Do you have allergies? I started an immunotherapy/allergy shot regimen and now, in addition to my allergies improving, I don’t get sick nearly as often and, when I do, it is not nearly as bad. 

I can write with both hands but tend more to my right. Here’s the strange part. When I write with my right hand, I use the 4 finger grip—my mom tried for years to get me to change to the 3 finger grip but that grip feels so uncomfortable and weak even when I was first learning. When I write with my left hand, I use…

Size can be quite deceiving as can fashion. I (borderline underweight tall woman) have won push-up contests against normal-weight male athletes. Flowy clothes tend to accentuate thinness and de-emphasize muscles. Fitted clothes tend to bring out muscle. There are plenty of reasons for people to have any type of body…

I definitely see where you are coming from with about the lack of diversity in the fashion industry and pressure to be thin regardless of natural body type. Growing up, most of my friends had different body types and it was always a learning experience when we’d shop together. As someone who has always struggled to…

You’re right. I was thinking of Michael Kennedy. Sonny Bono was the one who was tree skiing in an area marked “no tree skiing”. Tree skiing is dangerous. For normal downhill on groomed trails, other skiers are probably your biggest threat.

The bigger issue was that he was playing football on skis. A bad combo.

He was also playing football on skis. A very bad combination.

I used to like the show—then it started feeling like they were just making fun of me and my friends. Kudos to Shatner.

Why do we keep on building more carriers? If we were to encounter a peer threat, one of the first things they’d do would be to take out the carriers. That would significantly diminish our ability to attack from the air. Carriers aren’t exactly stealth and are like sitting ducks on the water. While they do have…

Counterpoint: Some have a mutation that allows them to process milk into adulthood. This mutation happened relatively recently and spread quickly, suggesting that it had some advantage.

Would it be changing the core mission of an infantry team? In what ways? One of the core missions of infantrymen is land reconnaissance. It seems to only expand the capabilities of an infantry team. The physical standards are being held constant, so the women who get through should be as physically capable as the men.…

That is definitely a problem. However, this expansion of combat roles to merit-qualified women makes it easier to expand selective service to women (without a Supreme Court case getting in the way). Selective service should be an all or nothing thing.

I don’t know about that. It seems like it is more about seeing women as helpless child-like beings needing protection. It is the same argument that has been used (when the standards are kept the same) to keep women out of combat roles.

I would if I were allowed to

As for how it will make things better in the long run, here’s an example. In the recent conflicts, cultural norms in the places where we were fighting strongly limited interactions between non-related men and women. With women on the front lines, women in the area could then become intelligence sources regardless of…

If you’re up to it/interested—Episcopal and Lutheran (ELCA synod) churches have most of the liturgy that you remember along with a respect for women. Both denominations have women clergy (the head bishop of the ELCA is a woman, for example) and don’t discriminate. Many are active in social justice initiatives, as…

Similar situation here with the existential crisis wall in the PhD process (for me, largely imposter syndrome). I keep on telling myself to push through—I love the questions and the material and it will hopefully allow me to do real good. Whenever I encounter those unhelpful external forces, I tell myself to prove…

You can do it! Anything they do or say only reflects on them—only what you do and say reflects on you. Don’t let the haters have that much control over you! If you love it, do it!

There are pluses and minuses. Most guys are great to work with and gender is never brought up/doesn’t matter. There are a few who just don’t want to get it (maybe 1 %, but that 1 % makes you want to pull your hair out). Luckily, my boss is great and has stepped in when he has seen things go down. Nevertheless, over…

My mom always wanted me to “broaden my horizons.” On a family trip to Kentucky, my mom insisted that we try grits at the hotel buffet. Unfortunately, she didn’t know what grits were. She served us heaping scoops of gravy and was eating it in an animated fashion, emphasizing how good it tasted. Finally, a server…