Yet another "almost a trend" story, complete with its own handy-dandy acronym. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, LAT, or Living Apart Together, is increasingly popular among an unknown number of people -- yes, it's that kind of reporting -- who prefer to stay married but live apart. It's the whole Woody and Mia thing all over again -- though that isn't exactly the right example given the cheerleading tone of the article.

I have nothing against knocking traditional ideas of couple-dom, and lord knows our culture's stifling notions of togetherness sure as hell need a couple of hard whacks. I remember reading an advice column in the Parade magazine insert that warned a woman that only bad things would follow if she allowed her husband to occasionally go out with "the boys." So much better to stay glued to his hip so the two of you can tire of each other all the more quickly.

That said I'm a little tired of every variation on the social norm being presented as some kind of moral good. Take for example, this quote from one of the LATs: "It requires two unambivalent people -- people who don't need that merging to feel secure. You know the person is with you and don't have to prove it." Yeah, well, too bad the rest of us are such needy little shits.