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Here’s what’s caught our eye on the ‘net today:

Here’s one for the reinvention inspiration files: The Toronto Star reports: “it’s the 40-something female multi-taskers juggling jobs, families and mortgages who edge out their classmates of either sex at any age, new research shows.” That does not surprise me at all.

While you’re there check out their profile of the Soup Sisters.

Over at the Globe and Mail there’s a nice profile of Elizabeth Gilbert. I freely admit I have not yet read Eat Pray Love. Am I missing a great read? Laura over at 11d’s review hasn’t convinced me yet. But with Julia Roberts starring in the film slated to be released this summer I might just have to.

Lost Boys fans will be sad to note that Corey Haim has died.

And if you’re about to have a coffee break, drink your coffee at lunch to help prevent diabetes. (Calgary Herald)

There was life beyond the hockey game and the closing ceremonies for that little winter event - wasn’t there?

Maybe not: What do you think of CBC Sports’ list of 10 things we learned from Vancouver?

Don’t post your vacation plans to the web. Which raises the question - why would we? (Globe and Mail)

Would you perform CPR on your pet? (Also the Globe and Mail.)

Grey hair is in style. Score!

Quick set of links for what we’ve been reading over the weekend and today:

From the Globe and Mail: Caring for aging parents inflames sibling rivalry. Who does Mom love best, anyway? And while’s you’re there, brave Anthony E. Wolf’s column about raising a teenager in love. (I am having enough trouble with a 4 year old missing an appendix, thanks.)

The publicity around Lori Gottlieb’s Marry Him sent me running to find her 2008 Atlantic article on the topic. I’m not sure I buy the premise (”any soul-baring 40-year-old single heterosexual woman what she most longs for in life, and she probably won’t tell you it’s a better career or a smaller waistline or a bigger apartment. Most likely, she’ll say that what she really wants is a husband (and, by extension, a child).”) but it’s still worth the read.

Veronica Tennant retire? Naw. (Toronto Star)

What’s caught your eye on the web today?

Do you still make resolutions? I have read that this is the worst time of year to make resolutions, and I often haven’t kept my own but I still appreciate the cultural ritual of pausing to look back for a moment and determine the way forward, so to speak.

So here are the stories we ran last year that are inspiring me to strive this year. If you have a favourite - on any site - do share yours in the comments!

Georgina Branch-Brown’s story of her second act as an art model
How to start an eco-friendly business
Judith Timson’s look at late bloomers
Vanessa Craft’s profile of women who went from homeless to business owners
Women who’ve taken up competitive sports at midlife
Karen von Haun’s piece on ditching your fashion phobias
And Sarah Moore’s inaugural rant!

If your kids are now home for the holidays and you have yet to see them release the game controller, here’s a story for you: Boston mom calls 911 over 14-year-old’s video game habit.

If you’re interested in what the big deal is about World of Warcraft and its ilk, Laura at Geeky Mom has been running a fascinating series on the game on her blog called WoW Wednesdays - check it out.

When a story like the Tiger Woods infidelity saga breaks, the water cooler conversation often goes like this: Why on earth do these guys do this kind of thing?

I spoke with Doug Hirschorn, author of the forthcoming Eight Ways to Great and a performance coach who uses sports psychology to consult with high-powered Wall Street titans, about why high-performing men make crazy decisions (or at least decisions that look crazy).

“Always looking for that next great thing.”
Dr. Doug’s theory boils down to adrenaline: “The thing to understand about high performers like Tiger Woods or A-Rod or Kobe Bryant is that their normal way of operating is at a very high level of success. So for them to experience a truly remarkable performance happens more infrequently for the rest of us, so for Tiger Woods it might happen one tournament in five.”

According to Dr. Doug, for these elite performers, taking risks with one’s marriage and personal life can provide a challenge they find increasingly difficult to get on the job (or on the green): “Because he’s so public and because cameras are following him around… it’s that much more exciting to sleep with a cocktail waitress who he knows can ruin his reputation with one phone call. It gives him that adrenaline shot, and it lasts longer than that one shot because he knows that woman is out there. The excitement is knowing that you take it to the edge; that at any one moment it could end.”

So of course, I had to ask: If you’re married to one of these high performers, what can you do about it?

Not many people are married to those high performers, points out Dr. Doug. But if you are, he thinks “you have to accept both sides of that individual, and understand that the same thing you love that person for is the probably going to be the same thing you’re going to hate that person for…. What’s naïve is to be shocked and surprised.”

“People want black-and-white on this, but it’s complicated…[Tiger] has an adrenaline problem. But it’s not about sex or power. It’s about a great golfer figuring out what to do to get that rush when he gets off the golf course.”

It’s the analysis, stupid
Okay, so here’s one guy who clearly didn’t figure it out in time. But how can high achievers keep their lives in balance? “The lesson about high-profile men is: it’s not about medicating them or putting them in a cage; it’s about getting them to look at their life the same way they would their career and make the same smart choices…. The problem is they don’t do the proper self-analysis in the moment. Engage in a discussion on a level that he understands and relates to. Have him assess the relationship in that respect.”

I’m not so sure I entirely buy into the adrenaline theory: Are high performers really unable to pay attention to their own wedding vows? But hey, it’s one theory. What do you think?

For more on affairs:
After the affair
Affairs: Not just for men

More coming up soon, but I had to share this link right away: You can visit Pompeii via Google street view! (Via Laura at 11d)

You can also tour Sorrento from your chair via our slideshow.

Here’s what we’re reading today:

From Judith Warner at the New York Times online: “In this economy, getting the old face and belly looking tighter may, for many middle-aged women, be as crucial as having an eye-catching résumé.” I think I might have a slight case of bag-lady syndrome myself.

From the New Yorker, quite a thoughtful piece by Ariel Levy about Caster Semenya: “’I think it is the responsibility of South Africa to rally behind this child and tell the rest of the world she remains the hero she is and no one will take that away from her.’”

If you missed Shinan Govani’s column on eating with his back to Jennifer Aniston, well, go read it now. (National Post)

What you might want to know about healthcare: Medical association takes heat for Pfizer funding, and The man from Pfizer (both from the Globe and Mail).

And lighter fare for Friday: A gallery of the year’s most amazing scientific images. (Popsci.com)

Related pieces on More.ca: The truth about Botox, Ageism in the office and of course don’t forget to check out our gift guide and enter our contest. (It’s a really, really nice box of gifts.)

Controversy over 47-year-old Demi Moore’s hips! David Graham at the Toronto Star reports on the ongoing discussion regarding whether Demi’s Moore’s hips were Photoshopped to be smaller on the cover of W magazine. The Daily Mail even published superimposed photos online, with the Demi Moore cover over a shot of catwalk model Anja Rubik. Moore herself has asserted the hips are hers, posted the original picture on her Twitter feed.

Whether or not this is a tempest in a teapot, the best part of the whole kerfuffle for me has been discovering Demi Moore’s UR Wanted project on YouTube. If you decide to enter, be sure to send us the link to your video. Oh, and - what do you think about those hips?

So this week Amazon announced that its wireless reading device, the Kindle, is now available in Canada, joining the Sony Reader. Despite being an avid “ink on dead trees” reader, I’m thinking about investing in one of these things so that I can carry more books with me on trips and on public transit.

The release got me thinking about technology that’s rocked my world. The GPS is probably the latest one that’s really made me feel like the future is now: I realized road atlases in print format are pretty much over and that it’s unlikely my son will ever navigate a family vacation by searching out square D4. In fact, he may never actually get lost. As his mother I think I’m glad, although some of my best moments have been when I was completely, utterly lost - like the time in Rome that I accidentally ended up in St. Peter’s Square.

But other moments were the first time I tried a web browser, the first time I saw a Roomba at work (robot cleaning! Not that we have one yet.), and the first time I used Abebooks.com to track down an out-of-print book rather than go ask at the local used bookstore.

I remember when I first got my own record player in my own room, and promptly went about wearing the tracks out of Grease. Since then, the list of technology I’ve owned includes a hand-me-down 8-track player, a cassette recorder, an AM-only portable radio, a boom box (with two tape decks, the envy of my friends), a Sony Walkman, a VCR, a CD player, a DVD player, and an iPod. I’m starting to feel the guilt about landfill about now. But out of all of these I think it’s the iPod that’s most changed my relationship to music, divorcing it from albums and moving towards playlists for every mood and occasion.

Which technology’s rocked your world lately?