Sam the Eagle’s crush on Janice is so completely out of character and yet so completely adorable that I almost can forgive them for over-hyping the Big Break-Up.

Based on my experience, most people who are at all likely to be going to Minnesota state parks on Black Friday probably already have a park permit (they’re inexpensive and readily available). However, this would be great if you have family in town and need to take more than one vehicle! It’s only $5 for a one-day…

This is kind of annoying, but many of the parks have no hunting at all. You can check the list—some of the ones that are only partially open to hunting (Itasca, Tettegouche) are quite large, too, so hunters and non-hunters can be well separated.

On the one hand, apps like this are never available in my town.

On the other hand, apps like this are never necessary in my town (you either go to the one restaurant or you stay home). So I guess it comes out even, maybe?

This, exactly! There is sort of a polite fiction that says that everyone is just there to make the bride look good. Everyone always says that it is an honor to even be asked to be in the wedding party.

The runner up was probably “Ohio...so average it actually almost makes it interesting”.

This photo is amazing. There appears to be a small owl and also possibly knitting (those look like very tiny double-pointed needles)? I don’t know exactly what is going on, and that makes it even more delightful.

Unfortunately, your parents can’t make it all better, but they can make it much, much worse.

As a woman who could stand to gain ten pounds, let me assure you that the opposite “problem” is not actually a problem for anyone. You can lose 10 lbs. from one illness. (And eight-year-olds who go to school with other eight-year-olds are prone to catching everything.)

Often times clergy—and by extension, seminary students who are in the procses of becoming clergy—are expected to abstain from sex outside of marriage. You might have to sign something at some point saying that you intend to abide by a certain code of conduct (which is not exclusively or even primarily about sex). And…

Possibly the cannibalism reference has to do with people who talk about baby Jesus and also talk about eating the body of Jesus Christ, and so you maybe begin to suspect they’re really eating babies?

(This was an actual accusation made against early Christians. People were much better at attacking other religions…

This exactly. I’ve been suspicious of the whole enterprise ever since my congressman offered me a recommendation after I had a five-minute conversation with him. He knew basically nothing about me except that I was a high school student there on some sort of leadership thing. (Fortunately, even as a high school…

When I met with my congressman while on a trip to Washington during high school (admittedly it was some sort of leadership development thing), he offered to send me to West Point on the basis of a five-minute conversation. (Even then I had the impression that he didn’t know many high school students and was looking to…

Quite possibly the study itself is entirely clear about what it does and does not describe. But, yes, given how study results often get reported on, there’s a good chance it will come across to some people just as terribly as you fear. People who don’t understand studies should just not report on them. :P

Isn’t that pretty much exactly what makes it an anxiety disorder instead of just anxiety? If it’s mild enough that it can conceivably be “useful”, it’s not considered a “disorder”.

I think the key is that this was not a randomly selected sample of the general population. 100% of the participants in this study had already finished law school and taken the bar exam. They would presumably be more ambitious than average, with a track record of accomplishing challenging things (like getting into and…

My dad is a better dancer than I am (which is not hard) and it is awkward and embarrassing for both off us to try to dance together. We tried at my sister’s wedding and I kept having to remind him not to try to do actual dance steps because I don’t know any. I do not deny that some people would enjoy father-daughter…

You’re right. Kids love to dance. (People love to dance, really.) But once they’re older than maybe first grade, they get self-conscious about doing it in front of other people. (The only thing worse than dancing in front of your peers? Dancing in front of your peers and also your father.)

Some kids do genuinely enjoy…

The “equivalent” for girls is a father-daughter dance.

“The boys don’t want to dance,” he said.