Falling In Love

Memories of My Melancholy Whores Gabriel Garcia Marquez Alfred A. Knopf / 115 pages Nobel Prize-winner Gabriel Garcia Marquez leaves behind his trademark magical realism in his latest novel, Memories of My Melancholy Whores. The Colombian-born author of the esteemed One Hundred Years of Solitude, exemplar of the style that has become synonymous with much of Latin American fiction, has chosen a decidedly more accessible and ordinary reality for this meditation on aging, desire and true love.

Paul Taylor works full time downtown, where he goes to happy hours and other social events and plays in organized city sports leagues. When it comes time to go home, though, Taylor, a 33-year-old single statistician, hops in his car or onto the Metro and heads 20 miles northwest to his two-bedroom condominium in Owings Mills' New Town community. With house renovations in full force and new condos and apartments sprouting all around downtown Baltimore, thousands of single young professionals have flocked to neighborhoods such as Mount Vernon, Federal Hill and Canton, attracted by proximity to restaurants, pubs, night life, sports stadiums and the stylish aura of urban life.

The Rev. Michael Ray, 39, recalls when a family friend decided to divorce his wife after 49 years of marriage. The minister also has witnessed divorces, after fewer than 10 years of marriage, among his church members and in his neighborhood. Ray's congregation, Laurel Church of Christ, is holding a "Love, Sex and Marriage" seminar today and tomorrow to help prevent other marriages from going down the drain. "It would be easy for a church to sit back and criticize the direction our society is going," Ray said.

Julia Child preferred to think of herself as a teacher rather than a chef. And when she died last Friday, at age 91, she left behind a legion of devoted students, including chefs, cooking instructors and food writers who credited Child with helping them learn their craft. Donna Crivello, owner of Donna's coffee bars, recalls laughing at Child's antics on television when she was young. But when Crivello became serious about cooking, one of her first books was Child's The French Chef. "I was eager to learn, and with great direction, Julia not only taught me how to make some of my most favorite dishes, but taught me some very basic techniques of cooking that I still use today and now pass on to my own students," she said.

Murder! Mayhem! Betrayal! Lust! Sounds a little too good to be true for a high school musical, huh? Not so with Glenelg High's production of the vivacious, energetic Pippin. Pippin is the story of a young man on a search for meaning in his life. He tries being a soldier, but he just isn't cut out for it. He tries being an artist, but as Pippin says, "You have to be dead to find out if you're any good!" Finally, he finds himself on a young widow's farm and falls in love with her, only to realize he wants more out of life.

Chocolate contains chemicals such as phenyl- ethylamine, which the body produces naturally and which can elevate your mood. Phenylethylamine may even play a role in the chemistry of falling in love. -- National Geographic's Everyday Science Explained

We've seen the photographs of soldiers on furlough reuniting with loved ones. But behind each of those scenes are many other moments lived out in private, in the soldier's absence. Jacob Ruble, a specialist with the 3rd Battalion of the 327th Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Ky., came home yesterday from Iraq. His wife, Julia Ruble, who is 19 and develops film at a Wal-Mart photo lab, was at BWI to meet him. Reporter Larry Bingham asked Julia to describe the months and milestones her husband has missed.

Scientific research wouldn't necessarily suggest the basis for a love story to many people. But exploring the question of whether love is magical chemistry or just basic biochemistry was an idea that caught the fancy of the makers of the indie film Dopamine. "It's geeky, I know," co-writer and director Mark Decena says sheepishly. "That dialectic of two opposing views of what love [is] -- that conflict -- I just felt there could be a story in that." So did the Sundance Film Institute, which invited Decena and co-writer Timothy Breitenbach to work on the script at its screenwriting lab. The result was their debut feature, which opens tomorrow in Baltimore, Washington and eight other cities as part of the Sundance Film Series.

Normally I am not a liar. I'm the person who fills out the customs declaration for two postcards and a duty-free candy bar. Security guards know my life story, and cops know if they pull me over I'll confess that, yes, I was speeding. Then I met a guy online -- a great guy. And for a long time, neither of us could bring ourselves to tell the truth about it. Now, during this week of hearts and flowers, it's time to come out of the closet. I was a 24-year-old writer living in Spokane, Wash.

Are you in love with your mutual fund? Watch out it doesn't break your heart. That's not a comment on where the market is headed; it's an observation on the tendency investors have to humanize funds, to see them not just as an investment vehicle but as a friend and family member. Investment experts routinely warn against "falling in love" with a fund or a stock, yet individuals frequently miss the message and let emotions get in the way. In fact, fund firms count on it, which is why so many fallen angels (funds that were stars but whose performance has faded badly)