I'm well acquainted with air guitar competitions, but until today, I was unfamiliar with the R-rated equivalent, the Air Sex World Championships. After watching a few videos, I'm pretty intimate with the concept: horny hopefuls take the stage (usually clothed) and simulate having sex with an imaginary person. Like air guitar, but with more thrusting. Interested? See if there's a show in your city.
It's McCain vs. Palin, round two! Meghan McCain and Bristol Palin, that is. In response to the young Palin's somewhat confusing new role as an ambassador for teen abstinence, McCain has responded with a column arguing that the Republican Party is out of touch when it comes to sex and sexual education.
McCain acknowledges that Palin is her own person and not necessarily representative of her mother's party. But in her column, she asserts that the recent publicity surrounding Bristol only reinforces the GOP's unrealistic attitude toward all things sexual. To read her reasoning, read more
Bachelorette parties can be crazy — of course, that's sort of the point. With all the penis-shaped whistles, questionably named shots of liquor, and male strippers, it's hardly a shock when something shocking happens.
I once found myself at a bachelorette bash complete with a cake shaped like a naked man and decorated with a frozen banana. At the goading of her guests, the normally mild-mannered bride-to-be ended up — ahem — pleasuring the banana, which would have been funny, except that her mom was sitting right there. Things really got uncomfortable when someone let slip that the bachelorette and her future husband had been having sex since high school. Until that point, her mom had thought they'd waited until getting engaged. Awkward!
I'm sure you have an even better bachelorette story, so tell me: what's the craziest thing you've ever witnessed at a bachelorette party? (Sign out of your TeamSugar account to comment anonymously.)
I've made dinners that were GIPEs (good ideas, poorly executed) and put together some pretty GIPE-y outfits. Friendster was a GIPE — just ask the millions of people on Facebook. The word "GIPE" itself may be a GIPE, as its coiner points out. Here's more:
GIPE, the acronym, is so useful that I guarantee you’ll start saying it within a day or two of reading this post. You'll be at some boring house party in Park Slope where you'll end up slumped on the midcentury sofa with your friend, picking out which outfits in the crowd are GIPEs. Or you'll be posting on Twitter and realize that GIPE makes it much easier to complain about things in 140 characters or less.
GIPE is a bit awkward but also perfectly applicable to everything from Hollywood movies to bad jokes. So now for the really fun part: what GIPEs can you name? The new Wolverine movie? Madonna's hat at the Costume Institute Gala? Leave yours in the comments.
Blame the mother? Not so fast. Turns out, depression in dads can be just as bad for kids as having a mother with mental health issues. According to experts from the University of Oxford, doctors have been focusing far too much on the mothers' problems. Kids, especially boys raised by alcoholic or depressed dads, are far more influenced by troubled fathers than previously thought. But until recently, no one was paying much attention:
The Oxford team said it was not surprising much of researchers' emphasis had focused on mothers as, in most societies, it is mothers who provide the majority of childcare — particularly when children are very young. But they said the role of men had been "underemphasised" . . . In addition, the peak age for men to be affected by psychiatric disorders is the same as the peak age for becoming a father — between 18 and 35.
As a result, young kids can develop behavioral problems, while teens are at a higher risk of depression and other mental-health issues. Do you think daughters are more affected by their mothers' mental health, while boys are more impacted by dads?
Anyone who's been tipsy knows it can set your mind a-wandering. What's worse, you may not even notice that it's wandering. Wait, sorry — what was I just saying?
A new University of Pittsburgh study suggests that even small amounts of alcohol can make you zone out without realizing that you're zoning out. In fact, putting back a few may put you in a state of meta-consciousness, where thoughts pass through your head without you fully noticing.
For the study, participants had to read part of War and Peace after consuming alcohol (try that next time you're drunk) and push a button when they caught their minds wandering:
The results revealed that while they were reading the text those who had consumed alcohol were mind-wandering without realizing it about 25 percent of the time — more than double that of those who had not consumed alcohol.
I've definitely been involved in some meandering bar conversations that suggest these finding are true. But it's hardly a laughing matter when talking about high-functioning alcoholics or other problem drinkers. According to psychology professor Michael Sayette, "this 'double-whammy' may explain why alcohol often disrupts efforts to exercise self-control."
Who doesn't love pop-up books? Or Pop-Up Video? So why not a pop-up wedding chapel? In the spirit of pop-up retail, wherein trendy stores materialize for a matter of days or weeks then vanish, an event space in Brooklyn called 303Grand is turning itself into a wedding emporium for a limited time only.
Starting June 1, the "experiential wedding showcase" will feature different weekly themes, including stationery and gifts the first week and dresses, makeup and hair the second. Then, on June 25, 303Grand will turn into a full-fledged wedding chapel for a week, hosting ceremonies for 10 couples. (Two couples will win a wedding and honeymoon free of charge.)
Given, you'd have to turn on a dime with your wedding planning, but this could be a very cute venue to tie the knot. Would you have your wedding in a pop-up chapel? What if you could get hitched and honeymoon for free?
"Respect" isn't just an awesome song by Aretha Franklin. It's a seemingly simple word loaded with meaning, from showing respect for our elders to seeking respect at work to demanding respect in relationships. In the Respect Campaign of the Family Violence Prevention Fund, it means respecting yourself and your loved ones in order to avoid resorting to violence or emotional abuse.
So in honor of Mother's Day and the Respect mission, tell me: what lessons did you learn from your mother about respecting yourself and others?
As you've probably noticed, we are sort of obsessed with avocados here, and on the rare occasion when I have leftover guacamole, I cannot bear to see it go to waste. So after whipping up a batch of homemade guac for a recent party, I used the remaining deliciousness to make a vegetarian sandwich on my new favorite chili bread.
If you've got some of Cinco de Mayo's best condiment lying around, make your own seis (or siete or ocho) de Mayo sandwich. To see how I did it, read more
Are you the type of woman who likes to flash the cameras taking souvenir photos at theme parks? Well, you can now let your freak flash flag fly — at Disneyland, at least.
This week, Disney announced that it is ceasing its decade-old practice of scanning for bare breasts on the Splash Mountain, Tower of Terror, Space Mountain, and California Screamin' rides. Here's more from the happiest place on earth:
Disney confirmed Tuesday that it has reassigned employees at Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure who watched for breast-baring riders because "actual inappropriate behaviors by guests are rare."
Riders are photographed on the attractions and can then buy souvenir copies. Some have exposed their breasts in hopes that the picture would make it onto a photo preview screen at the ride's exit.
OK, now I gotta ask: Have any of you ever flashed a camera while on a theme park ride? You can comment anonymously if you're modest — though I doubt you're that modest.
Is going through someone's text messages OK if you suspect he's up to no good? That was the question on The Hills this week: Heidi goes through Spencer's text messages, finds a text from a bartender he'd been flirting with, and promptly deletes it. In therapy, all Spencer can talk about is how Heidi shouldn't have gone through his phone. I hate to agree with Spencer, but I'd be annoyed too.
“I could have killed myself. . . . Withdrawal — it's the worst thing. I was freezing cold, then sweating hot, then chattering and in so much pain, it was excruciating. But at my very core, I did not like existing the way I had been."
— Paula Abdul, in the upcoming issue of Ladies' Home Journal, on overcoming her addiction to painkillers last Thanksgiving.
Source
A friend of mine recently got married at a San Francisco restaurant with 25 close guests in attendance. The ceremony was held in a private room, and afterward, everyone sat down at one big table for a three-course dinner.
Since the couple threw together the "elopement" on short notice, they recruited friends to help; a friend and I were asked to do the flowers. I was surprised by how cheaply we were able to fill the room with blooms. Since the restaurant has exposed brick walls and a rustic feel, we decided to go for the same look with the arrangements. To see my tips for achieving a similar scheme, read more
In one episode of Sex and the City, Carrie Bradshaw calls the New York Times wedding section the "single woman's sports pages." She and her brunch gang clearly have a love/hate relationship with the write-ups, alternately getting excited and depressed by them.
Chances are, your hometown paper has a wedding section, where you can keep tabs (or not) on all your old classmates getting hitched, or maybe you just read them for sport. What's your opinion on newspaper wedding announcements?
Wag the Dog director Barry Levinson has tongues wagging at the Tribeca Film Festival with a new documentary called Poliwood, which premiered this weekend. As the name suggests, the film explores what happens when Hollywood celebrity gets all smooshed together with DC politics. Featuring celeb cameos from Spike Lee, Josh Lucas, Anne Hathaway, and more, the doc goes behind the scenes of the 2008 campaign, including the Republican and Democratic National Conventions.
The film is backed by the Creative Coalition, a nonprofit group of politically active actors and other artsy types, so don't expect a straight-up skewering. But Levinson isn't afraid to insert his own perspective on the potential confusion that PoliWood promotes. He says,
"Well, I think what happened is, you have this television screen, and everything has to go through that screen — and at a certain point, I don't think that we can tell the difference between the celebrity and the politician. They both have to entertain us in some fashion."
Do you think that celebrity and politics have become inextricably linked? Do you like it when celebs get political, or would you rather actors just stick to acting?
The first mother-in-law is digging her new White House digs, and who can blame her? After some initial apprehension, Michelle Obama's mother, Marian Robinson, is settled into DC life, attending White House dinners and Kennedy Center performances. She doesn't have to clean the house or babysit too much, but she gets to sit in on fun stuff, like reading stories on Easter.
Whether you're leader of the free world or just head of your household, living with your mother-in-law — or your mother — isn't always easy. Especially a MIL as active as Robinson, who once worked as a bank secretary, raced in the Illinois senior games into her 60s, and now practices yoga. To see what the Obama family can teach us about how to make it work, read more
I know cupcakes are trendy, but who knew they were so fashionable? For Mother's Day, fashion designer Rebecca Taylor is teaming up with Billy's Bakery on a pair of posh cupcakes. Available May 1, the Vanilla Twinkle (above) and Mocha Meow cupcakes were inspired by Rebecca Taylor's Spring/Summer 2009 runway collection. Is it just me, or does the Vanilla Twinkle remind you of a Tiffany box?
For more details on the cupcakes and to see the mocha version, read more
Sometimes serendipity leads me to sandwiches at the most surprising times — like when I once found myself at an antique mall, housed in an old grocery store, with a restaurant in the middle. I ordered the feta BLT, which turned out to be an unfussy yet decadent, creamy, and salty twist on the crispy classic. Luckily, the woman who owned the restaurant also had a cookbook, and I got my hands on the recipe.
I've been meaning to make this for a while now, so last week I did feta cream-cheese BLTs for dinner. Turns out, April is not only National Grilled Cheese Month, it's also BLT Month. Serendipitous, indeed. To celebrate the sandwich yourself, read more
