Has the New York Times' "Modern Love" column taken a turn for the tolerable? First there was the thought-provoking Jessica Bennett essay about the meaning of marriage, then there that story of the old couple who were each widowed and found each other late in life that made me cry, and now it's novelist Augusten…

The New York Times Modern Love column can be tedious, pretentious, and downright ridiculous. But sometimes it's compelling, heartbreaking, and beautiful. Today's piece just set my tear ducts into overdrive, and although I'm incredibly exhausted today (STFU, hormones!), I'm positive I'd still sniffle if I wasn't.

Last week's Modern Love features a love story that was never supposed to be conventional: Boy proposes to 24-year-old Girl, former Newsweek reporter and Tumblr executive editor Jessica Bennett. Girl freaks out; she loves him, but wants to focus on her career, and promises that she doesn't need a piece of paper to…

It's difficult to feel cherished when we know that our partners are still carrying emotional baggage from previous romantic entanglements, but it's especially difficult when that emotional baggage manifests itself in the form of actual pieces of crap that used to belong to his ex-girlfriend. And what if he refuses to…

In 1965, two rival dating programs were founded at Harvard. People found love, but — in a precursor of Facebook — things quickly degenerated into rivalry and backbiting.

The most effective cyber pickup line to use on a woman? "You have beautiful lips." Or so says dating site Badoo. Also effective on American women? "You dress beautifully." Absent from the list was "hey sexy woww ur hot."

Seriously. In this article on "romance in the digital age," the notorious cyber-Romeo can't help but wonder, "are we all becoming so in touch with one another that we are in danger of losing touch?"

We're digging this new trend in online dating, in which you zero in on certain enthusiasms. First there was the bookworm meet-n-greet, ALikewise. And now, for the Rob Gordons amongst us: Tastebuds. (Get it?)

Here's a feel-good for you! When this Cosmo writer tried a DNA-dating site, she thought it was a stunt. But it worked.

Rent-A-Friend is like an escort service, except it's platonic and just for hanging out. And weirder.