Gymnastics floors are usually flexible and springy, suspended over the real gymnasium floor.

It's not just the South, although Southerners with strong accents are usually portrayed negatively. William Daniels (from St. Elsewhere, Boy Meets World, and a bunch of other stuff) worked to acquire his Boston Brahmin accent, shedding his natural Brooklyn accent in the process. Apparently a strong Brooklyn accent was…

ABC has actually run a show like this (and may again this summer, I haven't kept up with it). The trainer has an initial visit with the individual, discusses healthy diet and exercise, and sets a three-month goal. The individual lives at home and generally does it on their own. If they're really having trouble,…

I still adore JK Rowling's well-publicized wonderfully snarky rant about our culture's weight obsession of a few years ago:

Wow. The next time I'm at my parents' house, I'm grabbing my old homecoming/prom dresses and donating. I never had a huge issue finding stuff I liked, even in plus-size, and I still love my senior prom dress (though I'll never wear it again). I must have been super fortunate without realizing it.

Not so much cosmetics, but Jim Henson grew (and kept) his beard because he was self-conscious about his acne scars. As an acne sufferer, there's something kind of endearing about that.

The best description of living with a skin condition I've ever come across is courtesy of a Judy Blume novel: It's going out the door every single day with your problem spread on your face. And I can say, from experience, it's difficult. I don't always want people to see my problem. I'd prefer they just see me. Part…

There's actually (hopefully) a really good reason to keep smallpox around in labs. A preliminary study a few years back discovered that people who had been immunized against smallpox had a greater resistance to contracting HIV. The preliminary study came about when a group of scientists thought to connect the rise of…

For me, it's something of a mixed blessing. I'm similar in that I've always been very expressive in my emotions, but I've also dealt with depression and the horrifying numbness that accompanies it at a few points in my life. Feeling the feels is generally okay.

The only time I've liked Joan Rivers was when she voiced Dot in Spaceballs. I didn't even realize that it was her until a few years ago, though.

When I found "Harriet the Spy" in a used book store, they also had both "The Long Secret" and "Sport." Both were excellent.

I just re-read this a few days ago. One of my favorite books as a kid, and it still holds up today.

For me, the issue is one of self-righteousness. By saying that she'll do the rumba but do it modestly, she's implying that every other person doing the rumba is doing so immodestly or in a way that is an affront to religious beliefs. That's insulting, on some levels. One of the pros from the early seasons, as an…

Ouch. I did something similar as a (seriously stupid) teenager, but it involved the "face cream" and a desperate attempt to avoid plucking my brows. I have a deeply-ingrained flight response to any bottle of Nair I come across.

Yeah, that's a completely different story then.

Depending on the packaged food she was eating, there might not have actually been stove top/oven directions. I'm pretty sure that anything that comes with one of those silver crisping trays won't have alternate instructions on them.

Normally, I'd think the same. Unfortunately, there are also a few subtle differences in both the neckline and waist as well as an obvious change in sleeves. I think the designer tried, just truly came up with a less-than-exact approximation due to some bad decisions.

But designing differently doesn't mean designing badly. A website that I normally love offers much of their clothing in plus sizes. Every so often, though, the plus-size versions end up being horrendously done. For example, one of the dresses they're carrying currently has a length of 42" in the XL size, but 38.5" in…

EDIT: I meant 18th century. Crap. The smallpox vaccine was first introduced in 1798.

Want even more cognitive dissonance? Cavallari's husband, Jay Cutler, is an insulin-dependent diabetic. They can apparently trust the medical establishment about insulin, which wasn't extensively researched or administered until the 20th century, but not about vaccinations, which were first introduced in the late 19th…