To the defense of some of those parents, in college (so, many years ago), I dated a girl whose birthday was December 24. Her parents named her Meredith Eve, and she went by “Mery.” I feel like sometimes there are legit reasons to play around with kids’ names. 

As I have brought up elsewhere, no one (or few people; I recall hearing some grumblings now and again) complains about gubenatorial elections being popular vote, even though the same argument for a state “electoral college” could be made.

Right?!? I mean, I know little about the inner workings of Congress, but one has to imagine that one has people on staff who can-- after much discussion, etc.-- help compose questions in a way (on the record, and all) that drive a point home, and forces the person being questioned to answer in a way that allows for…

I’m not sure why it is surprising that, in an age where there were baically four networks putting out original content that over a span of three years, we’d see the same shows nominated for awards. I mean, something like Seinfeld or the X-Files had from year-to-year the same cast, the same tone, the same writers, etc.…

an extremely expensive but academically so-so university

There is a lot to unpack here. One is that it is sort of sad that the vanity of school status is so powerful. Most of these people are in California and it seemes to me that USC exactly fits the bill of what they want. It’s well-regarded (US News #22), but in a different way than Berkeley or Stanford. And unlike UCLA…

sports like tennis, track/cross country and rowing are easy to fake out coaches as coaches don’t have money to go out and recruit

(Also, can I just say that I am NOT COOL with 52-year-olds dying of massive strokes?? I’m 51.)

Right? When I am stuck on a flight and some baby is crying nearby (or even if one is just there) and some parent does the whole “I’m sorry” I make a point to actually just say “I don’t care. It’s a baby. We will all live. Have a nice flight.”

One way, as Krebs on Security notes, is to go inside to the cashier to pay with a debit or credit card, but particularly a debit card. In fact, it’s best not to use a debit card at all, if you can help it.

Third, if the location of the microwave were the actual problem (and not just a convenient excuse by this creep), move the fucking microwave or get another one for the coaches office. The damn things cost $50 at WalMart. Problem solved.

This isn’t a hot take, but I haven’t seen it talked about. So usually, in a SotU talk, the President mentions guests to put a human face to some issue being addressed in the actual speech. We all know Melania has said she wants to make an issue of bullying in school— a valide topic to take on, even if it seems like…

This discussion doesn’t get enough attention. It always amazes me when I hear that such-ahd-such airline is reconfiguring its seats to add MORE. At some point, it is ridiculous.

I know it’s received some attention but there needs to be more. If the government needs to step in, so be it. But at some point there need to…

This really is correct. I’ve had plenty of times in life where a friend or girlfriend will politely let me know that my facial hair look is not as cool as I think it is, or my tie isn’t tied well, or that I could stand to lose a few pounds, or whatever.

Yeah. Trump is willfully ignorant and has no idea what’s involved in going to Mars (and, sadly, the entire project is simply ego-driven). But there’s a very good chance that a rush job would only end up with a large capsule rocketing towards Mars which, halfway through its journey, would only be filled with a bunch of…

Garlic presses suck

In college, my roommates and I came up with a grand idea: the Worst Drink Contest. The concept was simple: Each of us would write out a drink using up to three types of alcohol and two mixers. A neighbor came in and read off each of them to us and we voted (honor system, you couldnt vote for your own). The losers had…

I recently got a speeding ticket in NoVa. Ticket fine was $35. My total bill was close to $100. It’s nuts. 

I have an accountant friend and he says the IRS are way less scary than people think, and they’ll usually work with you if you’re in arrears.

As a liberal Democrat who used to live in Oklahoma, I feel for you.