Category Archives: Society and cultcha

From the Things I Don’t Quite Understand Department: Asking Daddy’s permission to marry his daughter. Before Bob Hunt dropped to bended knee on the famed Cliff Walk in Newport, R.I., and asked his high school sweetheart to marry him, he’d … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Kos complains about the number of unsolicited catalogs he gets, and shares a solution to the problem: Enter Catalog Choice, a project endorsed by the NRDC and the National Wildlife Council to help stem this wasteful practice. You enter your … Continue reading → Continue reading →

As expected, the character Lisa Moore from Funky Winkerbean has died from breast cancer. [A]s readers mourn Lisa Moore, they may find some comfort in knowing that writer Tom Batiuk promises big changes for the story. In May, Batiuk returned … Continue reading → Continue reading →

So I’m reading this story about the origin of the smiley – you know, 🙂 – which was first suggested as a way to compensate for the fact that you don’t get cues like tone of voice and facial expressions … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Is it just me, or did anyone else read this Whitney Casey column about “first date deal-breakers” and say to themselves “No wonder these guys are all still single!” I mean, of course there are some traits that should be … Continue reading → Continue reading →

This is the most depressing article I’ve read in awhile. Last month, I wrote about how our culture teaches children to fear men. Hundreds of men responded, many lamenting that they’ve now become fearful of children. They said they avert … Continue reading → Continue reading →

It’s often said that Christmas season seems to start earlier every year. Maybe that’s because Halloween season is starting earlier, too. (Another view is here.) This will please Olivia, who loved pointing out the Big Pumpkin every time we drove … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Baby domain names. I keep thinking I’ve heard it all, and I keep discovering that I haven’t. A small but growing number of parents are getting domain names for their young kids, long before they can do more than peck … Continue reading → Continue reading →

My congratulations to the women of the Harris County District Attorney’s office for finally getting a concession on the dress code that should have been theirs a long time ago. With the dog days of summer in full swing and … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Tonight is National Night out, which was conceived as a way of fighting crime by getting people to know their neighbors a little better. Now in its 24th year, National Night Out is a nationwide event where people are encouraged … Continue reading → Continue reading →

There was this article in the Chron business section earlier this week about how more women with children are saying they want to work part-time these days. I don’t know a whole lot about that, but it seems to me … Continue reading → Continue reading →

If you read the comic strip Funky Winkerbean, you were probably already pretty sure of this, but here’s the confirmation anyway: The character of Lisa Moore is going to die of her breast cancer. Despite e-mails from readers asking him … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Happy 50th birthday to an American icon. In the beginning, there was a metal popcorn can lid. Walter “Fred” Morrison and his future wife, Lucile Nay, tossed one at a Thanksgiving Day family gathering in 1937 and thought it was … Continue reading → Continue reading →

PinkDome gets serious about a subject that really is no laughing matter: Teen suicide. Texas is taking a new step to combat suicide, a serious public health problem. Jeannine Von Stultz, psychologist and director of mental health services for Bexar … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Are we sure it’s time for another debate about gender-neutral pronouns? Because I could swear we just had one. Okay, here’s the thing. It’s very easy to invent a gender-neutral pronoun. It’s very hard to get anyone to use it, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

So I confess I didn’t know much about the Girl Scouts, but after being sent this WaPo story by my friend Hope, and being assured that they don’t have the same abhorrent politics as the Boy Scouts, I could see … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Was it just me, or did anybody else who read this Press story about shady adoption “facilitator” Jennalee Ryan have a flashback to shady would-be uterus broker Whitney Broach? If the name Whitney Broach doesn’t ring a bell, think back … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I never went to a prom – it wasn’t that big a deal at Stuyvesant back when I attended – so perhaps I’m the wrong person to comment on this story, since my general reaction is “who really cares?” But … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I confess, I’ve never understood the allure of spelling bees. I mean sure, they can be compelling enough as entertainment, but (and I say this as someone who is a good speller) who cares if you can memorize a bunch … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Slate magazine has a slideshow of racist spokescharacters for various products. I can’t really do this justice in a capsule description – just click and be appalled. Continue reading →

Interesting story about how the dog shelters try to make sure that once an animal has been adopted it stays adopted. In an effort to reduce animal returns, municipal and private shelters tinker with their systems. Harris County, for example, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Didn’t get to this yesterday – Johnny Hart, the creator of the comic “BC” and co-creator of “The Wizard of Id” has passed away at the age of 76. I haven’t read either strip in years, partly because I couldn’t … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Lio speaks for me. Continue reading →

Yesterday was Debutant‘s first re-birthday; it was on February 27, 2006, that she received a stem cell transplant courtesy of a donation from her brother. I’m very happy to see that she’s doing well. May there be many more re-birthdays … Continue reading → Continue reading →

John M. McCardell Jr. used to be the president of Middlebury College. He believes that current law that restricts drinking to those 21 and over is bad social policy, and he intends to prove it. With backing from the Robertson … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The pile of comic strip retirements is about to get bigger. Well, sort of. First, the bad news: Lynn Johnston needs a break. The cartoonist has, after all, written and drawn the popular comic strip For Better or for Worse … Continue reading → Continue reading →

This sort of thing alternately amuses and horrifies me. Birthdays Without Pressure is taking aim at the oneupsmanship that drives moms and dads to throw parties that will really, really impress the kids and the other parents, too. “We feel … Continue reading → Continue reading →

On the one hand, I’m glad that both my children will be girls, because I won’t have to worry about stuff like this. On the other hand, I’m not happy that both my children will be girls, because I will … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Via Stace comes this article about Houston immigrants, especially business owners, learning Spanish. Stace covers the main points, to which I just have this to add: Though there’s often a push for immigrants to learn English, the growing Hispanic population … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Okay, this is cool. A recent Sunday comes and Cherish Pageau (Internet handle: gifa) is so amped up with anticipation she hops out of bed early. In only a few hours the 30-year-old redhaired Kansas City, Mo., production artist for … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I didn’t know Dave Barry was still writing since he stopped doing his regular column two years ago, but there he is with a year end review. Barry still has his blog, and he even occasionally contributes to it, but … Continue reading → Continue reading →

It’s already 2007 in some parts of Utah. [A]t least two [Utah] cities will eagerly embrace 2007 a full 24 hours before it actually arrives in order to appeal to Mormons. The premature celebration does not reflect a new emphasis … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Fighting Jay Lee (none more surly than he) notes the curious recent phenomenon of inflatable Christmas decorations in people’s front yards. I find them to be more of an amusement than a heresy, but I can certainly understand why one … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I swear, people find the silliest damn things to worry about. In the centuries before party invitations were pinged across cyberspace, invitees did not feel compelled to explain in depth how a soiree conflicted with their Lamaze class, spa weekend … Continue reading → Continue reading →