If you’re like me, the first thing you do every Sunday morning is check the “Modern Love” column in the New York Times—a collection of first person essays about love of all varieties. Usually, I am wrapped up in the storyline, scrolling down the page, sipping my coffee, eager to find out how the saga ends, but every once in a while, I wonder what the other characters in the piece must be feeling as they read it—mothers, daughters, ex-lovers, and friends. Well, that’s what some writers over at Double X were wondering too. So they decided to start a genius column called “Modern Love Revenge” where they provide the subjects of “Modern Love” essays the chance to post their responses, rebuttals, and reflections—basically, to tell the other side of the story. I was especially interested in this response from Joyce Maynard’s daughter, Audrey Bethel.

One of the big bombshells my ex dropped the day he decided he needed a break was, “I don’t know that we’re in love anymore.” I didn’t buy it. I was in love and I was certain he was too. He was confused, he needed space, and I was going to give it to him, despite the fact that for many, his words would have been the final nail in the coffin. So I was fascinated to read Laura Munson’s “Modern Love” column in Sunday’s New York Times about her refusal to fight with her husband when he declared he no longer loved her.

I heart words and communication. This includes emails, text messages, Gchat, Blackberry Messenger, iChat—the works. I am a sucker for a well-crafted email or a witty text message. My motto: The way to my heart is through my brain. That’s why I thought Joe could be Mr. Perfect for me. Joe and I met one night at a work gala. I had already put away an entire bottle of wine when I almost knocked him over on the dance floor.

“Do you like to dance, beautiful girl who almost stepped on my foot?” he asked.

“Only when I’m drunk. When I’m sober, I dance like Elaine from ‘Seinfeld.’” I replied.

It was a rainy October night and Joe offered to escort me to the subway when the event ended, impressed that I could: a.) still walk and b.) do it in 3-inch heels. “Email me,” I slurred, handing him my business card, “I loooove emails.”

The New York Times’ Modern Love column is something many simply adore—and others love to hate. Each week, readers learn intimate details about someone else’s relationship, and sometimes learn lessons about human nature, relationships, and love. The column has helped several writers launch their careers by way of book deals; now it may help The New York Times’ wallet. Former “Sex and the City” writer Jenny Bicks is working on a pilot script for a TV show based on Modern Love—not a specific column, the whole shebang.

The show will revolve around a fictionalized male editor’s life, which includes a messy divorce, a rocky relationship with a teenage daughter, and a reentry into the dating scene. Stories and people from the newspaper column will be woven into the show’s storylines. Even though BermanBraun optioned the rights to the column from The Times last year, Bicks isn’t sure whether she’ll be able to set the series at the paper, or if it will become a fictional news organization.

Meanwhile, the real editor of Modern Love, Daniel Jones, lives in Massachusetts with his family. No word on how he feels about having his life made into a TV show. [Variety]

Every woman I know can share some anecdote regarding that gorgeous female “friend” her boyfriend annoyingly adores. It’s just inevitable. The minute you settle down with the Brad of your dreams, some Angelina shows up like a bee to your honey. Occasionally, she really is “just a friend,” but when her feelings run deeper, well, a woman just knows, and I think we can all agree it puts you in a somewhat awkward—make that insanely frustrating—position.

One of the things you learn very quickly in a relationship is that people have really annoying habits. This becomes especially apparent when you move in with someone and suddenly their little eccentricities become part of your everyday life, from the way they leave empty paper coffee cups on the table for weeks on end, to their belief that the perfect place for that wet towel is bunched up on the bed and not on the hook in the bathroom. You also realize that changing these aspects of their personality is a task that is much easier said than done. Before anyone jumps all over me with the whole “you don’t want to change someone you love”, let me call B.S. When confronted with a bathroom sink filled with your love’s tiny black beard hairs, yes you do. You don’t love them any less because of those annoying habits, but you might love ‘em a tiny bit more without them. It was with that in mind that I sat down to read Amy Sutherland’s What Shamu Taught Me About Life, Love, and Marriage: Lessons for People from Animals and Their Trainers. And as most Hallmark story endings go, in the end, I ended up training myself. The three tricks that worked the best, after the jump.

The “Modern Love” column in this Sunday’s New York Times was about a woman who dates a musician who has a kid with a woman he briefly dated. The guy turns out to be a bit of a child himsef, but the whole piece got me thinking about whether I would be down for dating a dude with a kid (specifically if I didn’t have any kids of my own). I think I would be fine with it, considering I am such a sucker for the little ones, but what about you? If you were a single woman who didn’t have kids, would you date a guy who had a child of his own? [Modern Love: Was I On A Date Or Babysitting?]

When I think of virtual reality, I think of those goofy Star Trek-looking visor/headsets that people thought would transport them to their ultimate fantasy world back in the early ‘90s.  I certainly never thought the term would apply to my life. And yet, for more than a year, I was involved in what can only be deemed a virtual affair – a torrid, explicitly sexual relationship with a dude whom I never screwed, kissed, or even touched in real life.

Well that’s not entirely true. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t like one of those Internet relationships that are sparked by desperate people in the wee hours of the morning in singles chat rooms. This was a guy that I knew. That I’d met. That I’d flirted with in real time and felt instant, palpable chemistry with—the kind that you can only really feel if you are in the same physical space. But our “relationship” was never consummated. Not even close.

The whole Patrick Moberg, nygirlofmydreams.com thing really got our hopes up about the possibility of meeting someone on public transportation. It would be such a good use of time since we’re on a bus or subway almost two whole hours every day. So we got really excited about this article in New York about four real couples who met on the subway. One of the couples kept running into each other before they got together but didn’t date for a couple years after they first saw each other on the subway: “Then, in 1999, I went to the laundry room of my building and she was there. I said, ‘What are you doing here?’ She said, ‘I live here. What are you doing here?’ Our first date was at the Museum of Natural History, and we eloped to Iceland in 2002.” Awwwwww. Maybe we’d have more luck if we actually took out our ear buds so people could start conversations with us. [New York]

You know a “New York Tale of Hipster Love” has gone mainstream when Diane Sawyer is cooing about it on Good Morning America. Patrick Moberg, the author and illustrator behind the infamous “Dreamgirl” website/doodle, appeared on the show with his finally found paramour. The recap? They went out on a date and totally clicked! And she looks exactly like his drawing of her! And she’s so cute we kind of want to date her! She’s Australian! She makes him blush! Are you “awwing” on overload yet? [Good Morning America]

Guy sees dream girl on subway, guy misses opportunity to woo dream girl, guy posts adorable doodle on internet with his phone number. We would be skeeved out by the potential creepiness if we weren’t too busy going, “Aww!” [NY Girl Of My Dreams]