You don't really need kids to increase productivity, you just need something else to keep you busy and force you to manage your time wisely. My guess is being an active member of a club, or charity work, a second job, or a hobby that takes up a lot of your time would produce similar results.

I really feel like it would be good to give out babyproofing supplies at the hospitals for free. It would save on the costs of such emergencies later. I have a lock on my sink cabinets that's nearly impossible for me to open, never mind a toddler.

I would argue that the most important step is to create a legal health care proxy, who is the person who speaks for you in the event that you cannot speak for yourself, whether through incapacitation or death, and let them know all of your health care preferences. This could be a trusted family member, friend, an…

I'm really sorry to hear about your parents, that's awful. We do at least have some options. There is hospice care for terminal patients, which aims to make patients as comfortable as possible in their last days, and DNR is standard. But it is sometimes prohibitively expensive. I would love to see an expansion of…

So basically, if you are too close to a couple to refuse without doing permanent damage, you can be browbeaten into spending extra money on a mandatory vacation. All so that the couple doesn't have to deal with not inviting people they don't care about.

When I lived in Italy, the catcalling was worse than I'd ever experienced before. I'm not going to say "oh that's Italian men" or whatever, but whatever factors came into play — I was clearly foreign, I was a woman, it was the city, they were construction workers on break, whatever — it was the worst catcalling I have…

And my more rural friends wonder why the city people "don't even say hello to you." Look, friends, when everyone knows everyone else and Gary the plumber's daughter goes to school with the Mayor's son and your niece, it makes sense to say "Hi, how are you today?" when you pass each other. Unsolicited conversation on…

Wow, this is really convincing, at least in this blurry shot. Barbossa to the left is really good too.

There was also a lot of argument about the detriments of corseting even at the time tightly laced corsets were in vogue. I've read many etiquette and advice books from the late 19th century which argue against the use of "impractical and unhealthy" corsets, calling for a return to the much more sensible and…

Well, I didn't want to name names, but I was in Italy at the time. It was surprising because it was a tourist city right near the train station, so I was surprised that the ads needed interpretation since I'm sure English-speaking tourists were common and English skills a necessity for the location. The only reason I…

Although in this case, Facebook worked out in your favor because you got to see his, er, "collection" before purchasing.

I wonder if this isn't just a bad gaffe, and he meant to be careful about possibly meeting a man who might kill you rather than the woman who might look/be different from expected.

I was with her until the soldier part too. Definitely senseless and unexplained death can be difficult to deal with and feeling like there's something to grasp on to — some kind of explanation out of the chaos — makes sense from a grief standpoint. After she got to the soldier part, I wasn't sure if she had completely…

Boom.

Friends from places where English is not the primary language: I have noticed in my travels that places like McDonald's, KFC, and other American fast food chains often still have their packaging and ads mostly in English, even if English isn't the language of the area. Do most people understand what it says, or does…

she's two more drinks away from going full Sally Langston

poor Mellie, her grief is loosening her grip on reality

It was a really powerful scene, I was riveted. Viola Davis is just an amazing actress and I'm so glad she took this role.

German Shepherds, man, they're scary to everyone else but loyal to their family, and they have great hearing.