I love reading subscription box reviews! In theory they sound great to me, but I'm too poor (and tbh too much of a control freak) to shell out for a box full of surprises I might love or hate. I mostly stick to gambling with my time & energy by entering a million online beauty giveaways instead.

Maybe part of them seceding can involve funding to move everyone who wants to leave to a blue state?

You have just described my dream job.

Is it just my OCD talking, or is this UTTERLY HORRIFYING?

Some free divers actually go down after exhaling — partially because you're less bouyant and partially because of the idea that when you stop breathing underwater, your metabolism slows down so you use up less oxygen, and starting from the exhale triggers that change faster. There are technical terms for this but I…

I've done some free diving, but that doesn't really refute your point because I'm totally a weirdo. I mostly did it before I got certified, but the nice thing is that you don't need any equipment beyond your mask & snorkel (and preferably some weights) so you can do it anywhere, any time. No advanced planning…

That's totally fair! I put off learning to dive for a long time because I have a fear of deep water, but fortunately even at 100 feet I was still able to see the surface, so that took away a lot of my anxiety. But when it comes to the dark hidden depths of the ocean I'm with you — if I was meant to be down there, my…

As a scuba diver, I was totally going to star this explanation until I read the parenthetical. :(

In case nobody else has pointed out the obvious here — the reason some people don't think women need to be "good in bed" is because THEY THINK OF WOMEN AS OBJECTS. You wouldn't describe an inanimate object — say, a fleshlight — as being good or bad in bed. It can't be either; it has no agency, no ability to act on its…

I so wish I could afford a nice vibrator. I'm on limited income due to disability so I'm usually stuck with something cheap and crappy that breaks after a month. (I'm also single so this one probably isn't appropriate for my needs anyway, but it sure is nice to look at!)

Good luck! I was considering ECT a couple years ago. I've gotten to an acceptably stable place through therapy (I take Cymbalta still but for fibro & mostly as a placebo anyway, as the only effect I've ever noticed is the brain zaps when I miss a few days) but if things go downhill again, ECT will be my only option…

Used to? I still hit up my parents any time I have a question that would be difficult to Google. For my mom it's usually questions about colloquial Spanish usage or the differences between various regional dialects (also, before I was disabled, I'd call her any time I had trouble at work). For my dad, it's questions…

I'd be shocked to hear of anyone who's worked in food service longer than a year and hasn't suffered some sort of burn or cut as part of the job.

Thank you so much for explaining this. I have felt a lot of shame and anger at myself for having sexual dreams when I am not interested in sex during my waking hours. I've thought "well I guess this means I can't be asexual, I'm just kidding myself and there's actually something wrong with me." Despite the fact that…

Primarily my reason for wanting a label is, as you said, to be able to find others who feel the same way — because you're pretty much the first one I've met. Although to be fair I don't tend to ask even my close friends how they feel about their gender identity unless they bring it up first. (I have difficulty asking…

This is probably a dumb question, but is there a term for that? For feeling like you're neither male nor female? Because that's how I feel. The only thing I can think of is gender nonconforming, but I guess I feel like that involves more of a conscious effort in how you present yourself to the world? Whereas I just…

I like the idea of the app, but I agree with your concerns. I also don't know how helpful it would be for people in situations where their "consent" is being coerced. My assaults happened because I was pressured into having unwanted sex. Had this app been in play, I probably would've just been coerced into pressing…

Can we start some kind of Gifted Child, Unremarkable Adult Club? Because your story sounds exactly like mine, except that my health issues started in my late teens (well, the physical ones anyway; the mental ones were there pretty much from birth). I'm 31, dropped out of Columbia University due to chronic illness,…

Your daughter sounds exactly like me. My entire life has been ruled by crippling anxiety and depression since my earliest childhood memories. I had relatively normal parents who had their parenting flaws but tried really hard to foster my self-esteem, and as much as I would love to have a scapegoat to blame all my…

Yeah, I'm actually really upset about this. I don't know anything about this guy, I've never paid much attention to the Houstons and Brown, but as someone who has had multiple nervous breakdowns, it's pretty obvious he's in the middle of one. I would be horrified and humiliated if someone took advantage of my…