As most people know, there are agreed upon nonverbal signals ranging from fairly minor – like the “okay” signal or an eye roll to communicate an “Oh, brother” reaction – to very important non-verbal distress signals. *** But the truth is, there are an incredible number of situations in which non-verbal communication is crucial.  Here […]

I had an idea.  An idea that bubbled up from some terrible dark place.  It was an idea for my own award, which I am introducing today, in hopes that people will connect with it, and pass along their own winners.  The basis of the Jafees is blogs that do something, or have some component, […]

For the school where I work, this past weekend was prom – that magical night when a girl’s dreams come true.  Assuming her dreams involve trying to walk in 5-inch heels, not eating your expensive dinner because the dress is too tight, and then listening to deafening music with a guy who thinks he’s the […]

Have a problem and don’t know where to turn? Well… When Dr. Laura isn’t brutal enough… When Carolyn Hax isn’t sexy enough… When Dr. Phil isn’t yelling enough… That’s when you need to Ask Sexy Stalin! Dear Sexy Stalin, Fashion question: This spring, is it going to be OK to mix Czechs and stripes? Signed, Baddest […]

So the other day I was explaining hyperbole to someone.  I said, “For example, ‘I will love you ‘til the seas run dry.’ Gross overstatement for effect.”  The person said, “Oh, of course – because of the prefix ‘hyper.’” And said that I supposed then you could also use hypobole – gross understatement for effect.  […]

I’ve recently become well acquainted with the various theories of how to get a baby to please, for the love of God, sleep through the night. The best of them seem to boil down to five rules that are good to bear in mind for us all, really. 1. Don’t fall asleep eating or rocking. […]

The George W. Bush Presidential library opened last week, and the Good Dog, Carl jokes flowed like wine.  But it wasn’t all people thought.  Some of the surprises awaiting people? Justification For Invading Iraq mad libs! When you reach the end of the first chapter of any book in the library, there’s a “Ta-da!” chime, confetti, […]

Whoa.  Whoa.  Just… just hold the phone a second… Someone is looking for people to colonize Mars and NO ONE TOLD ME?? Yes, the company Mars One is screening applicants to undergo a rigorous training and then make the 9-month trip to Mars and establish a permanent settlement on the red planet.  And I am […]

By now, odds are, you’ve seen or heard about Dove’s “Real Beauty” sketches, in which women are asked to describe themselves for a sketch artist, and then compare those drawings to descriptions of them by another person. If not, here’s the video: It’s an interesting campaign, and one that clearly took a lot of time […]

Last weekend I was in a show that ran 3 nights. (that was the plan – it didn’t whimper out after 3 nights…)  It was a bunch of performers telling stories from their lives; I wrote a little about it before, and my wanting to be liked by the cool kid.  People had been pretty […]

Times It Is Acceptable to Say, “That’s So Gay”: You’re trying to tell someone “That’s okay” and you have a pretty bad cold. Someone has just done a spot-on impression of actress Marcia Gay Harden, from Miller’s Crossing. You’re at a Robert Mapplethorpe exhibit. You’re trying to be supportive of a friend who’s recently embraced […]