Zendaya’s outfit looks great because she is Zendaya. If I wore it, I’d look like Angela Merkel (nothing wrong with that, but not exactly glamourous). 

I’m with you on being wary of critiques of hormonal birth control from anything other than a very, very nuanced lens. Most common critiques leave out the benefits—I loved hormonal birth control before I went on HRT, which I also love. It helped lessen my migraines, kept my PMS symptoms and cramps at bay, and, as…

Oh yes, it has happened. I remember reading about this back in the seventies, when I was very young and impressionable and checking out pilfered porn magazines, and a casual search (god knows what is going to happen to my google profile) confirms that you can get semen jewelry now.

Bingo. I know quite a few teachers and principals, and even local newspapers are starting to report this—you have to watch people who refuse to let their children take sex ed., because in at least a significant minority of cases, these kids are being sexually abused at home and some adult in the home doesn’t want them…

Pinot noir is a traditional champagne grape—all of the grapes used in this wine are. I’ve had sparking red wine, but that’s not what this is—the pinot noir will either have almost no skin contact, or slight skin contact to produce a sparkling rose.

I see no reason to have anyone in my house with whom I have to quarrel about the conditions of being in my house—and I see no reason to go into someone’s house and make demands. People who make me uncomfortable don’t pass the door, regardless of reason.  You don’t wear your shoes in my house, and if you have an issue…

A lot of Americans are in that group of people waving nazi and confederate flags in Ottawa—this is an alarming case of mobilizing dangerous far-right groups, with a lot of international money and quite a bit of international presence and egging-on. There are people in the protest in Ottawa who worked for Trump, and…

I graduated high school in 1984, in Canada. 99 Luftballons was big here and charted high (apparently the English version did well too, but I don’t remember anyone liking that one—it lost some serious cool factor when you knew the words). Everyone I know was fascinated with the lead singer’s armpit hair, because that…

Fuck cute boots that are only sort of warm. If you’re vegan and want to be warm for reasonable money, buy Bogs. Classic Bogs are rated to roughly -40 (C or F—at that point they converge). They’ll last a long time, so they may not be fashionably sustainable but they have the sustainability cred of long wear.

Fuck cute boots that are only sort of warm. If you’re vegan and want to be warm for reasonable money, buy Bogs.…

So is this site officially dead or what?

Point taken. I’ve got to say, too, that the last line of this article resonated. I pretty much avoid these movies like the plague, but this year I’ve been grateful for the Netflix versions (I like that they use the Hallmark formula but make sure you know they’re not super-conservative. As in, watch for the moment at…

Exactly. If Keanu put someone in the ground, there was a reason ;-).

I don’t know about the UK, but teachers in Canada are well paid. It’s still a stressful job and worth every cent of what people are paid, and then some,  but if you can get into a full-time job, you’ve got a very good salary, a strong union, and one of the best defined benefits pensions in the country. When I read…

Hey Andy! Good to see you!

Many of these ideas are pretty reasonable (I second everyone who is appalled at the idea of decorative oil bottles out in the light)—but you’re gonna be screwed in the next pandemic lockdown or other disaster.

A lot of people considered “liberals” in the 80s and 90s would be considered socialist radicals now, depending on who is doing the labelling.

Gotcha. I tend to look at books as being both very utilitarian and very much objects of all sorts of pleasure (including aesthetic, and I love the look of the reading room photo you sent). I consider a full bookshelf something that is a)a source of reference, entertainment, and enlightenment in one place, b)a kind of…

There is nothing ridiculous about having a lot of books as long as you read them—even if you have lots of books that you legitimately plan to read. And keeping a book after you’ve read it makes good sense if you think you’ll read it again, or if others will.

I also loosely organize by subject, and yes, size comes into play because my bookshelves have higher and lower shelves. I also have one shelf that is stacked two deep, because I have a hard time getting rid of books so the “back” books are older and less likely to be grabbed right now, but are similar in subject to…

There are many reasons other than looks to own several copies of one book. I also have more than one copy of Pride and Prejudice. They have different editors and different notes and prefaces, and each of these has value. One copy is the one I lend to people and don’t care if it gets battered. One is old and was a…