War
00:09:40 4 Post American Civil War
00:11:07 5 American Red Cross
00:15:53 6 Final years
00:16:24 7 Religious beliefs
00:16:57 8 Clara Barton National Historic Site
00:18:02 9 Clara Barton's Missing Soldiers Office
00:19:16 10 Fictional depictions
00:20:38 11 Places named for Clara Barton
00:20:48 11.1 Schools
00:22:34 11.2 Streets
00:23:13 11.3 Other
00:24:40 12 Published works
00:25:22 13 Notes
00:25:31 14 Further reading
00:29:24 14.1 Historiography
00:29:43 15 External links
Listening is a more natural way of learning, when compared to reading. Written language only began at around 3200 BC, but spoken language has existed long ago.
Learning by listening is a great way to:
- increases imagination and understanding
- improves your listening skills
- improves your own spoken accent
- learn while on the move
- reduce eye strain
Now learn the vast amount of general knowledge available on Wikipedia through audio (audio article). You could even learn subconsciously by playing the audio while you are sleeping! If you are planning to listen a lot, you could try using a bone conduction headphone, or a standard speaker instead of an earphone.
You can find other Wikipedia audio articles too at:
You can upload your own Wikipedia articles through:
The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.
- Socrates
SUMMARY
=======
Clarissa Clara Harlowe Barton (December 25, 1821 – April 12, 1912) was a pioneering nurse who founded the American Red Cross. She was a hospital nurse in the American Civil War, a teacher, and patent clerk. Nursing education was not very formalized at that time and she did not attend nursing school, so she provided self-taught nursing care. Barton is noteworthy for doing humanitarian work at a time when relatively few women worked outside the home. She was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1973.
Robert E. Lee | Wikipedia audio article
This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
Robert E. Lee
00:03:15 1 Early life and career
00:07:22 2 Military engineer career
00:11:13 3 Marriage and family
00:13:58 4 Mexican–American War
00:15:45 5 Early 1850s: West Point and Texas
00:17:05 6 Late 1850s: Arlington plantation and the Custis slaves
00:19:06 6.1 The Norris case
00:24:19 6.2 Lee's views on race and slavery
00:33:06 7 Harpers Ferry and Texas, 1859–1861
00:33:32 7.1 Harpers Ferry
00:34:32 7.2 Texas
00:36:11 8 Civil War
00:36:20 8.1 Resignation from United States Army
00:42:48 8.2 Early role
00:45:18 8.3 Commander, Army of Northern Virginia (June 1862 – June 1863)
00:50:05 8.4 Battle of Gettysburg
00:52:42 8.5 Ulysses S. Grant and the Union offensive
00:54:02 8.6 General in Chief
00:55:34 9 Summaries of Lee's Civil War battles
00:55:53 10 Postbellum life
00:59:16 10.1 President Johnson’s amnesty pardons
01:00:35 10.2 Postwar politics
01:04:45 11 Illness and death
01:06:00 12 Legacy
01:10:44 12.1 Monuments, memorials and commemorations
01:19:13 13 Dates of rank
01:19:34 14 In popular culture
01:22:06 15 See also
Listening is a more natural way of learning, when compared to reading. Written language only began at around 3200 BC, but spoken language has existed long ago.
Learning by listening is a great way to:
- increases imagination and understanding
- improves your listening skills
- improves your own spoken accent
- learn while on the move
- reduce eye strain
Now learn the vast amount of general knowledge available on Wikipedia through audio (audio article). You could even learn subconsciously by playing the audio while you are sleeping! If you are planning to listen a lot, you could try using a bone conduction headphone, or a standard speaker instead of an earphone.
You can find other Wikipedia audio articles too at:
You can upload your own Wikipedia articles through:
The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.
- Socrates
SUMMARY
=======
Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was an American and Confederate soldier, best known as a commander of the Confederate States Army. He commanded the Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War from 1862 until his surrender in 1865. A son of Revolutionary War officer Henry Light Horse Harry Lee III, Lee was a top graduate of the United States Military Academy and an exceptional officer and military engineer in the United States Army for 32 years. During this time, he served throughout the United States, distinguished himself during the Mexican–American War, and served as Superintendent of the United States Military Academy.
When Virginia declared its secession from the Union in April 1861, Lee chose to follow his home state, despite his desire for the country to remain intact and an offer of a senior Union command. During the first year of the Civil War, Lee served as a senior military adviser to Confederate President Jefferson Davis. Once he took command of the main field army in 1862 he soon emerged as a shrewd tactician and battlefield commander, winning most of his battles, all against far superior Union armies. Lee's strategic foresight was more questionable, and both of his major offensives into Union territory ended in defeat. Lee's aggressive tactics, which resulted in high casualties at a time when the Confederacy had a shortage of manpower, have come under criticism in recent years. Lee surrendered his entire army to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865. By this time, Lee had assumed supreme command of the remaining Southern armies; other Confederate forces swiftly capitulated after his surrender. Lee rejected the proposal of a sustained insurgency against the Union and called for reconciliation between the two sides.
In 1865, after the war, Lee was paroled and signed an oath of allegiance, asking to have his citizenship of the United States restored. Lee's application was misplaced; as a result, he did not receive a pardon and his citizenship was not restored. In 1865, Lee became president of Washington College (later Washington and Lee University) in Lexington, Virginia; in that position, he supported reconciliation between North and South. Lee accepted the extinction of slavery provided for by the Thirteenth Amendment, but publicly opposed racial equality and granting African Americans the right to vote and other political rights. Lee died in 1870. In 1975, the U.S. Congress posthumously restored Lee's citizenship effective June 13, 1865.Lee opposed the construction of public memorials to Confederate rebellion on the grounds that they would prevent the healing of wounds inflicted during the war. Nevertheless, after his death, Lee became an icon used by promoters of Lost Cause mythology, who sought to romanticize the Confederate cause and strengthen white suprema ...
City of Sioux City Budget Hearing - January 25, 2020
2017 MSFA Convention Monday Session 1 June 19th 2017
2017 Maryland State Firemen's Convention and Conference Session 1 Monday June 19th 2017
Contents:
- CALL TO ORDER – FIRST SESSION – Convention Center Bay Front Ballroom
- OPENING CEREMONIES
- Keynote Speaker Presentation: The History of the Maryland State Firemen’s Association 125 Years of Service and Dedication, A Year of Celebration and Remembrance
Recognition of MSFA Past Presidents Recognition of Guests and Organizations
Reading and acceptance of the 2015 Convention and Conference Minutes Report of the Credentials Committee
Report of the Association Officers
Report of the Standing and Special Committees Report of the Volunteer Company Assistance Fund Report of the Constitution and By-laws Committee National Volunteer Fire Council Report
Nomination of Officers and Location of Convention
Appointment of Election Judges and Tellers
Don Paxton Railroad Video (1987)
My grandfather (Donald Paxton) recorded this video with his RCA camcorder in 1987, before he retired from working on the B&O Railroad out of the Newark, Ohio, division. He started work there in March of 1950, and retired in 1989. In this video, he is conducting a train as it goes from Newark, Ohio, to Zanesville and to Columbus and back. There are scenes of the engineer, the countryside, and inside the caboose. Also, there are scenes of trains leaving and arriving at the Newark Rail Yards, and later in the video, there are scenes of machines laying down new track. Overall, this is a unique documentary, filmed by a railroad man, depicting life on the railroad in central Ohio during the later part of the 20th century.
Here is what my grandfather said, in his own words, about working on the railroad:
I am aware the B&O was the first passenger hauling railroad in the United States. Two things I have been grateful for: I was hired out when Steam Engines were used, and also when there were seven passenger trains on Newark Division of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Diesel Engines replaced Steam just a few years after I hired. Passenger trains were also replaced with freight hauling trains. Newark, Ohio, was our Division Terminal. We had sub-divisions that ran to Wheeling, WVa, Willard, and Cincinnati. Also had branches out of Zanesville to Marietta, Newark to Shawnee, Willard to Sandusky. Total of 600 miles of trackage, plus many yard tracks.
In Willard (Chicago Jct) we stayed overnight at a large Railroad YMCA, in Benwood, WVa, another large Y was our overnight lodging. In Cincinnati, we stayed at the Stockyards Hotel. Sometimes at outlying points, we slept in the Caboose. I really preferred working in Newark Yards because I could stay at home.
My first promotion was being qualified to work as Flagman. Second promotion was a Yard Foreman, and last was a Road Conductor. Hired in March 1950, worked until drafted for the Army in 1951 until 1953, then returned to railroad. Retired in 1989 with early pension, due to buyout.
Only requirement for hiring was a high school education and purchase of a railroad standard watch. I was able to buy the watch from Penn Jewelers in Wheeling, WVa, and the cost was extracted from my first paycheck. My Brother-in-Law, Cliff Jinks was also a Conductor, hiring in 1941. It was through his recommendation that I was hired. Before, I had worked at a local tile plant for two years. Hindsight shows railroading was a much better job. I always seemed to have the physical and mental capacity to be comfortable in this line of work.
For more information on Don Paxton and the B&O Railroad, check out the following link:
National Park Service | Wikipedia audio article
This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
National Park Service
Listening is a more natural way of learning, when compared to reading. Written language only began at around 3200 BC, but spoken language has existed long ago.
Learning by listening is a great way to:
- increases imagination and understanding
- improves your listening skills
- improves your own spoken accent
- learn while on the move
- reduce eye strain
Now learn the vast amount of general knowledge available on Wikipedia through audio (audio article). You could even learn subconsciously by playing the audio while you are sleeping! If you are planning to listen a lot, you could try using a bone conduction headphone, or a standard speaker instead of an earphone.
You can find other Wikipedia audio articles too at:
You can upload your own Wikipedia articles through:
The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.
- Socrates
SUMMARY
=======
The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations. It was created on August 25, 1916, by Congress through the National Park Service Organic Act and is an agency of the United States Department of the Interior. The NPS is charged with a dual role of preserving the ecological and historical integrity of the places entrusted to its management, while also making them available and accessible for public use and enjoyment.
As of 2018, the NPS employs approximately 27,000 employees who oversee 418 units, of which 60 are designated national parks.
WLRI 93FM NEWSRADIO - ALL NEWS. ALL DAY. ALL NIGHT.
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Local, national and international breaking news and current events coverage without commercial content.
Auburn Coach Wife Kristi Malzahn Agrees with Match & eHarmony: Men are Jerks
My advice is this: Settle! That's right. Don't worry about passion or intense connection. Don't nix a guy based on his annoying habit of yelling Bravo! in movie theaters. Overlook his halitosis or abysmal sense of aesthetics. Because if you want to have the infrastructure in place to have a family, settling is the way to go. Based on my observations, in fact, settling will probably make you happier in the long run, since many of those who marry with great expectations become more disillusioned with each passing year. (It's hard to maintain that level of zing when the conversation morphs into discussions about who's changing the diapers or balancing the checkbook.)
Obviously, I wasn't always an advocate of settling. In fact, it took not settling to make me realize that settling is the better option, and even though settling is a rampant phenomenon, talking about it in a positive light makes people profoundly uncomfortable. Whenever I make the case for settling, people look at me with creased brows of disapproval or frowns of disappointment, the way a child might look at an older sibling who just informed her that Jerry's Kids aren't going to walk, even if you send them money. It's not only politically incorrect to get behind settling, it's downright un-American. Our culture tells us to keep our eyes on the prize (while our mothers, who know better, tell us not to be so picky), and the theme of holding out for true love (whatever that is—look at the divorce rate) permeates our collective mentality.
Even situation comedies, starting in the 1970s with The Mary Tyler Moore Show and going all the way to Friends, feature endearing single women in the dating trenches, and there's supposed to be something romantic and even heroic about their search for true love. Of course, the crucial difference is that, whereas the earlier series begins after Mary has been jilted by her fiancé, the more modern-day Friends opens as Rachel Green leaves her nice-guy orthodontist fiancé at the altar simply because she isn't feeling it. But either way, in episode after episode, as both women continue to be unlucky in love, settling starts to look pretty darn appealing. Mary is supposed to be contentedly independent and fulfilled by her newsroom family, but in fact her life seems lonely. Are we to assume that at the end of the series, Mary, by then in her late 30s, found her soul mate after the lights in the newsroom went out and her work family was disbanded? If her experience was anything like mine or that of my single friends, it's unlikely.
And while Rachel and her supposed soul mate, Ross, finally get together (for the umpteenth time) in the finale of Friends, do we feel confident that she'll be happier with Ross than she would have been had she settled down with Barry, the orthodontist, 10 years earlier? She and Ross have passion but have never had long-term stability, and the fireworks she experiences with him but not with Barry might actually turn out to be a liability, given how many times their relationship has already gone up in flames. It's equally questionable whether Sex and the City's Carrie Bradshaw, who cheated on her kindhearted and generous boyfriend, Aidan, only to end up with the more exciting but self-absorbed Mr. Big, will be better off in the framework of marriage and family. (Some time after the breakup, when Carrie ran into Aidan on the street, he was carrying his infant in a Baby Björn. Can anyone imagine Mr. Big walking around with a Björn?)