Meet Alan and Marilyn Robbins: An Enduring Love Story

As a StoryTerrace biographer, it’s been my pleasure to interview so many interesting people to help them tell their stories. In particular, there’s nothing better than hearing a wonderful love story.

In honor of Valentine’s Day, we thought we’d share the story of Alan and Marilyn Robbins. They’ve been married for 51 years, and when I sat down with them to discuss Alan’s autobiography, it was immediately apparent that they share a special bond. Marilyn can finish Alan’s sentences perfectly, and he still lights up when he talks about the day they met as if it were yesterday.

Now that the book is complete, Alan and Marilyn graciously agreed to sit down with me again to talk about their experience with StoryTerrace and to give both sides of the story of how they met, fell in love, and got married.

When Alan turned 80, his daughter presented him with a StoryTerrace biography to mark the occasion. "She always finds the best, most unique gifts," Marilyn explains, "and now we recommend StoryTerrace to friends as well."

New Year’s Resolutions That Actually Make You Happy

A brand new year — actually, a whole new decade — is just around the corner. If you're like most people, it's time to make a New Year's resolution to help you make 2020 better.

What "better" means is a matter of personal opinion, of course, but it certainly seems that resolutions should be designed to make people happier with their lives. Whether that's accomplished by getting slimmer, healthier or improving learning a new skill, we make all kinds of promises to ourselves as the clock strikes midnight on the December 31.

This all got us to thinking: What New Year's resolutions are best for true happiness? Because anecdotally, all those January diets and trips to the gym don't look all that fun. What should we be focused on to make the new year more joyful?

The Current State of New Year's Resolutions

According to a YouGov poll, just over two-thirds of Americans will commit to making some type of change on January 1. 

I Heard the News Today, Oh Boy: The Sudden Death of My #metoo Tormentor

I was 14 years old when he grabbed me on the bus.

I froze for a second on the way to my seat. His hand was under my skirt — my brand new, double tiered, mustard yellow skirt. Outside the bus windows, the scenery alternated between cornfields and subdivisions, but I couldn’t see it. I could only feel his hand and the red-hot shame lighting up my face.

He laughed. Other boys laughed.

I did not.

Later in the cafeteria, it happened again. The girls at my table either saw it happen or figured it out, and they encouraged me to tell. Maybe they alerted the vice principal on my behalf, or maybe I somehow walked over to him on my own, but suddenly there I was, in the middle of a roiling cafeteria, a middle-aged man with a tie and thick glasses towering over me.

“He’s … he’s bothering me.” I used his name, of course. Actually, his nickname.

“What did he do? You’ll have to tell me exactly what happened.” The vice principal folded his arms.

“He … he’s just bothering me. He won’t leave me alone.” I could not bring myself to admit what had happened. I didn’t want anyone to know.

Maye Musk is Amazing and I’m Not Sure How to Feel About It

Have you seen Maye Musk lately?

In case you haven't, here are the facts:
She's a scientist and dietitian. She's the mother of three successful children, one of whom designed a little car you may have heard of. She's also a model taking the fashion world by storm, doing magazines, CoverGirl spreads and runway work.

And she just turned 70. [Editor's note: That's not a typo.]

I have to admit, I'm conflicted.

What's Not to Love?

To sort out my complicated feelings about Ms. Musk, let's start with the long list of things to admire. First, she's an inspiration for women in the sciences. She earned not one but two master's degrees in nutrition at a time when women weren't exactly encouraged to do so. I would also point out that she did this after she was married and had three little kids nipping at her heels. It’s not at all easy to finish your master's degree while changing diapers.

Amazing Full-Color Photos Bring the Past to Life

The earliest surviving photograph dates from 1826, and since then photography has immeasurably changed our relationship to the past. Instead of just imagining what people looked like and how they dressed, photos made it possible to see things as they really were.

It took until 1935 for color film to take off; before that, viewers had to apply their imaginations to sepia- or gray-toned pictures. But if you’ve ever tried to do this, you know how hard it actually is to mentally project color onto a black and white photo. When you look at them, you tend to think the world back then was a dull, colorless place.

That’s why the new trend of colorizing old photos is so arresting. It forces you to look at the past with new eyes — and the results are pretty amazing, thanks to obsessive digital artists taking hours to painstakingly "paint" old pictures in Photoshop.

Perhaps the best example of this work is Peter Jackson’s World War I documentary "They Shall Not Grow Old," in which his team color-corrected and standardized hours of authentic film footage.