My husband and I call it a 'load bearing marriage.'

Sir Gob is always such a flirt!

This. I grew up in a minority majority area that was very economically diverse. I'm astounded by the ignorance I find among middle class white people. It's like they've only seen non-whites on TV and have no clue how much racial bias they have.

Make the move. You'll be so much happier. I live in SF and my father lives in Irvine. That place is seriously creepy. Whenever we go for a visit I always feel like we're in some crazy housing development made by Disney.

Sometimes I think this is a big part of all the crappy fat shaming out there. "If I have to starve myself then so should you! Wait, men still want you? It's optional? Oh heeelll nooo."

It was very weird. I've never cared all that much about being a big ole girl, but man, other people sure do!

Right? I'm gorgeous but freakin' fat. I had this one friend who I had to drop because she was so resentful that men wanted me and not her (because I don't hate myself probably) because, in her words "I'm the skinny one!" I couldn't take it any longer and had to distance myself.

I don't get it either. Of course, I rarely wear make-up. I was raised in the Bay Area to a second generation single mom, so there was zero of that 'Beauty Hurts' business. I wore high-heels to rebel. I had to get the ladies at the makeup counter at Macy's show me how to apply make-up and I still do not understand…

I grew up with my mother's last name, so when I met Mr. Downing I already knew I was keeping it (and that my husband should take my name because it's cool). Mr. Downing is a bit older and hadn't really thought about names before. At first he was quite hurt that I wouldn't even consider taking his name and horrified…

You've got Hot Springs, y'all are good in my book.

Cats are so marvelous, I can't imagine my life without cats!

I completely agree with you on all points, but there are cats that are impossible to keep inside. At that point it becomes a loss/benefit analysis. I have a cat that would knock me over to get outside and was deeply depressed until we relented. We keep the other two inside, but our big orange boy must heed the call of…

You rec'd one of my comments so I'd just wandered by to say how much I dig your user name, but your story is heartbreaking! I'm so sorry that you lost your kitty like that and experienced the trauma of seeing her suffer. I have three furry purries and that's just devastating. I'm glad your next little girl is happy…

Patriarchy.

My school had the Flying IUD:

Oh lord, if only the Internet had been what it is when I was dating. I once had a male friend give me a 'letter' that was 10 pages of crazy that he'd ripped out of his journal. It was so horribly misspelled and full of very ... questionable grammar choices that I had no choice but to correct it with a Big Red Pen and…

I totally didn't get what their problem was with what you said. It was reasonable and made sense to me! I think they were just being ornery.

Meaning you don't vaccinate?

I'm not afraid of your germ riddled children. That's just being a kid. What I was afraid of was my godson being exposed to a virus that should have not been able to find a host while he was going through 6 years of cancer treatment. He died at 13, but there are still thousands of kids just like him. That's the…

Hopefully that will be their undoing, bwuaahaaahaa!