@redsonja5: Exactly! If I followed advice like this, I never would have developed the confidence that comes from traveling alone, knowing you can rely on nobody but yourself. I never would have had the real joy of discovering a great guy in a bar in Paris. I would have been sheltered, yes, but maybe not safer. The…

@CassandraSays: excellent points. Most dichotomies are a mental construct to help us understand more complex issues. Right now with the backlash against both those who are truly fat (as unhealthy, straining the health system, and endangering themselves) and those who are overly skinny (as unhealthy in another way,…

If you look historically at body art, it has been a symbol of ownership for a very long time. Owners branded, tattooed, or pierced their slaves. Governments branded or tattooed those they deemed to have a certain status based on their "crimes" (from literal crimes like murder to less concrete things like religion).…

@Paranoid K.: I have a bag from Chrome that I adore. I bike every day so I take it everywhere, and it's held up really well and has a very simple aesthetic.