“

I’ve just come out of the shower after returning from the health club. My lenses are in the machine. I’m naked, lying on fresh sheets, Brahms is on the radio, and I feel surprisingly good. Workouts make me feel better mentally even if I’m not developing gorgeous peaks on my biceps or huge pecs.

“

Will be updated throughout the day.

“

I remember something Helen once told me: “Most people don’t break up because they stop loving the other person. They break up because they can’t get along.”

“

It was very difficult, at the very least.

“

It’s like a dog on a really long leash that doesn’t realize he’s on a leash, and so he’s chasing his dreams (a squirrel) at top speed, ears flopping, tongue flailing, tail wagging, and then… YANK. The end of the leash.

“

So, this is a bummer for us (though possibly more of a bummer for people hoping to retire right now.) The good news? Things are looking up.

“

A drink so sour that after you sip it, your face twists and contorts into the exact same expression I get when I turn on the legitimate news and am confronted with an update on the Kristen Stewart Robert Pattinson situation.

“

I am not writing to decry these trends or request a return to a Mad-Men-era of the domination of machismo (the progress that women have made, even in the past 20 years, has been incredible and I only hope that it continues). Rather, I am writing to warn of the social costs that we could be facing as men begin to slip further and further behind.