I have to try very hard not to do this. I've gotten so that when I begin to feel jealous of someone, I say to myself [sternly], "Are you, right now, actively working towards the same goal they have already achieved? No? Then shush." And if I am currently working towards the Thing they've already achieved, I say to…

It's because people think they can do whatever the hell they want in public buildings. Granted, I'm a public librarian and haven't worked in an academic library since college, but the kind of common-sense stuff you have to specifically ask people not to do in a public library is fucking astounding. This is all the…

From experience, most real friendships outlast most romantic relationships. If you give up your friends for a romantic relationship, let's be honest - most romantic relationships end at some point, and then what have you got? No romantic relationship and no friends. I've had friends that drop off the face of the earth…

You know, I don't think this economic depression we're in is going to end any time soon. But at the same time, I dont want my life to stand still. So I think, what marketable skills can I work on that will still be in demand in this economy, even when it gets worse? What can I do? And I just don't know.

The people who are giving you a hard time are not the ones who would be raising your child, therefore, it is a decision between you and your husband alone. If you're not ready for a child, then good for you for admitting that! You have nothing to be scared or ashamed of - and you're still pretty young. I didn't even…

There is absolutely no reason for anyone, outside of a trained soldier stationed in a war zone, to have access to weapons that can shoot 100 rounds in a matter of seconds. Those weapons have no other legitimate purpose than to kill huge numbers of people very quickly. You can talk all you want about the 2nd amendment,…

Nah. They'll just go across state lines to get it done.

I had the exact same thing. That friendship break-up was actually more painful to me than any romantic break-up, and even 8 years later, I still have dreams about her occasionally.

Something similar happened to me last year. I was really close friends with someone in college; we clicked on so many levels and had so many little adventures together. Last year out of the blue she contacted me and wanted to pick up where we left off, which sounded good to me because I had missed her. During the…

Seconded on the "society tells you to find a romantic partner instead." It just isn't the same!

The childhood best friend is inherently different from the adulthood best friend, because youth breeds a special kind of intensity, fierce loyalties, and a passionate, adventurous feeling of "It's us against the world!" It won't be coming back for any of us; that specific type of friendship belongs in childhood, and…

I give him another one year, two years tops, of cultural relevance before he either fades away to obscurity or has a public relations disaster so epic that it ends his career. Then, taking VH1's Behind the Music as a probably-spot-on template, he'll have about a decade of very public struggles with drugs/alcohol/porn…

Anyone else noticing the Biebs' rapid decent into a Vanilla Ice look-alike? Listen, kids, us elders have seen all this play out before.

This is going to get worse before it gets better. Most of my generation (ugh..."Millenial") are biologically prime to pump out future taxpayers, but there's no way we can afford them. I see a lot of these types of alarmist articles about "Oh noez! People need to be havin' more teh babiez!" but very little about the roo…

I've never enjoyed her work very much, including her work in Lincoln, but parts of the statement she made above do strike me as idiotic. However, it's ok to agree to disagree.

In November, I told Mom that I was going to see Lincoln and asked if she wanted to come with me. She made sort of a face, shook her head and said, "Aside from the fact that I can only ever see her as the Flying Nun, Sally Field is also an idiot." My mother, the wise woman.

Yep, career advice from people who have no knowledge of your field is probably the worst (at least for me). Part of my job is creating public educational programs at my institution. When I was in graduate school, I (bravely, I thought) got up and talked about why designing and implementing public programs could be…

You know, the cool thing about Gchat is that if you hate it or resent it or want to get your work done, you can turn it off. Simple. Done.

Yep, I'm another holiday-party lover here. I average maybe 2 a year, so perhaps the trick isn't over-extending yourself. But having an excuse to spend time with people you care about, eating holiday goodies, and drinking wine is a pretty good way to spend an evening, me thinks.

I was that kid who [unintentionally] ruined Santa for other kids in school. My parents had told me from the beginning that Santa wasn't real, and when I went to kindergarten, it never occurred to me that Santa was still very real for a lot of the kids there.