Where do you live? In the US, it's standard in many states to require a consultation with a doctor, (which, in turn, could require an ultrasound, either over the belly or transvaginally) and then wait 24 hours for the actual abortion. In some states, like North Dakota and Texas, there are very few abortion clinics,…

That is, in fact exactly what was running through my mind when the server did her silent slide behind the wall.

I had a vbac - vaginal birth after cesarean. I could have gone with a scheduled c-section, but I thought the recovery time for a vaginal birth would be much shorter - after all, they kick you out of the hospital mere hours after you deliver - how bad could it be?

Okay, so imagine that there's a post on "The Most Amazingly Delicious Cheesecake You Have Ever Eaten."

I think (based on comments in the Facebook Monsterland group) that a giant flying spider called Muto (Not Mothra or Rodan - Toho wouldn't let them be used) is trashing various cities and Godzilla is brought out of kaiju jail to fight him. So, in the best tradition of 'the kaiju-enemy of my kaiju-enemy is my…

This whole story reminds me of the Little House On the Prairie books, when Pa would get an itchin' to light out for the territories. Everyone got malaria, Mary went blind, they almost starved to death while buried in blizzards, but Pa felt like he was confident and prepared, so they went. I bet Ma was glad that they…

Yes! I lived in Mie-ken, and I loved watching the train drivers doing their hand movements - I could never quite figure out if there were cameras in the cabin recording their movements, or if they just did them because that's simply proper form for train drivers. That point! It was the spotless white gloves that…

No. Nonononono. This, right here is why Roxy doesn't want to be linked to Jezebel. I really like WTF, Plus Size... and I entirely sympathize with Roxy's point of view. Her doing stuff on the internet doesn't give you the right to... Whatever this is... What do you call this - snark? It's unpleasant, it has no value…

I, for one, am happy to free you from the burden of feeling guilt over slavery. You do, however, (and I am serious) do have to assume the burden of guilt for the oppression and marginalization of First Nations peoples within Canada, including, but not limited to, the handing out of smallpox-infested blankets,…

THANK YOU! One of the things that drives me crazy is when people say "Oh, they want to be white like Westerners" when they see Japanese ads for skin lighteners and hair dyes, without even considering that Japanese women may want to have dyed hair and lighter skin for their own cultural reasons. (Heian beauties of the…

I came awfully close to a clitoral tear with my big-headed baby - my labia has a permanant chunk missing about 2 mm from the clitoris, from where they stitched me back together. (Her head came out so fast some of my ladybits just... vaporized, I think) My obstetrician assured me that I had been very lucky!

I had a 9lb 6oz baby without an episiotomy, and I can tell you that the fist through the paper thing is a pretty realistic depiction of what happens to your vagina, vulva and labia when a large baby's head come out of a not-big-enough vaginal opening. For those who say that tears are natural and heal much better than…

So there I was, reading and nodding along, because I love 'difficult' fragrances, until I came to this sentence"This elegant brute of a perfume, like a pungent bohunk from a Harlequin Romance novel,".

I cannot agree with you at all. During my childhood and teenage years, I received very little outside validation and a great deal of criticism from those closest to me. I was an overweight kid and a fat teenager; these things were pointed out to me as irredeemable flaws. I was also a messy child; this was held up as a…

I think Franzen is disliked for his personality, which is intertwined with his writing. For example, The Corrections was chosen to be featured on Oprah's Book Club, and Franzen wrote an article on how unhappy he was that his book was being pitched to such a middlebrow audience. There was something on Franzen recently…

Hey, I think I've met you before - or someone just like you. This guy was telling me how AWFUL the Canadian healthcare system was - twelve-hour lineups in every emergency room, gulag-like restrictions on even basic treatment... I said that, as a Canadian, I had never encountered the problems he'd described- but he…

Hey, I think I've met you before - or someone just like you. This guy was telling me how AWFUL the Canadian healthcare system was - twelve-hour lineups in every emergency room, gulag-like restrictions on even basic treatment... I said that, as a Canadian, I had never encountered the problems he'd described- but he…

I thought you were funny - and I share your sentiments. It's always interesting how people can get really, really hateful over the most innocuous comments. Maybe they need to adjust their humours - too much choler, not enough phlegm.

The daughter is 19 - does that change your answer at all?

As an Islander, I would like to point out that <i>only</i> Islanders get to have an opinion about Islanders. Everyone else gets to leave all their money at the Butchart Gardens or the Empress Hotel, comment on how pretty everything is, and then take the ferry back to their fancy continental lodgings, leaving us to our…