The domain name now points to a blog that's been active since March 10. The writers are "Slatalla" — almost certainly Michelle Slatalla, Quittner's wife — and "Roofie" — presumably Quittner. The prose matches his voice, and the subject fits, since Quittner took an active interest in real estate while at Business 2.0. But real estate is a bread-and-butter subject for Time Inc.'s finance magazines. Josh, rather than starting your own blog, why don't you just apply for a job at Money, run by your former deputy Eric Schurenberg? That seems easier.

These Naughty Gifts Don't Clutter a Closet [NYT]

MY 18-year-old daughter recently perfected a new technique to avoid the stress of packing for college.

Her system consisted mostly of lying on her bed and watching me pack for her. That was fine with me, since it was possibly my last opportunity to interfere with her life — and to see what she kept in her drawers — before she left home.

"Do you want to take this empty beer bottle with you?" I asked, gingerly holding it between pincer fingers.

"Get out of my closet," she said.

Because I enjoy the perks of being the stay-at-home parent, I understand that I have the responsibility of anchoring the household and all that normally entails.

But this is the catch: Very rarely does our household entail just the normal stuff it is supposed to entail. Hardly a day goes by without some domestic breakdown, some issue with school or some sprained something that needs X-raying. In a two-week stretch in August, I had six medical appointments for the kids or me. And we are healthy people.

When my wife gets home at 8 p.m. and asks, "How come you didn't get more work done?" I can't remember. So a few weeks ago, I decided to investigate myself. I started making notes on where my time was slipping away to each day.

At the Home Office, Life's Little Interruptions [NYT]

But is it going up? Or down? Either my house lost $94,248 in value over the last two months, or else it gained $32,799 in the last 30 days. I can't tell, because I get conflicting information from online sites — like Eppraisal.com, Realestateabc.com and Homegain.com — where I find myself obsessively comparing numbers every day or so. O.K., every hour or so (or about as often as I used to get on the scale when I was in high school). But if I didn't keep up with the real estate sites, then I wouldn't know that earlier this summer a center-hall colonial a block away from me sold for $2,439,500 despite its outdated kitchen (thank you, Cyberhomes.com). Or that most of my neighbors are juggling payments on big adjustable-rate mortgages just like mine (thank you Propertyshark.com). Or that the bathroom I recently remodeled may have increased my property value by $33,490 (thank you, Zillow.com).

What's My House Worth? And Now? [NYT]

Once my interfering children had been packed off to school, I made myself a nice cup of coffee and logged on [to Club Penguin]. I chose a pink penguin, and because no versions of my real name were available, I picked one of my mother's nicknames for me. But—O, hated Internet, and its font of unwanted knowledge—even that turned out to be taken, so I had to be "Tootsabella2."

Babes In The Woods [Atlantic]

My two-doors-down office neighbor, David Brooks... had the misfortune to stop in the hallway right before school pickup time and ask how I was doing. 'I wake in the morning and go to bed at night stalked by a feeling of incipient failure!' I stopped hyperventilating long enough to almost scream. He blinked for a moment, impassively.

'Some people thrive on that,' he said. Yes, I thought, I've built an entire career in just that way.

End of (School) Year Frenzy [NYT]

'omg my mom joined facebook!!' [NYT]

Visits To Doctors Who Are Not In, Ever [NYT]

They have three children, one named Clementine, and they live in Mill Valley, California now. She used to blog but gave that up. Also they are unafraid to lay out in print some of the more disturbing issues in their relationship.

A successful marriage requires compromise. Or put another way, when it comes to breakfast rituals, sometimes it is necessary to relentlessly pester your spouse until, finally, you wear him down.

For years, I have tried finding the middle ground (and by "finding the middle ground," I mean converting him to English muffins). I have offered many brands and flavors ... No luck.

The next days found me frying bacon, poaching eggs and whipping pancake batter. I was becoming desperate.

"Boy shorts?" my husband asked. "Have you lost your mind?"

I sent him by e-mail a picture of Cosabella's understated soire ultra smooth bra ($60 at Neimanmarcus.com). He countered with the black La Perla sky doll lace slip ($340) at Saksfifthavenue.com. Saks sells that stuff? Shocked, I referred him to another item on the site, a white lace trim chemise from Joelle ($314). In response, he sent me a picture of, oh, never mind.

No Nook Unbuttered, No Slice Unturned [NYT]