I was reading Fernwithy's excellent Hunger Games fanfiction, The End of the World, which tells the story of Haymitch's Games, and as she so often does, Fernwithy prompted thinky in the comments.

( Whither chivalry? (If anywhere) )

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As an eleven year old, I couldn't turn the pages of that book fast enough. I had to see what happened next, and I had to see how all of the twisty ethical questions resolved themselves (it didn't occur to me that they might be left unresolved).

Twelve years later, I re-read the damn thing. And MY GOD, did anyone else finish Ender's Game and ( Read more... )

Note: This post concerns religious issues, which always have the potential to be very sensitive and contentious ( Read more... )

The Waiter Rule is widely known. We're told it's a measure of character, and it's an easy sign to look for on a date.

What if your date calls the waitress "baby"?

( Pet names for female service staff are a Southern cultural relic... )

A friend of mine conducted an informal survey for her sociology class the other day, by sending out a mass email asking us for our Ten Rules of Dating. "It's an open-ended question," she wrote. "For instance, maybe one of your rules is 'no drugs' or 'I don't date men I meet in bars.'"

Here's what I wrote back:

The Duckie's Ten Rules of Dating1 ( Read more... )

On receiving male attention ( Read more... )