Eh, not a thing. It’s a saint’s name. “Damien” didn’t become one of the names of the devil because there was a movie or two about some demonic little kid with that name. I think that the Father Damien who ran the leper colony at Molokai has been canonized, so I bet there are enough St. Damiens/Damians that they have…

I’m reading through this vertical for the second time since its inauguration because I was surprised that it survived. I imagine they pay this woman basically nothing, and her weekly posts carry targeted ads. It more than pays for itself. There’s an eager audience—consider the commenter who, after her wedding, “posted…

Paper ballots are the best. I live in the most tech-industry-dense and research-oriented town in my state, but we don’t fuck around with machines. We continue to use a cheap early-7os setup: retro paper scantron ballots, in privacy booths that are basically cardboard boxes on folding tables.. There’s a backup reader…

But good news next week—Scarlett’s going to cut off some of her massive head of hair.

It’s very hard for people who don’t have this illness to understand that it’s not just a matter of “getting up and doing something,” and it’s not a form of self-indulgence or laziness. I don’t mean to suggest my experience is identical to yours, or that measures I find somewhat helpful will be useful for someone else.…

They are lovely, and they must have been very good companions. Good kitties. (Mine has just turned 19, and I’m really savoring the time we’ve got left).

You mean the Dave Gorcyca who’s had two $1M judgements against him in the last few years from his time as Oakland County prosecuter? (And the county’s not picking up the tab for the defamation suit, which is interesting.) Yep, they’re married.

I had a cervical cap back in the Pleistocene. It was much more compact then a diaphragm; no need to fold it, but rather just squish it a little flat. It could stay in for a couple of days, and spermicide didn’t leak. It just kind of snugged up there and stayed put most of the time.

So, I moved on and dug into the statistics that parse out incidences of cancer related to poverty. The logic here being that people who have less money will buy cheaper personal care products and thus, should suffer more ill effects from the estrogen disruptors that hide in our cosmetics

Yeah—the belly panel on the amazing extreme coat I got Pooka won't work for a male dog, but the "anorak" I got Frida has a fairly narrow strap. For my boys, I used cheap, easily-washed polar fleece layers under regular sighthound coats when it got very cold. I made belly wraps from rectangles of fleece (fastened…

I have found the single best ever source for winter sighthound coats ever this year! It's this place in England that ships free to the US, and has these amazing padded and lined sighthound-specific coats in the $45-55 range w/ (2-3 weekish) free shipping—about the same as the cheesy handmade polar fleece ones on…

Try the Musher's Secret between his toes! I got the mutt's feet shaved down some Saturday, we've had successful walks with a good thick coating of Musher's Secret and no booties. Considering that she went out barefoot into the yard yesterday and threw herself down within two minutes wailing from the snow that…

The Musher's Secret is also supposed to keep snow from adhering. The greyhound doesn't get snow clumps, but it helps a little with the hairy mutt. I'm going to have the person who clips her nails shave her pads and try again. I know someone who uses cooking spray on her dog's feet, but I don't see either of them…

I think Rashad is less under the influence of a cult than self-interested: 1) rehabilitate Cosby's reputation, 2) controversy ends, 3) those reruns back on the air, and 4) start up those residuals—which have likely been a generous percentage of her income for years.

TY. The spotty one's basically a genial idiot, but she's a sweetheart. The greyhound's super embarrassed by her.

The boots go on the BorzoiXSaluki, whose hairy feet get all impacted with balls of ice. The first few times I had to straddle her and clamp her firmly between my knees, and since the velcro strap on this particular kind of bootie is long enough to wrap really firmly around her skinny little ankles she couldn't kick…

It was a very good deal—if I had extra cabinet space I would have impulse-purchased one. Enjoy your attachment! Make your sister ice cream with her favorite stuff in it—if you just use cream and sugar for the base instead of making a custard, it'll only take a minute to prep. My dream attachment is one of those…

From Costco, right? They had a heap of them by the entrance last week. Have fun with it.

There's a pretty good chance that will only make the recipient feel worse. Even though given with the best of intentions, it implies that if the afflicted person just tries a little harder it might get better. She no doubt realizes that some kind of action/behavioral change might help, but she can't muster the energy…

My first thought was that they'd rehired Lindy West.