Getting a dog has meant a lot more conversations with strangers, several a day on walks usually. Last night someone actually walked with us a block out of his way to continue the very interesting conversation we were having about epilepsy in dogs. So, to sum: if you want to meet new people, get a dog.

@goodcheapfun: Oh yeah, I forgot about that impotence claim for divorce. Seriously, what *did* happen to those puritans? The ones that dominate the christian dialogue in this country are nothing like them, and yet we as a society still get accused of being puritans. Hmph!

When my 23-year-old, evangelical christian cousin got married last summer I joking asked at the bachelorette party if she needed any advice for the wedding night. She blushed and said that she and her fiance had been "reading a book." From her tone and degree of embarrassment I could gather the book they were reading…

Oh, Maria, I'm so sad to see you go. Especially since it doesn't seem to be by choice (stupid economy). I've always loved your work here. Best of luck!

@pugh: Funny, I had a stranger, a teenaged boy at a bus stop, tell me "I like your hair like that." I told him I cut it short just for him, and we had a bit of a larf. Strange what people will say to total strangers on the street.

@HeatherNumber1: My 14-year-old cousin started dying her hair pink a few months back and I told her to never, ever, listen to what some dumbass boy says about her hair at school. I did the manic panic thing in high school and every day I had some guy saying how much better I'd look with "normal" hair. One time I did…

@kerry: Just realized that was vague - he *used* to complain about my hair being to long, now he never complains about it at all.

@BelleFree: When boyfriend and i started dating 6.5 years ago my hair was to my shoulders and he made it clear that he thought very, very short hair was very very sexy. After several years of chin-length I went to the full pixie about a year ago. He loves it. He never complains that my hair is too long and he loves…

@salymander: He's one of my favorite feminists around, ever since this blog post, "What Is Wrong With Women", attacking the rise in misogynist torture porn in movies and in our daily lives.

@BlakeBadgley: My boyfriend of many years is now officially my domestic partner so he can partake of my insurance benefits. I still can't bring myself to call him my Domestic Partner to other people, though.

@anibundel: Yeah, right? Every time I see a photo her waist is a leetle bit smaller. She's disappearing before our eyes . . .

@Ptarmigan: For the most part the criminals were petty thieves, including children and the elderly. People who had not committed crimes worth hanging them for, so they were transported to Australia. Transportation was considered a less crappy sentence than imprisonment or, obviously, the death penalty. We're not…

@bowleserised: I thought that the infant was born alive, but unwell, and he refused to take it to the hospital.

@freemonica: Death would only limit his suffering. I'd like him to live a long, long life in a very unpleasant place.

@indierockgrrrl: And now I'm crying. Thanks!

@wedropscience: Yeah, they keep jacking up the taxes. I technically quit a few years ago but bf and I smoke for funsies a few times a year. A pack of Nat Sherman's will set you back $10.50 in Chicago now. When I started smoking about 16 years ago (egad!) my Marlboros were $1.80.

@drinkthefat: ok, chill, man! chill!

@MonkeyButt: Especially with the ornament. O 2008!

@drinkthefat: I adored Dahl as a kid, and remember feeling very torn when our unforgivably dorky middle school librarian stated Matilda was her favorite book. Could I risk sympathizing with this woman on any level, lest I be branded equally dorky? As it turned out, I was a dork regardless.

@LibidinousSlut: I'm not saying all children are fearless, just that it's a lot easier to be fearless when you're 8 than when you're 30. Children have less of a sense of mortality.