For your summer delectation, I offer the findings of a New York Times editor who, like yours truly, seems to have an affectionate plumb line into the hearts and minds of the unmarried. (His is called "Modern Love.") Ready?

—"In pursuing love, electronic communication allows us to be more reckless, fake, distracted and isolated than ever before."

—"The number of women being dumped by men 'for no reason' appears to remain high."

—"Nearly everyone cyberstalks."

—"Reconnecting with an old high school or college sweetheart late in life seems to result in happiness more often than not."

—"Gay marriage appears to be yawningly similar to heterosexual marriage."

—"Meanwhile, heterosexual marriage seems to be as confusing and politically charged as ever."

—"Online dating is found by many to be scary, fun, miraculous, hollow."

—"Couples who seek to have an untraditional, break-the-mold wedding attended by only their closest friends and family on a mountaintop in France inevitably wind up at a country club in Westchester wearing formal attire and reading standard vows before an audience of fidgeting strangers." (Hmm. Sound familiar?)

—"Whether from a test tube, a surrogate, an agency, or a friend, a baby is still a baby."

—"Among the lovelorn and childless, many seem resigned that pets and people are better at forging successful relationships with each other than people and people."

Daniel Jones, the editor who wrote the above, ends his piece with this: "While it's true that the ways of seeking, finding and keeping love are ever-changing, the emotions and entanglements remain, century after century, reassuringly the same. For better or worse, I'm guessing they always will."

Old or young, modern or the old-fashioned sort, here's to love. Most particularly, summer love. Most of all, yours. (Love note from me to you, dear ones in Readerland.)

Have a question for Susan? You can reach her directly at [email protected].

Photo credit: Susanne Nilsson