Oh, Jack. I just looked up the graduation speech because I apparently enjoy crying myself silly.

Around 1992 or 1993, my family got its first internet-capable computer and promptly signed up for Prodigy. Prodigy actually had a decent amount of content for school-age kids, but common practice was to click a link, then run off for 10 minutes to play while the page loaded. A half-hour of computer time really came…

Western Europe in the late 1700s and early 1800s thought hairy moles were exceptionally attractive. Not exactly a blemish, but not something a lot of us today consider beautiful. They were so attractive that "mouches," fake moles made of adhesive felt and cut into extravagant shapes, became popular.

If you're flying in the US, wear flip-flops or slip-on shoes through security. I'll carry my boots (or whatever shoes I'm planning to wear) into security, then put the flip-flops in my carryon and switch to the 'complicated' shoes after I've cleared it. It's a much faster way of getting through the line. Similarly, if…

Max Martin is kind of notable for nonsensical lyrics, I think. He penned BSB's "Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely," a song I've sworn up and down was written by writing down phrases from romance novels and pulling them, random, out of a hat Bowie-style.

Florida facts I've learned today:

In a one-bedroom place: invest in a comfortable sleeper sofa, if you can. There'll be times when you just don't want to or can't share a bedroom. One of you gets sick, you end up with radically different work/sleep schedules, whatever. Having another bed for that stuff helps tremendously.

My school system actually did teach sex ed from sixth grade on. It got wrapped up in the puberty section of health class in sixth grade, then revisited every few years. By the time you graduated, you'd been through the STI/Contraception unit at least three times. I don't think it pushed anyone into having sex - it…

I think the issue (and it's something that really shouldn't be an issue) is that so many of her books feature one protagonist generally working on her own. It's part of why I found them so appealing, but it also means that a lot of plot advancement and speculation happen as internal monologue. Hollywood tends to have…

Nope. I visited Duncan's site at one point and found it hysterical (but also a little sad) when she mentioned that although one of her novels - maybe Gallows Hill? - had been adapted as a TV movie, she disliked the adaptation so much that she didn't even want to mention it by name.

Not a doctor, but googling Mononessa lists its composition as "norgestimate and ethinyl estradiol," which aren't the compounds listed in the article. If you're concerned, though, definitely talk to your doctor.

"Elderly" has a connotation of "frail" in my mind, like the person being described needs assistance to do a number of things. It's different than "older" or "senior" or whatever else.

Read it backwards. Whether that's word-to-word or sentence-to-sentence, you're less likely to skim when reading backwards.

And lo, the Manly Men, they shall mark themselves in the Shirt of the Mouse and it shall be Good.

Steven Bradley offers a pretty clear take on visual tension: http://www.vanseodesign.com/web-design/vis…

Some [women] don't have anyone they can count on, not even in their own family. Now imagine how the [Hobby Lobby decision] makes them feel. Imagine getting laughed at by anyone you try to reach out to. Imagine being told that your feelings aren't valid, your pain isn't legitimate and that you're just a baby [machine].

Throw some plastic wrap over whatever it is you're rolling out. I can't imagine that the outside of a wine bottle is anything other than filthy.

I'd love to find a single pair of jeans that doesn't have added synthetic stretch material crap. Plain old denim. Stretchy jeans are great for certain things, but they don't hold up (or breathe) when I'm actually trying to use them as work pants.

A lot of this is compounded by the rumors and speculation surrounding how this season really went down, I think. Nick was caught on camera telling someone what happened as he was flying home after the show wrapped, and there's a lot of speculation that he's been at the mercy of the show's producers since. Andi and…

I remember reading something that Paris Hilton, of all people, had started doing because of that issue: She'd make up something innocuous about herself and only tell one of her friends. If that 'secret' wound up in the tabloids, she knew not to trust that person any longer.