Home and Shopping

Rose Madeline Mula writes: I must admit, though, that whenever I pass the bedroom door to go into the bathroom or to access my laundry, my spirits (and any drive I may have had) plummet when a glance reveals that crumpled bed. And I can’t erase that vision for the rest of the day. It remains emblazoned on my brain when I sit at my computer and try to finish that essay I started a week ago (the last time I made my bed) or go into the kitchen to cook dinner (which I hadn’t done since that day last week when I last made my bed).       more »

Casting is complete, filming has begun, and Downton Abbey's writer and creator Julian Fellowes is taking us back to 1922… but this time it's set in America, in his adaptation of Laura Moriarty’s best-selling novel, The Chaperone! Downton Abbey'‘s Elizabeth McGovern is Norma Carlisle, a Midwestern housewife whose life is forever changed when she chaperones a young and soon-to-be famous Louise Brooks (Haley Lu Richardson, Columbus, The Edge of Seventeen) to the 1920s in New York. Returning series include Poldark, Victoria, The Durrels in Corfu while the new entries include The Collection, Little Women and The Man in the Orange Shirt. more »

Editor's Note: Florida Disaster has a section on Florida Shelters; National Hurricane Center; Key Messages for Hurricane Irma. FEMA: Hurricane Irma; Read safety tips, up-to-date info & rumor control, and how to help Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. FloridaHealth.gov. and other sources: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change; US Army Corps of Engineers Responses to Climate Change. more »

When shopping online, consumers engage in a type of social learning by which they become informed from the decisions of others. For example, you’re probably more likely to purchase a book at the top of the New York Times' best-sellers list or buy an app that’s been downloaded millions of times. But observing other people’s choices is only a part of social learning. The other is noting the resulting outcomes through mechanisms like online star ratings. But how people interpret — or fail to interpret — this data is affecting their decision-making in a negative way.  more »