Seconding nininananono. Another popular explanation for the name is that NC used to produce pine tar for the shipping industry, and people producing the tar would leave tarry footprints. Growing up, I often heard that is a reference to North Carolinians liking to go barefoot, and therefor having calloused feet,…

Seconding you on Zotero - it is awesome.

I'd say you should give it up. The fact that you can't limit your drinking makes it sound like it is a problem. You might be high functioning right now, but that doesn't mean you will be in a couple of years. I've known a few alcoholics who were able to get by for a while, but things eventually got really, really…

Yep, that's where fraternal twins come from.

Please, please don't. If it helps, I've known people who contemplated suicide, but didn't go through with it, and have great lives now. I'm sure you are going through an incredible rough patch, but hopefully things will turn around for you.

So, you're not actually a women unless you've been impregnated through rape, and you have to be terrified of penises to be female? I'm not transgendered, but I guess I'm still not a real woman.

About half of the Hispanic population where I live is Protestant - evangelical churches have done a lot of proselytizing in Hispanic communities. Although, in my experience, Catholics mostly ignore the teachings on birth control, and evangelicals often buy into the idea that birth control = abortion, so I'm not sure…

I do this, too, even though my cats don't hesitate to jump on my chest and scream in my face if they decide they need someone to scratch behind their ears at 4 in the morning.

Yeah, it's like they can't hear themselves talk. If a black person can't find a job, it's because they're lazy and uneducated. If a white man can't find work, it's because of affirmative action, or because illegal immigrants are taking their jobs, or because of government regulations. It's about personal…

That's crazy. Also, I love your name.

i had a professor who was too lazy to type periods

No, Elizabeth Warren!

Oh my god the hopping! Also, your username is awesome.

I had one where a beetle the size of a small dog was just sitting in my corner. Uggh.

Yours wins! I like the image of Eric Cartman ushering the dying into the afterlife. I'm sure it was terrifying for you, though.

The one about your husband is terrifying.

This is one of my favorites!

At least you were being haunted by a glamorous ghost.

My stepmom is pretty new-agey, and she burns those things all over the place. I'm not sure it means much of anything.

I know plenty of government/scientist dudes who might go poke around in wetlands in the morning, but there is no way they would be wearing suits. They would go dressed in waders or jeans and hiking boots, or similar practical clothing for fieldwork.