Day: July 22, 2013

Just when you thought 33 was the new 20, a recent study indicates that the ages at which we’re most satisfied are in fact 23 and 69, giving us not one but two stages of life to relish.

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The study that identified those two pinnacle satisfaction periods, conducted by the Center for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics, involved a massive number of participants: 23,161 people, ranging in age from 17 to 85, reports Daily Mail.

What goes up must come down: after our early twenties, happiness declines on the way to our mid-fifties; then, after cycling back up through our late sixties, it falls again once we reach 75. If you’re having a midlife crisis — brooding over life choices and unfulfilled ambitions — buck up, better days are coming: the turnaround point is 55, according to the study…

1. Breaking Up is Hard(er) To Do

   If you are of a certain generation, then everyone you’ve ever dated has something in common. They are all on social media, and they are likely part of your Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram experience. As New York Magazine’s Maureen O’Connor explains, the social media generation never really breaks up. “There was also a time, I am told, when staying in touch was difficult. Exes were characters from a foreclosed past, symbols from former and forgone lives. Now they are part of the permanent present. I was a college freshman when Facebook launched. All my exes live online, and so do their exes, and so do their exes, too.” I’m a little too old to be directly affected by this new reality. In my generation, we’re mostly worried that our kids will someday read our old Tweets.

   (Scheduling note: NextDraft will be only…

New York filmmaker Spike Lee is jumping aboard the crowdfunding bandwagon and pleading with fans to help him make his next Spike Lee Joint. The venerable director’s Kickstarter page is asking for $1.25 million in the next 29 days, but the page does little to impart what exactly fans are supporting.

In a short video set at his Brooklyn-based office, Lee explains how his recent discovery of successful crowdfunding campaigns by Zach Braff (for a Garden State sequel) and Rob Thomas (for aVeronica Mars film based on the cancelled TV show) inspired him to try his hand at a Kickstarter campaign. But what he fails to do is reveal anything about the impending film other than its focus on the addiction to blood. Like vampires?

(MORE: 5 Buzziest Movies To Get Crowdfunded)

No, it’s not Blacula, as his Kickstarter campaign headline informs, but what exactly is…

There is a popular expression to describe the durian’s creamy yellow flesh: it tastes like heaven but smells like hell. Known as the king of fruits, the spiky delicacy has such a pungent smell that it is often barred from public places. But it boasts a loyal legion of fans who can consume the creamy yellow flesh by itself or in candy, pancakes or chips. There will soon be another option: wine.

Just in time for this year’s durian season, a research group at the National University of Singapore’s Food Science and Technology Programme has announced that it has cultivated a clear durian wine with 6% alcohol. After three years of intensive research, the team is now looking for commercial partners to sell the beverage.

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Fransisca Taniasuri, a student involved in the project, told

CNN’s Royal Commentator tells Brooke Baldwin how thrilled everyone is with the birth of a healthy bouncing baby boy.