You ARE allowed to have an opinion on the internet. But people are also allowed to make fun of your opinion on the internet.

That was wonderful.

This is a great article. Thanks, from a feminist former couch potato. ;)

Affordable art - get some stretcher bars at an art supply store; buy a yard and a half of beautiful fabric somewhere (I got something at Ikea for a total of about 15 bucks). Staple gun the fabric to the stretcher bars. Hang on two nails. Feel brilliant.

Affordable art - get some stretcher bars at an art supply store; buy a yard and a half of beautiful cheerful fabric somewhere (I got something at Ikea for a total of about 15 bucks). Staple gun the fabric to the stretcher bars. Hang on two nails. Feel brilliant.

"If you can't get really get away right now, just go for a walk without your purse or wallet (but carry your ID)." This is exactly what I do when I go out climbing hills in a city full of temptations. I take a transit token and my ID. Coming home without buying anything is like training your brain to know that you…

Geez, that sounds like me. I confess I got pretty madly into exercising around the time I lost the weight, and for a couple of years after. Then I started noticing that the more I exercised, the more I would want snacks afterwards, which with my eating habits, usually involved quick carbs. I have heard this before,…

Thanks! 10 pounds maybe, but I've got 20 pounds that are a bitch. I know I need to focus more, pay attention, remember all the things I learned. I never think of it as a willpower thing, more of an attention-span thing.

Me neither. I never got caught up in the numbers game. Mostly, I was working out a lot during those years and it made me feel so good, I didn't care that my jeans were size 14.

It doesn't bug me at all, I'm open to suggestions! I knit a lot, and I don't eat when I knit, just drink tea. Maybe I need to knit more. :)

"you need to learn the language of calories and macronutrients." This is such a good way to describe it. Nine years ago I lost 50 pounds and felt like a million bucks. I wasn't skinny, started to wear size medium everything. While I have been struggling with 20 of them (up, down, up, down, up), I still keep hold…

Not to nit-pick, because this is a great article, but I think it's spelled Hashemite Kingdom.

I think people are shocked that he reacted that way, that he seemed shocked that he was convicted for the same crimes. His lawyer rolling his eyes and shaking his head next to him adds to the incredulity.

I had a great surgeon who did a great job. I feel exactly like "me", the me I had wanted to be all my adult life, if you know what I mean. I wanted to be active without a second thought, to wear nice clothes without having to worry about how they fit, without having to buy specialty bras.

Yeah, I had so much trouble with mine that I had surgery to reduce them, it was the best thing I ever did.

I know he's not a Tuareg, thanks for all that info. Almost all of what I know about Mali and the Tuareg, I know from being a big fan of Tuareg bands and musicians - Tamikrest, Tinariwen, Nabil Othmani, etc. I know that they endured jihadist criticism during the rebellions in 2012/13, to the point that the MNLA…

Some Tuaregs have aligned themselves with militant Islamists. The majority of the Tuareg people are pretty marginalized and prefer to be nomadic. There are in effect two separate rebellions going on; one decades-old, led by Sufis that is economic and nationalist, they want separation from Mali and the formation of…

I know Coulibaly isn't Malian, but I'm a big fan of Tuareg music (Tamikrest, Tinariwen, Bombino, Nabil Othmani, etc), it's all I know of central Saharan Islam - Tinariwen put a picture on their Facebook page in solidarity with Charlie Hebdo, so I'm gonna assume they're pretty laid-back.

But a Muslim from Mali wouldn't be a xenophobe or even particularly militant or observant, right? I think of Tuareg people when I think of Malian Islam, pretty tolerant.

I have that right now; 36 hours of OhMyFuckingGodEverythingHurtsAndIFeelDizzy; now what I keep calling a "head cold", but which I think is the stupid flu lingering on.