Makes Perfect Scents

The most arousing aroma to women is the combination of Good & Plenty candy and cucumber, according to a recent study. Men are most turned on by the aromatic combination of lavender and pumpkin pie. (From September Esquire)

* Older men, stop whining: It’s almost a national whine that we are working more and playing less. However, university researchers found their subjects (all employed men) actually gained five hours of free time per week between 1965 and 1985, mainly because they cut back on both paid work and housework. But virtually all of the new free time was squandered on watching TV.

When they focused on who, exactly, is working longer hours, researchers found work has been shifted from the old to the young and from men to women. The winners? Older men. The losers? Young women. (From summer Wilson Quarterly)

* Think about it: It’s morbid, but interesting nonetheless, that Jerome Staller has made a career of figuring out people’s worth should they suffer an untimely death.

Staller is founder of the Philadelphia-based Center for Forensic Economic Studies, and he’s spent 18 years putting prices on lost lives. Factors that weigh in most heavily are celebrity status, age, earnings at time of death, marital status and number of surviving children.

Here’s how much Staller figures a few of the very-much-alive celebs would be worth if they died soon:

Monica Lewinsky — ($1.5 million, based on average earnings of a college grad ($36,000 per year in 1995 dollars for females) plus one tell-all book fetching about a million.

Kobe Bryant — $120 million based on 12-year playing career plus $30 million after he retires from the NBA. Deductions include an entourage and large personal expenditures.

Jim Carrey — more than $200 million based on his $20 million per film rate, although personal expenditures and entourage would account for a 20 percent deduction. (From September Esquire)

* Join the club: In some polls, more than half of Republican women now view Hillary Rodham Clinton favorably. Why? “Before (the Monica fiasco), these women regarded her as a challenge to their values,” says Democratic pollster Celinda Lake. “They now see her as a woman demonstrating their values.”

Values such as being poorly treated by men? Well, yes, says Lake. “Most women don’t have power and control over the men in their lives.” Now, post-Monica, Hillary is just one of the girls. (From Aug. 24/31 The New Yorker)

* One last look back at summer: “… we fill time so full. I had empty time as a teenager. Every summer was a vast, empty space that I filled as I pleased. I don’t see any teenagers with that leisure anymore. There are things they have to do, places they have to be, programs … Then there’s the television and the computer… It fills the world so solid, I sometimes wonder if they ever get a deep breath, or feel what it’s like to have a whole afternoon with nothing to do.” — author Ursula Le Guin (From spring Parabola)