volunteered her time for Haiti

So my story didn't really count, so I'll post it here, the story of how I ALMOST said no, kind of by accident.

I'm not proud of this, but because of personal experience I tend to bristle at self-identified straight male feminists. I get angry. Because my first experience with them was online (in an online community centered around a certain band) circa 2009, and ended in horrible sexual harassment. It wasn't subtle or cloaked…

As a Midwesterner (who has lived outside the Midwest more than once), the idea of being just SHOCKED that people from the coasts (especially East) like to rip on "flyover country" is hilarious. And really not very Midwestern! Proper Midwestern response is to silently exclaim to yourself that these elitist bozos have…

You can stop now, Midwestern Christians are not an oppressed group.

im so upset right now

Keepin' it classy since 1985. I'm one of those women Huckabee was bitching about.

Late '90s, driving a rental car full of IKEA through NYU, trying to make a left onto Third Ave. Except I can't because there's this idiot in a long leather jacket with a Caesar haircut standing in the middle of the crosswalk, fiddling with his cellphone and NOT MOVING. "Get the fuck out of the way, you goddamn Rob…

While at the bar in the front room of the Tribeca Tavern, I noticed Mario Batali talking with a small group. As I rejoined my friends in the back room, I mentioned this sighting to my foodie friend.

I met Mr. T at the 1993 Chicago Comic Con. He was there promoting his (short-lived) new comic book, Mr. T and the T-Force. I drove to the convention with some friends from Detroit and my sister, who loaned me the cash to attend the Con, insisted that I get her Mr. T's autograph in lieu of repayment.

I met John Ritter in a bar and he asked me to hold his beer. Then he immediately yelled, "BARTENDER! THIS KID IS GETTING DRUNK OVER HERE!!", which made everyone in the bar turn and look, and me blush like crazy (I was 11). Then he bought me a water... which, errm.. was free. Because water. Also because open bar..…

OH MY GOD THE DOLLAR STACK!! Sadly this is more common than you would think. I've encountered it several times over the years. But only once was I actually able to do anything about it.

I really, really wish I had pictures of this, but alas, I was too upset at the time to allow any.

I'm a little teapot, short and stout

I'd star this if you hadn't used "pussy " as an insult. Maybe a discussion about women's rights isn't the best place to equate the body part associated as female with weakness and cowardice.

Me too! I am 6 mo. pregnant right now and I have never felt more policed by society. From scrutiny over getting a latte at Starbucks to having a non-alcoholic daiquiri at the beach last week to whether I should be in a hot tub (I was in it for about 2 minutes total). On these issues and many more, I have had…

This is sort of the point, right? When people say that their gun ownership doesn't affect others, they are asking everyone else to just take on faith that they are stable, responsible people. Gun owners scare the shit out of me, particularly in concealed carry states where it feels like anyone in the crowd could be a…

It's completely his own business - but it is also part of a broader narrative about what it means to be transgender. Most of the mainstream media is pedaling this idea that someone can just go to the surgeon, say I wanna be dude/chick, and away goes their current gendered anatomy. This is so profoundly false, and…

I was intermittently getting horrible neck and shoulder pain for a while in my 20s — to the degree that I'd be stiff and extremely sore for a couple of days. Then I spent a few days visiting OOT friends, flew home super hungover and spent the next two days just hanging out in the bed with novels and snacks. Woke up…

This isn't me, but it was a guy I was dating at the time. We had vermicelli for dinner. There was one little dried bit of vermicelli stuck to the botom of the pot. Boyfriend, who was always cleaning pots and pans with his hands first to "save sponges" (WTF even is that) was cleaning it and decided to scrape the piece…