The Goldilocks Dilemma

A week or so ago, I saw a slide show of “strange plastic surgeries” on MSNBC’s web site.  While I’m pleased that the site listed these procedures as extreme (even “oddball”), I was struck by one thing in particular.  Two of the surgeries were meant to remedy complaints about women’s calves.  If a woman had [...]

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Playboy and the Western World

Professor Moss and I recently upgraded our cell phones, and apparently one of the “fun” features of newer phones is the ability to download screensavers and other personal touches onto one’s phone (maybe this isn’t so new, but it’s new to us).  Since I enjoy a bit of window-shopping as much as the next fellow, [...]

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(Not) Like a Virgin

The October 2009 issue of Glamour has an article by Elna Baker called “Yes, I’m a 27-year-old Virgin.” It isn’t available on line, but here’s a Youtube video of Baker’s standup act that goes over much the same territory (although the bit about making a Halloween costume that’s supposed to resemble a fortune cookie but [...]

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Mom-in-Chief

A few months ago, I posted a status update to my Facebook page decrying the media’s insistence on portraying Michelle Obama as “mom-in-chief.”  I said that she was a lawyer who had graduated from a prestigious university, and now she was being “reduced” to a mother.  Several of my friends, parents of their own, objected, [...]

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Thursday quickie

My excuse this time is that the semester starts in one week and I am NOT prepared. So no time to be witty or thoughtful or insightful. However, I thought people might enjoy this link. When I tell you it is a review of a romance novel, please don’t roll your eyes and refuse to [...]

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Brush up your Shakespeare

Okay, I promise I won’t do this often, but not much is happening on the pop culture scene (not much that interests me anyway) and I’ve been spending most of my time crafting an edition of Shakespeare’s Henry VI Part 2.  Editing a text means reading it very very closely, and then reading it again, [...]

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“I did not have ‘sex’ with that woman”

Okay, the impetus for this topic is from a couple of months ago, but we didn’t have the blog a couple of months ago and I’ve wanted to talk about the article since I read it. Now I can! So, back in May, Glamour published an article called “What Counts as Cheating Now” In it, [...]

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Free to be (a better version of) me!

Here’s the September cover of Self magazine, featuring Kelly Clarkson: And in case you (like me) don’t follow the careers of past American Idol contents, here’s how she actually looks: Notice a difference? While it should come as no surprise to anyone that magazines retouch photos, this one was so blatant that the editor of [...]

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A Man’s Game

I have a confession to make.  I love games.  Board games, card games, video games, puzzles–you name it, I’ve probably at least tried to play it.  And August is the time when a game lover’s attention turns toward fantasy football.  That’s why I made an impulse buy at the supermarket today: a fantasy football preview [...]

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What’s Love Got to Do With it (part 2)?

I ordered Cristina Nehring’s A Vindication of Love because I thought her ideas might make good fodder for a blog post. Now, barely 20% of the way through the book, I have to stop and rant—not about her ideas, but about her support for those ideas. Google tells me this woman writes for The Atlantic [...]

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