We really thought about doing that... but we did figure it was the only chance to get our friends together. Afterwards, we joked that we were never allowed to get divorced, because our friends had spent too much money to come see us get married!

I, too, am a big proponent of paternity leave for feminist reasons. The big picture reason it's really important is this: women of a certain age range are always considered to pose the danger of an inconvenient and expensive maternity leave, and are therefore less likely to get the job, or the promotion. Men, however,…

Well, we had a little help from his 'rents, so that helped. Also, some things that are usual wedding expenses we got done by relatives or friends as their gift to us — so an aunt of his did the decorations, a friend of ours did the music (though we rented the tech setup), some others played music or sang. And all the…

Exactly our wedding! We had people come from N. America, Europe (east and west) and New Zealand. We specified no gifts, had no showers, and no dress-up bullshit. And we paid for all the food, alcohol, and beds on the weekend of the wedding. (Nothing fancy, actually pretty rustic, but we wanted there to be a free…

My mom skyped into my wedding. Unfortunately, she forgot she wasn't wearing pants. Ah, the stories I have to tell!

I am the same way. As I mentioned in another comment, my wedding was on another continent. I did not hold it against anyone who couldn't make it. It's a ton of money to travel, not to mention the time, effort, etc. And of course we made it clear that people didn't need to bring presents. etc. No bridesmaids' dresses.…

I hear you. I was actually plagued with guilt by the fact that my wedding was on a different continent than where most of my friends are, but in point of fact it was, indeed, in my husband's home town. Other than do two weddings — and that would have been besides the point, since we wanted to bring our lives together…

It's funny — she so looks like my grandmother, who is Romanian with some Serbian background, so I kind of want to see ethnic resemblance. I have to remind myself that these royals were mostly German though...

Um, I see where you're coming from, but I think the massive power difference is key here. Beyonce is not some little girl getting "schooled", nor is she a witch being burned at the stake ("log on the fire"). She's a massively rich and successful woman, with a team of staff, probably a ton of hangers on, and major…

I feel much the same way. Want!

The longer I live (which, to be honest, is not that super long, but long enough) the more I believe in the existence of evil. The thing is, there are just a lot of people out there who take pleasure in hurting others, who combine willful destructiveness with an inability or unwillingness to empathize with other…

Tim Horton's coffee is lukewarm mare's urine with a bit of powdered brick mixed in for colour.

Worth saying that the vast majority of the Canadian reaction to 9/11, as I experienced it in Toronto, was one of solidarity with the U.S. Vast majority. Both in the media and among regular people. But that partly meant that some smart asses could feel clever by hinting that Americans deserved it, because they confused…

Canada's a bit more complicated. When 9/11 happened, a lot of people actually did feel great sympathy for the US because of our geographic proximity, cultural and linguistic ties, and the simple fact that a lot of Canadians have American friends and relatives, live in the US, or are descended from Americans.

So of course the Daily Mail has photos and her name... I read that article before I saw this post.

Whenever I see a VS shot — be it from the catalog or the runway show — I just feel miserable and fat. And while I know that feeling bad about myself is supposed to make me shop more, it doesn't actually work that way for me. I just don't ever want to go in the place. I basically do feel as though I'm looking in on…

Oh wow. That is frighteningly right on. Almost as true-to-life as the (really) old Onion article about the philosophy student who wants to believe in God when he hears Gospel music.

Precisely what I think. I think the women who post these things have some fantasy that someone being paid will somehow live up to the ridiculous standards of parenting that they themselves could never meet.

I've been doing my best to avoid the mommy blogs... especially after I tried to do the natural birth thing, wound up with four days of mostly "natural" labour, got a c-section and knew that I didn't want to read idiot women pontificating about the evils of medicine. If it weren't for my c-section, I'd be all kinds of…

Wooooord. This crap is really just internalised ideology. One day, I will write a very, very angry book about it. Where did the idea come from that children come out better if they are stimulated every single moment of the day? What mothers can lie to themselves to such an extent to pretend that every single second…