And the hot yoga.

I agree with steampunkpanda. Family planning *is* an economic issue. It impacts population, obviously, but also the financial stability of women and families. I'm not sure what percentage of the population is of child-bearing age right now, but an unplanned pregnancy carried to term will minimally prevent a woman…

There are a lot of artistic types who are narcissistic enough to believe that they deserve people's admiration and custom, but don't actually understand what is necessary to make money. I honestly believe that it's one part aesthetics (some designers don't like seeing their designs on bodies other than the ones on…

To be fair to Kansas, there are bound to be some Mexicans and Native Americans there. One of my hispanic cousins was actually crowned homecoming king a few years ago. Growing up I knew a family of African American farmers, even, so. Rural Kansas: 1, "Girls": 0.

Ha. I have a bunch of friends in med school; the student loans there are even worse. One of them takes out per year what I took out in 6.

While it's occurred to me that once I'm out of school, the dating pool will pretty much dry up to nothing, lending a sense of urgency to meeting someone while there are people around, I can't say that dating has actually been a priority for me at all. That said, the claim that the goods are odd in academia is…

Don't be ridiculous. You ignore the humanities and social sciences and instead scope out the café in the business school, the engineering block, or in the health sciences library. *eyeroll*

Ha! I'll keep that in mind. I have one really fantastic, timeless LBD, so I suppose if I just invest in some nice pumps, that'd hold me for a bit. :) Also, the one time that trickle-down economics works—consignment shops. I once saw a Zac Posen evening gown on sale for under $300. I couldn't justify it then, but…

Ha, yeah, I have a good friend who had to sell her soul to a bank for a job...definitely not her first choice, but since she did her undergrad in the states and then her master's in the UK, she has to deal with loan debt somehow. I'm in a major city in Canada right now, where rent is sky-high, but it's cheaper to…

I think that's the big problem with all the blogs and tv shows about millennials, is that they make going into debt for luxury items and awkward hookups seem like real problems. Not that they aren't, but the perspective is certainly skewed.

Is there any way to discuss what it's like to be in your 20s right now without sounding like an entitled brat? Because sometimes I feel like a lot of this complaining is along the lines of "STFU, twenty-somethings, no one cares that you got into all that student loan debt because everyone told you you needed a…

My advisor's advisor is a total silver fox. And even more the point, so far as I can tell, not a misogynistic jerk.

And suddenly I feel so much better that I didn't finish that study in time to submit an abstract. >.< Although I would have loved to see what my supervisor would do if this assclown made a comment to my face...the last time I attended a conference I got to watch him quietly panic while instead of asking him questions…

Actually, it might just be a dialect thing people picked up. And even then, I thought it just happened naturally because in the Southern U.S. people don't always pronounce r's, a lá Foghorn Leghorn. Could be wrong about that, though. In any case, it took me years to realize that "cuss" was actually even *derived*…

Liking how someone looks *isn't* treating them as subhuman, but engaging in further behaviors that may threaten or harm them definitely *is*. There's a huge difference between being admired and being leered at—and that difference has nothing to do with the observer's appearance, before anyone accuses me of making…

There are a lot of brands that make different AHA peels—Sephora carries a lot—but I really like this company called Makeup Artist's Choice. You can buy a small bottle of a relatively weak/gentle glycolic or lactic acid solution for under $20, and they have free 2-day shipping in the U.S. They also carry a…

On a completely separate note, sounds like one more pop culture reference in Sherlock that went completely over my little American head when I watched it originally.

I stick to trousers if I'm going for business casual or formal. Not that I don't like how I look in pencil skirts, but for me, wearing a skirt has always made me feel like I'm courting the wrong kind of attention. I hated it when it was a requirement for music competitions in middle school and high school (we had…

I grew up on a farm, and my parents started teaching me about gun safety when I was in third grade or so. I just had an air rifle, so nothing serious, but my parents made sure to teach me how to carry a gun safely, how to aim safely, etc. Teaching a kid what guns are about, how dangerous they are, and how to handle…

I took a political science class a few years ago, and one thing the professor noted concerned an independent study on the legislative concerns of Democratic and Republican senators. Both were better for rich people than for poor people, but it was pretty obvious that Democrats were still a LOT better for the poor and…