The brass at the New York Times made a bold move yesterday. They announced that-starting in 2011-they will begin charging to read some of their online content using a type of pay-as-you-read metered monitoring process.

I felt good about this. I know lots of people probably don’t. I think it’s time that somebody takes a stand and attempts to differentiate the qualified journalistic online marketplace from the rest of the content created by iReporters, iWriters, and i-Just-Want-To-Get-My-Name-In-Print wanna-be’s. 

Okay, so I thought since I am such a big Phillies fan (and a friend begged me to) I’d blog about their post-season play a bit. First of all, I must admit while I am a big fan, I am also a bad fan. I am just not able to take their late-inning heroics in stride and often bite my nails or walk away from the television entirely when the chips are down and the score is tight.

Imagine this scenario. There’s a clear glass cookie jar loaded with chunky chocolate chip cookies in plain view sitting atop the kitchen table. There’s an 8-year-old in the room, but no mommy in sight. So what do you think this child’s next move will be? Pretty tempting, huh?

Now, before you answer to yourself, consider this: there’s nothing wrong with the concept of having the cookies in the jar, and there’s really nothing wrong with eating a cookie in general, but when the child reaches in the jar to take the cookie, he will no doubt get a stern reprimand should he be discovered. This child knows better than to take the cookie before dinner, but he tries anyway. Why? And what if, God forbid, the kid attempts to take more than just one cookie?

I was wondering yesterday about the whole practice, if you will, of dreaming. It’s an interesting topic. Experts have written volumes about it and spent countless hours analyzing it. (What does it take to become a dream expert, anyway? Hit me back if you know.) I often remember my dreams in fragments, as the day goes on, and then sometimes by actually experiencing something or running into someone who was in my dream. I don’t think that people believe me though when—out of the blue— I say, “Oh, yeah, I had a dream about you last night.” They usually look at me like I am just making it up. Has this ever happened to you?

Yes, this is a question I ponder. Especially since Lehigh Valley Style recently arranged to combine our September Happy Hour with a singles meet-and-greet that Natalie over at Looper’s Grille & Bar in Bethlehem’s South Side has been planning to have.

Now, people in the know around here are aware that Natalie is somewhat the matchmaker. She is a wonderful person who just wants people to be happy and she has a couple of success stories to her credit. Apparently, standing behind a bar as much as she does makes her privy to many patron stories of love gone wrong and of quests to find love.

There’s little doubt that being single in the Lehigh Valley, is in itself, a challenge. It was frustrating in my 20s and now that I am in my 40s it seems nearly impossible. Associates are incredulous, too, because they assume that I meet all kinds of interesting people in my line of work and that it would be easy for me to meet potential love interests. Let me say, it is no easier for me than anyone else. I have the same issues as many single women out there. Although age does complicate the matter, I also have several friends in their 20s and 30s who tell me the same thing: They have no idea where to go to meet single people around here.