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These stunning glass pipes and bongs for the 1% cost up to $300,000

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cannabis glass

Mr. Grey — No, not the one from "50 Shades" — curates an art collection with pieces so expensive that few people can afford them.

The 21-year-old independent curator, who prefers to keep his anonymity, works with artists who have carved out a new niche in Manhattan's art scene: high-end glass pipes and bongs for smoking marijuana. 

It's a market that's blowing up, he says, thanks to the growing legalization of cannabis across the country. In the past two years alone, six states have legalized marijuana for recreational or medicinal use, bringing the total to 25 states plus Washington, D.C. that have decriminalized the drug.

He tells Business Insider that the new laws are encouraging artists trained in glassblowing, to experiment with cannabis glass design and create extravagant works of art.

Grey recently showcased 30 pieces in his two-story apartment in New York City. Business Insider got an inside look at the items in the curated collection, which cost up to $300,000.

Keep scrolling to take a look.

SEE ALSO: 22 incredible works of art from this year's Burning Man

Mr. Grey showcased the 30 pieces for family and friends inside his apartment in Soho.



They were created by artists from all over the world.



The pieces are not only handcrafted and stunning, like Unparalleled Glass' $35,000 "Cactus Set" ...



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J. Crew is teaming up with one of the world's most famous tailors for its new line of handmade suits

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J Crew

J. Crew's popular Ludlow suit, which has been known for its quality and low price tag since it was introduced in 2008, is getting an upgrade.

The retailer is teaming up with master tailor Martin Greenfield to make a special edition of the suit. It comes in both glen plaid gray and navy and the suits are 100% American-made.

The suit is handmade in Brooklyn and its wool is sourced from a mill in Connecticut.

The jacket will cost $850, and the pants will run another $350. The original Ludlow suit, which is still being sold alongside the Martin Greenfield editions, retails for $650.

Greenfield has clothed the backs of five US presidents, provided custom suits for period pieces like the HBO hit "Boardwalk Empire," and made suits for movie stars. He also makes suits for high-fashion brands, like Brooks Brothers. 

The suits are only available through special order online, and J. Crew's flagship and Ludlow stores in Boston, New York, and San Francisco. The last time Greenfield partnered with J. Crew in 2014, the suits were only sold in New York.

SEE ALSO: How a startup from Amsterdam turned suit-buying upside down to become the go-to brand for American guys

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20 apps millennials like way more than other age groups do

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young women smartphones texting

Everyone uses apps, but different age groups have different preferences.

And in Silicon Valley, popularity with young people is considered a sign that an app is destined for success. The thinking is that a hot app is like a hot band: the kids get ahold of it first (Snapchat got its start with teens, after all)

So which apps are hot with young people? 

ComScore's recently released 2016 mobile app report tracked which apps had the highest concentration of "millennial users." Comscore defined the group as those 18-34 years of age (the firm did not look at users under 18).

The apps range from cashless payment options to games to, predictably, dating app Tinder. And there is even one that has a whopping 99% concentration of millennials.

Here they are:

SEE ALSO: The 25 best hidden features and tricks in your iPhone's latest update

Airbnb — 66% millennial users

Most people have heard of Airbnb, the "home-sharing" service that has shaken the hotel industry to its core. But millennial are more likely to use it, suggesting they are more comfortable renting someone else's home or apartment than older generations.

Price: Free (iOS, Android)



Kik Messenger — 66% millennial users

Kik is a messaging app that is particularly popular among teens, and provides a wide array of games and other services beyond simply sending texts. Earlier this year, Kik led the movement toward "chat bots" by launching its own bot store.

Price: Free (iOS, Android)

 

 



Mint.com — 66% millennial users

Mint.com is an app for managing your money. With Mint you can do things like budget, track your spending, and check your credit.

Price: Free (iOS, Android)



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San Franciscans have ‘arguably been defrauded’ into buying homes in sinking Millennium tower

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Millennium_Tower_San_Francisco 2

Building department officials in San Francisco have come under fire for failing to notify prospective homeowners of the shaky foundation of the Millennium Tower, a sinking condominium high rise located in San Francisco's downtown South of Market district, SFGate reports.

Millennium Tower, the tallest residential building in the city at 58 stories, and home to over 400 residents was reported to be "sinking and tilting" last month. 

Supervisor Aaron Peskin questioned the lack of evidence showing why the city allowed the tower's builder, Millennium Partners, to construct the building 80 feet down into a landfill, rather than 200 feet down into bedrock, as is standard procedure. 

The structure's unusual foundation is likely the cause for it is sinking.

To date, Millennium Tower has tilted 2 inches and sunk a total of 16 inches, and geotechnical engineer Patrick Shires warned that the tower could still sink another 8 to 15 inches into the landfill it rests on.

Peskin said at a news conference Tuesday in City Hall, "We are going to get to the bottom of how this happened."

He added that people had "arguably been defrauded" into purchasing the pricey homes in the high rise.

Peskin and his team reviewed more than 1,600 documents from the Department of Building Inspection, including one particularly damning one that seems to show city inspection officials being aware of the problem early on. In the document, Raymond Lui, who was the building department’s deputy director for plan review services at the time, raised troubling questions about the building. 

"What are the actual settlements now? What is the rate of settlements? Are the settlements still continuing?" Lui asked, according to SFGate.

 

"The real issue for me is that [the sinking] hasn’t slowed down," Jerry Dodson, a patent lawyer and building resident, told the San Francisco Chronicle  

Residents of the building are also upset that Millennium Partners waited so long to tell them about the problem – they were notified June 2015, a full six years after the building had been constructed and Millennium Partners was made aware of the problem, according to The Chronicle.

SEE ALSO: A tatted up tech exec turned Goldman Sachs superstar has some advice for young people

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This 16-year-old entrepreneur is making a fortune selling rare sneakers to celebrities

After eliminating 75% of my wardrobe, I realized Mark Zuckerberg and Barack Obama are on to something big

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capsule

Last month, I downsized my closet by about 75% and built a capsule wardrobe composed of 30 items.

The experience was liberating, economical, and a major space-saver — so much so that I'm selling my gratuitous clothing and sticking with the minimal wardrobe.

Perhaps the most rewarding aspect of the project was how much time and energy it saved each morning.

Choosing what to wear to work became infinitely easier, simply because I had so few clothes to choose from. It was also nice knowing that I couldn't really go wrong with my decision — after all, I filled my capsule with my favorite, highest-quality items.

What's more, by simplifying the "What do I wear today?" conundrum, I wasn't wasting energy on mundane decisions, which meant more mental energy (and greater productivity) for the rest of my day.

I'm not proposing anything revolutionary — if anything, I'm behind the curve.

There's a scientific reason some of the most successful people wear the same outfit day in and day out.

Think: Mark Zuckerberg and his signature gray tee-shirt, Barack Obama and his blue or gray suit, and John Paul DeJoria and his all-black ensemble. Wearing the same thing day in and day out helps them avoid what psychologists call decision fatigue.

"Making decisions uses the very same willpower that you use to say no to doughnuts, drugs, or illicit sex," Roy F. Baumeister, a psychologist who studies decision fatigue and a co-author of "Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength" told the New York Times.

"It's the same willpower that you use to be polite or to wait your turn or to drag yourself out of bed or to hold off going to the bathroom," Baumeister said. "Your ability to make the right investment or hiring decision may be reduced simply because you expended some of your willpower earlier when you held your tongue in response to someone's offensive remark or when you exerted yourself to get to the meeting on time."

zuckerberg obama

As Obama told Vanity Fair in 2012, "You'll see I wear only gray or blue suits. I'm trying to pare down decisions. I don't want to make decisions about what I'm eating or wearing. Because I have too many other decisions to make."

Zuckerberg said something similar during a public Q&A session, when asked about wearing the same tee every day: "I really want to clear my life to make it so that I have to make as few decisions as possible about anything except how to best serve this community ... I feel like I'm not doing my job if I spend any of my energy on things that are silly or frivolous about my life."

I'm not quite ready to make the leap from 30 items to a mere handful or single uniform — but the option is always there, with Obama, Zuckerberg, and science in its corner.

SEE ALSO: I tried the popular 'capsule wardrobe' and whittled my closet down to just 30 items — here's why I'm never looking back

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NOW WATCH: Don’t be afraid to cancel cable — here’s how to watch all of your favorite shows for less than $42 a month

A look inside the New York office of Yelp, a $3 billion company that offers its 4,000 employees around the world some of the most incredible perks

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Yelp Offices NYC 24

When you think of an office, foosball tables, karaoke machines, beer kegs, and free snacks probably don't come to mind ... that is, unless you work at Yelp.

That's right — those are just a few of the enviable perks Yelp offers its 900 New York-based employees.

Founded in 2004 and headquartered in San Francisco, the $3 billion company that allows consumers to locate and review businesses on its mobile app and website now has seven offices around the US and Europe, including one in the heart of Manhattan that Business Insider recently visited.

We went inside the Madison Avenue office to get a clearer picture of what the Yelp culture is really like. Here's what we saw and learned:

SEE ALSO: This is the best restaurant in the US, according to Yelp

Upon arriving at Yelp's New York office on a Wednesday afternoon in August, we were greeted by Paul Reich, vice president of local sales, who would be our tour guide. Our first stop: the Yelp Café.



Reich said this is where Yelp's New York employees — most of whom work in sales — can enjoy a caffeine break Monday through Friday, from 7:30 a.m. until 3:00 p.m.



The entire time we were there, loud, upbeat music was playing throughout the office. Reich told us that the playlists tend to be pretty eclectic: "We don't know whether we'll be hearing Brazilian or samba or even some heavy metal." When we arrived at the office, "Rock Lobster" by the B-52s was playing.



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This artist compiled over 100 photos to find each culture’s definition of beauty

L.L.Bean's '100% satisfaction guarantee' is the best return policy of any retailer

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L.L.Bean offers a '100% satisfaction guarantee' on all of its products meaning they will accept all returns with or without the receipt however long ago you purchased the item. We spoke with Business Insider reporters about why this return policy is easily the best there is.

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The biggest real estate development in US history will have a puzzling centerpiece

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Hudson Yards Vessel Special Events Plaza

The design for Hudson Yards' massive, interactive public centerpiece, which had previously been kept secret, was unveiled September 14.

The structure — part interconnected stairway, part tower, part art piece — will stand in the heart of the development's outdoor public space. Called Vessel, it is currently being referred to as a "public landmark" by Hudson Yards developer Related Companies. And though that description may sound vague, it's justified  the design defies classification.

Hudson Yards, the biggest private real estate project in American history, is currently under construction on the far west side of midtown Manhattan. The $20 billion project will include residential, retail and office space and span a whopping 28 acres.

The project is the biggest undertaken in New York since Rockefeller Center was built in 1936. And, like Rockefeller Center, which features a public plaza, fountain and iconic sculpture (not to mention the world-famous ice rink that takes over in the winter), the developers of Hudson Yards are making public space a priority.

Plans for the project’s outdoor area will include more than five acres of plazas and gardens designed by landscape architect Thomas Wolz. The space will connect to the top end of the High Line, the popular park on New York’s former elevated train tracks.

But the most striking part of the plan is the design for Vessel, which will allow visitors to climb nearly 150 feet into the air.

Take a look at the renderings.

SEE ALSO: Meet the man who's transforming New York City's skyline

Designed by Thomas Heatherwick, founder of the Heatherwick Studio in London, the Vessel consists of 154 flights of stairs, which intersect to form an almost Escher-esque lattice of infinite walkways. The structure has almost 2,500 individual steps and 80 landings. When totaled up, they create nearly a mile of pathway above the plazas and gardens below.



The sculpture widens from 50 feet across at its base to 150 feet at its top, mirroring the appearance of a hive or tornado. Once it’s full of climbing visitors and tourists (which it inevitably will be when it opens in the fall of 2018), the fullness and movement will add to that motion-filled aesthetic.



Thomas Heatherwick said in a statement that the design was inspired by images of stepwells in India — elaborate, geometric structures with interconnected stairs that lead down to a source of water. The influence is fitting, since Hudson Yards sits near the Hudson River, and boasts views of the water from many of its planned towers.



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Teachers share 19 things they'd love to tell their students but can't

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english school teacher

To maintain order in the classroom — and to keep their jobs — there are some things teachers just can't tell their students, even if they want to.

But some of these things, while perhaps controversial, could end up being a service to young people, if only someone would just tell them.

So we asked teachers everywhere to weigh in on the one thing they'd love to tell their students but can't, and more than 50 teachers shared their insights.

We've (anonymously) included some of the most constructive thoughts here:

SEE ALSO: 23 teachers share the weirdest thing they've ever experienced on the job

SEE ALSO: 19 things teachers say parents should do at home to help their kids succeed

Really, all this stuff you learn is probably not that important

What is important is the life skills you learn while completing the tasks in class.

You learn how to argue effectively and communicate with different types of people. You learn how to listen to others and respond respectfully. You learn so much that you don't even realize because it seems disguised by homework and essays. But really, you are learning to be independent adults more than you know.



Don't waste this opportunity

Please just know that I love teaching and I sincerely want to help you. But I can't help you if you don't put in the effort. I chose this job because I'm passionate and hardworking and I know my s---, and I will help you get to where you need to be. But you need to meet me halfway.

You may not realize how important it is to do well in school. You grew up in a tiny apartment in a horrible neighborhood, your parents aren't educated, you're working 18 hour-days, and your neighbors are selling drugs — and maybe you think this is all normal, but it's not, and you have a chance to get out of this.

But you're not taking that chance. And I don't know what you think your life is going to be like if you don't graduate high school and go to college, but you're not going to get out of the South Bronx — you'll be surrounded in this unsafe, crime-ridden neighborhood, it'll be the same thing with your own kids.

It's so frustrating because education opens so many doors, and people around the world would kill to have this educational opportunity. Malala was shot in the freaking head for it. And you're just throwing it all away, and that makes me want to tear my hair out.



The world can be very harsh

You are more than what others judge you to be.



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Here's the real reason your friend's 'gluten-free' diet is probably making them feel better

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food salad restaurant person mexican

As more and more of your friends go gluten-free, you may be wondering: Is there something to this latest diet craze? Is gluten-intolerance a thing? Is it getting more common?

The answer is simply no.

Only about 1% of Americans actually have celiac disease, the rare genetic disorder that makes people intolerant to gluten, and that number is not on the rise. In other words, in a room of 100 people, chances are one has celiac. In fact, a study published this month found that the prevalence of celiac has remained basically unchanged since 2009.

And as for all those people who say they don't have celiac but are just "sensitive" to gluten, a 2013 study out of Monash University suggested that this probably isn't real.

So what's really going on when people stop eating gluten?

Alan Levinovitz, an assistant professor at James Madison University who studies the intersection between religion and medicine and the author of the book "The Gluten Lie," says it essentially comes down to a mix of psychology and behavioral change.

In the book, Levinovitz interviews Monash University director of gastroenterology Peter Gibson, who helped write the 2013 study concluding that non-celiac gluten "intolerance" was probably not a thing. Gibson says the real reason that many people who have cut gluten claim to feel healthier afterwards is simply because they've changed their diet.

"I've noticed [this] lots of times, even with family members," Gibson tells Levinovitz. "They've decided they're eating a lot of takeaway foods, quick foods, not eating well at all. They read this thing about gluten-free, and then they're buying fresh vegetables, cooking well, and eating a lot better."

In other words, while cutting gluten may seem like it helps you lose weight or clears up your complexion, the reality is that 500 other things could be the real cause.

"Blaming the gluten is easy, but you could point to about a hundred things they're doing better," Gibson adds.

gluten free cupcakes

But this can be a tough pill to swallow.

"When it comes to food sensitivities, people are incredibly unwilling to question self-diagnoses," Levinovitz writes. "No one wants to think that the benefits they experienced from going gluten-free ... might be psychological."

On top of that, connecting what we've eaten to physical symptoms is incredibly difficult. Not only have studies shown that we have trouble remembering what we ate when we ate it, we're also poor judges of what's healthy and what's not.

So rather than jumping to self-diagnose, see a doctor. And stick to the science.

SEE ALSO: One of the most popular ways of telling if you're a healthy weight is bogus — here's what you should do instead

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: The Science Is In — Why Gluten Sensitivity Is Probably Fake

8 of the most innovative restaurants in America

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restaurant-chef

The future is here — in our restaurants.

The standard order, dine, pay and tip model we're used to in American eateries is being upended by innovative chefs and restaurateurs around the country. 

Some are experimenting with radical pricing models, others are making better use of their food waste, and some are subverting diner expectations in ways never seen before.

Here are some innovative restaurants around the United States that you should check out.

SEE ALSO: 27 bizarre restaurants to eat at in your lifetime

The Perennial (San Francisco, California)

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The Perennial is aggressively sustainable — an Eater feature described the restaurant as "progressive agrarian cuisine." 

The restaurant runs its own sustainable fish farm. The fish are fed composted waste from the restaurant, mixed with worms and black soldier fly larvae. The fish then poop out ammonia-rich fecal matter that gets converted into nitrates by bacteria. The nitrate-rich water is used to feed lettuces and other crops that the restaurant grows in its greenhouse, which are eventually served in its dishes. Then the cycle starts over again.



Kitchenette (Memphis, Tennessee)

Kimbal Musk (yes, he's Elon's brother) has a plan to create a chain of grab-and-go restaurants called Kitchenette, which will serve sandwiches, soups, and salads. The first will open in Memphis' Shelby Farms Park. 

The big catch is that everything will be under $5. The restaurants will get to that price point by being located close to the farms they source from. Musk is hoping the restaurants will encourage diners to become more involved in their local communities and eat healthier. Offering cheaply priced lunch is certainly a good way to do that.



Mosaics Community Cafe (Bartow, Florida)

For unemployed folks who find it easier to give away labor than money, this community cafe in Bartow, Florida is a boon. 

At the restaurant, each item has a suggested price — Today reports that around 60% of diners pay it. But if they don't have enough money, they can instead choose to volunteer their time by working at Mosaics or at a local community center down the road, where they help feed the hungry. 



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Here's what the 'Rich Kids of Instagram' did this summer


23 shocking photos that show just how crowded China has become

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Great Wall lots of people

China's population was approaching 1 billion when it established its one-child-per-family policy in the late 1970s. But in the fall of 2015, China announced that the policy would be dropped because of unintended consequences, including a skewing of the population toward males and a disproportionate representation of elderly people.

By allowing couples to have two children, China is hoping to bring balance back to the country's demographics. The current population is about 1.3 billion. Only time will tell how the lifting of the rule will affect the numbers.

These photos from Reuters show how crowded the country has already become.

Jack Sommer wrote an earlier version of this story.

SEE ALSO: Inside the $200 million hotel Donald Trump just opened a mile away from the White House

Examinees walk into the entrance of a classroom building to take part in a three-day entrance exam for postgraduate studies in Hefei, Anhui province. A record 1.8 million people applied to attend this exam in 2013.



Students take an exam at a high school's open-air playground in Yichuan, Shaanxi province. More than 1,700 freshmen students took part in the exam in 2015, which the school moved outside because of insufficient indoor space.



Laundry hangs outside student housing at a university in Wuhan, Hubei province.



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Teachers share the 12 biggest misconceptions people have about their job

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Bad Teacher

With more than 4 million teachers in the US, there's a good chance you know at least one personally.

Even so, plenty of people have the wrong idea about teachers and what they do for a living.

To set the record straight, we asked teachers everywhere to weigh in on some of the most common misconceptions about teachers out there, and more than 50 teachers responded. We've (anonymously) included some of their answers here:

Teachers work from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

"In my experience, this couldn't be further from the truth. In my building, and many others, the teachers arrive around 7 a.m. and do not leave the building until after 5 p.m. Also, when I finally do leave, I almost always have something work-related to do at home."

Teachers have summers off

"It's true, there are days over the summer that I free myself of school-related responsibilities. However, the majority of my summer days are spent planning, shopping for the upcoming school year, and attending professional development meetings. Also, even though I work in a school that starts after labor day, I always head back to my classroom to start to set up by the middle of August."

Teachers get paid for the time they're 'not working'

"Correction, teachers are paid for about 180 to 185 days of work."

A teacher's only job is to teach

"Only 40% of what we do actually happens in the classroom. Lesson planning and preparation, grading papers, school paperwork, student reports, parent phone calls and emails, extra help for students, and participating in community events are all things that teachers are required and expected to do."

Teachers get into the profession just for the 'easy schedule'

"I spend my summers working more than 50 hours a week in a restaurant so I can make up for the low salary I earn as a teacher. I wouldn't be able to teach if I didn't have a supplemental income."

Teachers don't care

"We go to sleep thinking about our kids and how we can be the best for them."

Teachers hardly do anything all day

"We are taking care of 24 children, who all have academic, emotional, and social needs. We have to be teacher, parent, and friend to each of them. Put on top of that all the paperwork we have to do and constantly getting observed, not to mention the politics of a school environment, or when we have to call DYFS to protect a child — plus we do most of this with a full bladder because we only get a 40-minute break to grade papers and get ready for lessons and a 40-minute lunch to finally use the bathroom."

If you can't do, teach

"A common misconception is that we somehow failed to be successful in the discipline we now teach."

Everything they teach is prepared for them

"I don't think people realize how much we have to do from scratch. There is often no existing curriculum full of lesson plans. Teachers have to design their own every single day. And each lesson plan involves hours of planning, as you dutifully explain how it connects to the Common Core, how you are differentiating for specific learners, how you are assessing students both informally and formally. And of course, ensuring this is all in the context of a well-thought-out unit that builds up certain skills and content knowledge.

"I don't mean to complain about doing my job, because it is my job, but I don't think people realize how little we have to work with and how much we have to create on our own. And then how much we get held accountable if it isn't perfect.

Teachers always get tons of support

"In my last school, there was no disciplinary plan ... no suspensions, detentions, referrals, being sent to the principal's office. So how am I supposed to deal with it, exactly, when an enormous 16-year-old is backing me into the wall, screaming curses in my face?"

It's easy because all they do is talk at kids

"We are some of these kids counselors, parent-figures, older sibling-figures — the list goes on and on. You really feel like you are wearing multiple hats all the time and multiplehats for different kids. Some days it feels as if you didn't get to teach anything because you were dealing with other issues in the class."

"It's not easy. It's very demanding of your time and energy."

It's intuitive to be a teacher

"Because we observed our own teachers on the job when we were students, it's natural to make assumptions about the job, but our perceptions were made from the biased lenses of our adolescent minds, and the profession has changed a lot in the last decade. Teaching is increasingly demanding and incredibly complex.

"Unfortunately, the image that the word 'teacher' conjures in most peoples' minds is sorely antiquated and somewhat laughable (perhaps because we are picturing the same teachers we mocked as students), and not at all of a person who is equipped to handle the high pressure, complex situations that arise daily in the life of a teacher.

"At the same time, when asked what I do for a living, I often get the response, 'Well then you must be a nice person,' and while that's nice to hear, it doesn't help to make the teaching profession any more respected, or education anymore valued.

"This indifference towards the profession is pervasive; in turn, school is something our students 'just have to do,' rather than the gift of empowerment that it truly is, and is even perceived to be in some other countries."

Responses have been edited for clarity.

SEE ALSO: Teachers share 19 things they'd love to tell their students but can't

DON'T MISS: 23 teachers share the weirdest thing they've ever experienced on the job

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I moved to New York City 2 years ago — here’s what I tell my friends who say they can’t afford to

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Emmie Brooklyn BridgeAfter falling in love with New York City during a summer internship in college, I moved here two weeks after graduating from college and haven't even entertained the thought of leaving since.

Despite more than two years of crowded subway rides, streets that smell like hot garbage, and exorbitant rent prices, I'm still obsessed with the city — and constantly urging all of my long-distance friends to move here. But I'm often met with the same response: "I want to, but I can't afford it."

"Here's the thing," I tell them. "You probably can."

Yes, New York is expensive. Yes, you'll constantly be tempted to spend. And yes, your rent will likely be much higher than what you're paying in Pittsburgh or Phoenix. But if the New York lifestyle is worth it to you, the budget is doable.

For me, it all comes down to a single mantra: You can do some things, just not everything.

Sticking to my budget means choosing what's a priority and what I'm willing to sacrifice. I bring my lunch to work every day and save my food budget for exploring restaurants with friends. For every night out at an expensive bar, there's one spent splitting a $7 bottle of white wine on the couch.

Some sacrifices might seem bigger than others: Rent is expensive, and there's no way around it. You most likely can't afford to live alone like on "Sex and the City" or nab a huge apartment in the West Village á la "Friends." But trust me on this: It won't matter. This city has so much to offer — free outdoor movies, expansive parks that you can get lost for hours in, huge, chocolate-packed cookies at Levain Bakery— the amount of time you'll spend sitting at home will be negligible.

Emmie in New YorkThere are plenty of neighborhoods where rent is reasonable — try looking in Brooklyn, Queens, or uptown Manhattan — and living farther out will give you a great jumping-off point to explore a new part of the city. Perhaps I'm biased by great roommates, but I share a tiny place in deep Brooklyn with two other people, and I wouldn't change a thing about it. I love delving into new corners of the borough and coming home to share my day with friends.

Living here full-time also gives you the luxury of waiting for good deals. You don't have to fit everything into a weeklong trip — you have months, even years, to explore the city. Which means you can wait for Restaurant Week to check out new places on a budget and hold out for Broadway tickets to go on TKTS at half price. If you don't mind going on a certain day of the week or month, several museums offer free entry as well.

By living here, you don't have to shell out hundreds to ensure that you can capture the best of NYC in a few days as you would on a vacation — you're free to enjoy its magic little by little, watching it unfold right in front of you. My best experiences in New York aren't tied to expensive activities, but to the amazing friends and colleagues I've explored the city with.

As much as I would love for all of my best friends to move to New York, it won't be a great fit for everyone. But if affordability is the only thing holding you back — give it another chance. At the end of the day, if you're making a solid income and don't mind living with a roommate or two, New York isn't as outrageously expensive as it might seem.

SEE ALSO: The 10 most affordable housing markets in the US

DON'T MISS: 8 ways I trick myself into waking up early to go to the gym

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There's a reason foodies are flocking to Portland, Maine, right now

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portland maine

There's a reason Maine is often called "Vacationland." Though the winters are bitterly cold, during the summer and fall the state's coastal cities buzz with tourists looking to make the most of the state's beaches, harbors, and growing culinary scene.

Portland, especially, has become a destination for food-loving travelers, with innovative local restaurants like Eventide, with its 10 varieties of Maine oysters, and the wildly popular sandwich shop Duckfat.

Maine is an enormous state packed with towns worth visiting, but for the purpose of this story, we're focusing on what you can get done in a late summer weekend in Portland, the state's biggest city. Many say that September is the best time of year to visit. 

SEE ALSO: 19 stunning photos that show why this small Mexican beach town should be on your travel bucket list

Portland is a city of roughly 65,000 people on the southern coast of the state.



Portland is about an hour-long flight away from New York City, or a two-and-a-half-hour train ride from Boston.



Much of the city's tourist activity is centered in the Old Port, which has plenty of boutiques, restaurants, and bars.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

There may be an evolutionary reason suburbia feels so miserable

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Unless you're in the market for a new home, you're probably not taking Sunday drives through the suburbs just to appreciate the scenery. Why would you want to?

As Alex Balashov outlined for Quartz, so much of American suburbia is characterized by its surplus of cookie-cutter homes, odd and winding streets, and random smattering of trees that barely qualify as nature.

The feeling you're often left with in these towns is one of general malaise, a vague sense of unnaturalness that's hard to chalk up to any one factor.

Research from evolutionary psychology suggests there is a reason for this feeling, and it lies in humans' natural preference for socialization and well-defined spaces — both traits suburbia often lacks.

Human beings have an innate need to socialize with one another. A neighbor may ask for a cup of sugar simply to follow a recipe, for instance, but there's evidence to suggest she may be catering to a more primal desire for connection and support.

The same principle could help explain the (occasional) joy of running into people in public or the rush of a dinner party. It all reinforces the idea that humans are social animals.

The trouble with the suburbs is that big houses with big yards, set behind wide streets and long driveways, make socializing much harder. And since everyone is driving from A to B, unlike in large cities were residents walk or take public transportation everywhere, people who live in the suburbs have to make a much more active effort to socialize.

suburbs housing development''A culture of impersonality has developed in the suburbs by the way they're laid out,'' Jonathan Barnett, author of "The Fractured Metropolis" and former professor of regional planning at the University of Pennsylvania, told The New York Times in 1999.

Even 17 years later, many of the same design problems remain, perhaps the biggest being the lack of planned order often found in urban environments.

While the suburbs have wide-open roads to ferry people from their homes to shops and restaurants, cities stack apartments on top of those shops and restaurants. Trees flanking the streets create both a natural tunnel and a border between the sidewalk and pavement. In some suburbs you have to cross a highway to buy some milk; in cities you walk downstairs.

Not all suburbs are guilty of lacking cohesion. The best suburbs tend to borrow elements from their nearby metropolitan region, such as public transportation or highly walkable downtowns, to create public spaces that don't require lots of driving or space.

But in some sense, the order and organization of a city is more natural. Urban planners, for instance, rely on the notion of "organic order," which says people naturally want to live in places that have well-defined paths, edges, districts, and landmarks.

Psychologists have suggested that the human preference for order is also what guides people to hire professional organizers and allows us to feel the unexpected joy of one thing fitting perfectly into another. We like when things make sense.

Unfortunately, in places without that natural order, such as the suburbs, we're left with that dreaded malaise we can't seem to shake. It's not our fault — the roads and homes and general lack of planning don't make natural sense.

Cities are more intuitive. The suburbs, those we have to figure out.

SEE ALSO: I lived in the city my whole life — here's what I learned when I moved to the suburbs

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