Relationships and Going Places

If the population shift continues, Texas could gain three new seats in the US House, Florida two, and Arizona, Colorado, North Carolina and Oregon one apiece after the next census, according to an analysis by Election Data Services, a political consulting firm based in Virginia. Nine states — Alabama, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and West Virginia — could meanwhile lose a seat apiece. more »

The ordinary wooden toy achieved new recognition as an agent in the training and educating of children, as an emblem of Swedish handicraft, and finally as a symbol of Sweden itself. Swedish Wooden Toys shows that from the handmade objects of the rural farmstead to the mass-produced products of major firms, Swedish toys not only reflect but also inform the changing social and cultural values of their time. more »

I have made only one friend in my building. In my old neighborhood, I knew nearly every family on my block. I watched kids grow from babies to teens. In my apartment building, which is more like a dorm because of its thirty-something population, I have made only one good friend. She's the age of my daughters, and cares for me and makes me laugh just as my flesh-and-blood do. I miss owning a dog. Although my building allows pets, and there are many I can coo at, I pine for a pup. more »

Where it might go: Downton might go the way of so many of the era's grand houses: sold whole or piecemeal, requisitioned, or simply diminished into bleak oblivion. Or, in Lady Mary's capable hands, it might endure, survive, and remain one of England's great seats of heritage, aristocracy, and — of course — drama. After five seasons of secrets and scandals, love and heartbreak, witticisms and will-they-won't-theys, Downton Abbey: The Final Season is about to begin. more »