It is the scoliosis book for sure, but one of the things I remember the most about it is that Deenie mentions that she has a "special place" on her body, and sometimes she touches it to make herself feel good. This is the only book I read as a child that referenced a girl masturbating, and it did it in this totally…

;-) Also, my 4 year old and I love your handle.

One panino

For me, grammar rules are about communication. So, if adding extra letters in a text or on twitter helps me more accurately communicate, then it's fine. Often, adding extra letters adds a quick effective emotive layer to what you are saying. I do get annoyed at grammar problems that cloud meaning, but if the person is…

OK, I love that pic. I do love the swan dress. At the time I remember thinking "It's Bjork. What do you guys want or expect? She's weird, and she looks like she loves that dress and is having the greatest time getting to wear it." That's a win as far as I'm concerned.

Yes! Do they not realize that that is CHER? And she is GLORIOUS?

I think what Schweeps means with the "just a phase" bit is that the OP wondered if, in the case that it was, in fact, just a phase, if that altered the way she should treat it, and Schweeps is saying either way, let the child identify the way he or she wants to. Not saying that there should be concern if it turns out…

Thank you.

I have considered that that might have been his intention. I don't think it worked though.

I felt this way about Family Guy for a long time. I have laughed my ass off at that show, and at American Dad. I think he may have been coming from the place you describe, initially. I also think he's gone off the rails. He may still mean to be coming from that place, but if he doesn't evolve his delivery and…

I would agree with you. There are some other commenters saying that not getting to dress the way you want is part of adult life, but I think that learning to manage your sexual feelings and learning to handle being around so called distractions is a more important and timely lesson to learn. Let teens dress how they…

I could almost understand the first one, but the second scenario is still a pretty horrible thing to do to someone. If it were a problem with a lot of people, I would address the whole class, or send a memo home to everyone's parents reiterating what the dress code is. Even in the first scenario you mention, I think I…

If so, the teacher could have spoken to her privately and not shamed her in front of a class of her peers.

Teachers shouldn't humiliate and shame kids in class like that, no matter what dress code violation there might have been. That's just an awful thing to do to someone.

The biological compulsion you describe finds a way. Talk to guys who went to schools that had strict dress codes/modest uniforms, and they will tell you that they had the same level of distraction as boys who went to schools where girls wore belly shirts and miniskirts. It's called being a teenager, and long ago, boys…

Car phone! Whenever I want to blow the mind of an adolescent/teen, I tell them about the car phone I once had. You should see the looks.

Agreed. Akin spouted nonsense that contradicts actual well-known, provable, biological fact. Different.

One time when I was travelling, someone at a youth hostel stole my towel and my first thought was "how do I avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal who thinks that if I can't see it, it can't see me!?!"

Why can't I edit comments lately? Aaaaah. Yes. Thank you to everyone who has corrected something I've been wrong about for over 2 decades. I think, now that I throw my mind back, that this can be blamed on my high school drama teacher, who used to call me "Nurse Ratchet" decidedly with a "t" when he was annoyed at me.

And I've had it wrong for 22 years despite having read the book 3 times. Shit.