What's up with Mary?

Routines, and why they matter. Also, 7 other things worth your time.

My first job out of college, I was a reporter for the New Haven Register newspaper. I shared an apartment for a while with a friend named Mark.

We moved in different circles, but he was a good roommate. We’d hang out. Many weeknights, we’d “go see what’s up with Mary,” as we called it.

I know this sounds like slang for marijuana, but it wasn’t that at all. Instead, we both worked late, so we got into the habit of eating whatever we’d scrounge for dinner in front of the TV at 10 or 11 pm.

That meant Nick at Night and reruns of Mary Tyler Moore.

It became a routine, and it probably kept us out of trouble. I’d cover a school board meeting or go out to meet someone for the newspaper, come in late, and unwind.

We were both kind of broke then, and the apartment was a dump, but it had character. A steady stream of characters came through: friends, friends of friends, friends of friends of friends.

Sometimes they’d visit for a few days, or maybe crash on our couch while job-hunting. One stayed f…