Actually, for my cat, it kind of is. He loves the water that I'd normally drain out - we call it 'tuna juice.' (I make sure I buy the kind of cans that use spring water, not brine, because in the UK brine is more common and cheaper.) I rarely offer him the entire can of tuna (usually reserved for such freak outs or…

I was about to say that my uncle has his front yard set up like this. His backyard is beautifully landscaped with less drought-friendly plants, but he won't get HOA complaints if he lets it get brown.

As someone with a cat who occasionally goes psycho (stress-induced aggression, most often when a new housemate moves in, but my vet won't give me kitty anti-psychotics, so sometimes the OTC stuff I use isn't enough), I've learned that an offering of a freshly opened can of tuna can help. Or at least gets my scary…

Thanks! I never thought of it that way. :)

My concern is that your original comment seemed to indicate that you felt your desire to give any children your partner's name needed justification in the Jezebel domain. And that made me feel sad.

I think the important thing is that everyone's choice is legitimate, because naming children is a very personal thing. In your case, you have an additional reason to 'justify' your choice if anyone gives you grief about it (you like that last name better).

I'm in the process of changing my name to my mother's maiden name, and I'm not looking forward to that security question.

Congratulations on the doctorate! I'm sorry you got such grief from your family. I'm estranged from my father and have taken my deceased mother's maiden name. But before I decided to do this, I tentatively approached my mom's side of the family (who are the only family I'm really in touch with anyway) to test the…

I'm estranged from my father, so I haven't even waited to get married to drop his last name, as I'm in the process of changing it to my mother's maiden name. My little sister (also estranged, but less angry about it) got married and got rid of the last name as well.

I personally love the mother's name as the middle name thing. The parents of one of my best friends growing up did this, and I always thought it was really cool. Her mother kept her name as well, so it was a great way to have that link without a long hyphenated last name (well, it would have only been 2 1-syllable…

I've effectively done this to myself, as I'm in the process of changing my last name to my mother's maiden name. I don't think this was something my parents even considered, as my mother took my father's name when they married. My reason for changing my last name is partly because I'm estranged from my father (due to…

I'm an American in the UK, so even before I moved here 6 years ago I found 'spastic' offensive. Particularly because the word started as a description of someone with uncontrollable spasms or other movement difficulties, which is something an individual has no control over. So I find using the term 'spastic' to insult…

The song title is actually 'What's Up' because Marvin Gaye already had a (classic and much better) song titled 'What's Going On.'

I was angry to see the chronic illness one on there, because it is actually a very useful list FROM A MEDICAL SITE! It's not from Buzzfeed or a silly blog, but actually addresses insensitive things people say. I have rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia, and I come across stuff all the time. In fact, even though my…

The interviewer's questions were painful, but Weird Al was delightful! (And a very savvy businessman!)

Yeah, I did find the 'spastic' bit pretty offensive. Weird Al's reliance on terms like 'spastic' and 'retarded' is the one thing that's wrong with his stuff.

Love it! It's bedtime for me, so my brain didn't quite make it there for my post. (And if this response is coherent and correctly spelled, that will have been an accomplishment.)

I am very thankful for my cat. When he sees me taking a nap, usually he'll decide that a nap is a great idea and join me (nap + kitty cuddles!). Of course, he does like to wake me up in the morning for food, so maybe my cat just has a preference for naps and not longer periods of sleep.

There's a very good reason UT Dallas was floated as the best option - it's a great school. As a proud UT Dallas grad (Go Comets!), we love pointing out that we have higher SAT scores and GPAs. However, it is a smaller school that gets fewer applicants than UT Austin, so when I started in 2003 it was still pretty…

I'm perfectly happy with working to de-vulgarize the vagina, but the piece bugs me a bit as a kayaker. The shape interferes with your ability to efficiently paddle, as you'd have to waste movement on clearing the lips. It would also cause difficulty if you needed to roll (meaning flip back up after ending up…