Thankfully, most of my friends have managed not to be complete idiots (can't say the same for the fiancé's now ex friends). I just happen to know a couple of people who've gotten engaged since I did, so was able to compile up All the Bad Reactions into one "yeah no, this actually isn't terribly cute, thanks."

I don't really mind ring talk, so long as it's not solely ring talk (or solely dress talk, solely football talk, solely video games talk, solely anything talk). People like to see other people's gifts, after all. And I suppose I'm lucky in that the people I know who do choose to get married don't go for the…

I don't think it's like "This is the socially acceptable time to get engaged" so much as it is...

We talked about getting engaged, and even went shopping for the ring together. The engagement was not a surprise, but the proposal was. It was important for my husband to go through the ritual of asking, and I was totally fine with that. We didn't get engaged at Christmas, but I can see the appeal of doing it during a…

I would say 99% of the married couples I know had a Serious Marriage Discussion that was followed by a more traditional, 'romantic' proposal that was often pegged to some kind of milestone (a holiday, an anniversary, a vacation, a new job, etc). It's pretty rare for one party to just get down on one knee out of the…

My now-husband discussed it seriously for about 6 years, and then last year near Christmas we decided we finally had the financial means and time to have the wedding. And then I got a ring for Christmas. You can discuss things before hand and still get a ring as a gift.

<3

Very few things leave you aware of what friendships have run their course than getting married. (It's definitely not just me, though - I've been engaged about a year, so most folks who were going to be anti-marriage have had the chance to reveal themselves and be shuffled off the friendship plane. Unfortunately, a few…

Meh. She's "fun" right up til you get engaged and without even saying anything get a screed about how you're betraying feminism and your single friends and you might as well stop talking to anyone single because you will once you get married anyhow so just get it out of the way. Often followed by a nice dose of "why…

Smart dogs indeed...

so rage

my dog's not afraid, in fact, he pushes the cat around with his snout and the nibbles on him (that kind of light nibbling they do on themselves when they're itchy) - cat seems to love it, in fact he purrs the whole time, despite what it looks like LOL

wow
so mad
not even pubmed

why pass when you can drum?

Wow. Much waiting. So scare.

Wow

Yeah remember all those jokes about Jackie Robinson, back in the day, when he was the only black player in the majors? Those were hysterical! Too bad he couldn't laugh at himself when fans and players made all those funny jokes. As he was breaking into a sport dominated by white men.

The problem, is that there is this history of misogynist bravado in racing of all kinds, which transforms what might otherwise just be gentle ribbing, into a questionable attack based on gender. It's kind of tough to tell which it is, sometimes. She probably has that look on her face, because she's trying to figure…

So this is only tangentially related, but it's such a cute story I grasp at any chance to tell it:

"I remember being probably about 4 years old and coming down and my presents were so tall, they were taller than I was."