Word: similar
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Your fictional characters are often very similar to you. In the private-eye story "Bored to Death," the main character's name is actually yours. How many of these characters are really you? When I was in college, I had the good fortune to have Joyce Carol Oates as my writing teacher. She told me that I could take an aspect of myself, and from that one bit of personality, I can create a character. This is what I have done, particularly in my novels. Of course one could say it's a form of egocentrism...
...some accounts, the next 10 years will see as many as 1.6 million electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles zipping around the state, in what is shaping up to be the nation's e-car proving ground. But in the 1990s a similar optimism hit here too, only to fizzle as gas prices plummeted and gas-guzzling SUVs took over the auto market with a vengeance. (See the history of the electric...
That's probably because humans are hardwired to swear cathartically, says Steven Pinker, a Harvard psychologist and author of The Stuff of Thought, an exploration of the psychology of language. Pinker distinguishes cathartic cursing from using profanity descriptively, idiomatically, abusively or for emphasis, and points to similar behavior in animals that suggests its evolutionary roots. If you step on a dog or cat's tail, it will let out a sharp yelp of pain, for example. "Swearing probably comes from a very primitive reflex that evolved in animals," Pinker says. "In humans, our vocal tract has been hijacked...
...rooms booked by August 17. The Fairmont Southampton, a sumptuous resort on Bermuda's highest hill, has eligible deals, including a seven-night package with airfare from New York City (we found it on Bestfares.com) for $1,450 per person - a significant saving from the hotel's usual rate. Similar deals are available at other high-end properties, including Elbow Beach, the Fairmont Hamilton Princess and Coco Reef Resort...
...lines are offering big bargains this summer: Norwegian Cruise Line has a seven-day cruise from Baltimore starting at $579; it docks for three nights at the colonial village of St. George, which was the first permanent British settlement in Bermuda and is today a UNESCO World Heritage site. Similar cruises from Boston or New York City start at $749. Royal Caribbean has a five-day cruise from Baltimore, with two nights at King's Wharf, for $699 per person. (See classic pictures of the beach on LIFE.com...