Am I confused, or did this study not actually test gaydar? It sounds like they tested people's perceptions of their own features, and found that people who self-identified as straight perceived their own features as more symmetrical than people who self-identified as gay. And people were more likely to be perceived…

Have you been checked for dermatitis herpetiformis? It's a chronic rash linked to gluten intolerance. It frequently goes undiagnosed or is misdiagnosed as something else.

Congrats on not being a self-punisher, per this list.

I don't understand the Dooce antipathy here - if you don't like the site, you don't have to read it. If you don't like her style, you don't have to emulate it. If you don't like how she's raising her kids, you don't have to do the same with yours. I will admit to a certain amount of envy at how dooce has apparently…

No, I totally agree - this makes me want to cry. She's always been so open about her own mental health issues, and it seemed like they really worked actively on their marriage. I don't "know" her, obviously, but I hope they're able to work things out in some positive way.

For crying out loud, it's only a big deal if you make it a big deal. I once had brunch with my husband's extended family at a swanky restaurant looking over Central Park. The entire restaurant was packed with happy families enjoying overpriced French toast. My husband's cousin's toddler decided we weren't paying…

"If the Supreme Court says that you have the right to consensual sex within your home, then you have the right to bigamy, you have the right to polygamy, you have the right to incest, you have the right to adultery. You have the right to anything."

This is the first I've heard of this. Sadly, it probably didn't get the same amount of attention as Chris Brown because a.) it looks like he was best known at the time for his relatively small part in "Inglourious Basterds", and b.) his girlfriend isn't a celebrity like Rihanna and c.) the violence didn't occur right…

Mary Todd Lincoln! I've always had a certain fondness for her, probably since she was from a well-known and well-to-do family in Lexington, Kentucky. I can't find it, but Lincoln wrote a great bit of doggerel about her family — something about how God made do with one "d" in his name, but the Todds needed two.

I hadn't heard of the last one before — thanks for sharing!

I took a self-defense class after a friend was assaulted (a teenager randomly punched her in the face while she was waiting for a bus — the police theorized that it was a gang initiation), and the instructor basically said that a.) no personal property is worth your life and b.) that if someone is genuinely trying to…

I lived in DC for seven years (and after that, New Haven, CT) — the rules are pretty much the same for any city. Namely, be aware of your surroundings, act like you know where you're going and what you're doing even if you don't, stick to well-lit, well-populated areas, walk with friends when possible, and when in…

What the hell does he think a transgender woman is doing in the bathroom or a dressing room? Besides what it was intended for? And does anyone else think that the viciousness of his response is proportional to his "interest" in the topic? Just like all the anti-gay preachers that have been caught with men?

Well, if you have a body or evidence that they're dead, then you don't really need to declare it. The declaration gets around that lack of concrete evidence that she's alive (and takes into account the substantial circumstantial evidence that she is dead.)

If you want Tom Hardy, go see "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy". He's brilliant in it, even with a shaggy 70s haircut. It's also fun to play "identify the British character actor".

Attention: my husband has just made the late-breaking observation that they might, in fact, be Scottish terriers.

Little sheep, I think? And some of them are facing you (or maybe those are furry sheep butts) and some of them are viewed from the side?

I campaigned to name our dog (a hound dog rescue from Tennessee) Dolly Pawton. My husband had a firm policy against puns, so we ended up naming her Presley instead. Which is too bad, because I think Dolly would have appreciated the homage. Also, I love that she allegedly once said, "It takes a lot of money to look…

My father actually died when I was 25 and in graduate school. I took my finals a week later anyway. You? You're just an asshole.

My dad once cracked a rib while coughing.