EthologyNerd

48 posts
A sassy disaster. Follow me on Twitter: @missripleysmom Email me: [email protected]

The Real Cost of Being a Bridesmaid

It’s almost May, and that means the start of wedding season! Open bars and casual foreveralone-fueled hookups and cheap yet “meaningful” party favors and mason jars filled with ALL THE THINGS!

But wedding season isn’t just about collecting seven hundred monogrammed boxes of Jordan almonds; it means bridesmaid-duty season, too. According to a  survey of over 20,000 brides in the U.S., it costs an average of $1,695 to be a bridesmaid. The study, done by WeddingChannel.com, found that not only is the cost of the average wedding going up, but that the cost for those roped into being in a giant matrimonial circus is increasing too. Continue reading →

I Think xoJane Gave Me Ringworm

If there’s anything I love more than uninformed veterinary advice and xoJane, it’s uninformed veterinary advice on xoJane. In “I Think My Dog Gave Me Ringworm,” Helena Andrews thinks her dog gave her…no, actually, she imagines her ringworm-infected dog could possibly give it to her. I’m serious: “I now believe my eczema is ringworm because my vet said so — sorta.” Oh boy. Anyway, this post, and the comments, are a goldmine of bullshit advice. Continue reading →

‘Angola Three’ Mark Forty Years in Solitary

On Tuesday, April 17th, members of Amnesty International arrived in the Louisiana State Capitol Building in Baton Rouge to deliver a petition to governor Bobby Jindal on behalf of two men, Herman Wallace and Albert Woodfox. That day marked the 40th anniversary of their time in solitary confinement in the notorious Angola prison.

Wallace and Woodfox, along with Robert King, are known as the “Angola Three”– after the three were convicted of the murder of a prison guard in 1972, they were placed in solitary confinement and remained there despite clear psychological and physical consequences. King’s conviction was overturned and he was released from prison in 2001. Continue reading →

What Womanly Women Want In a Man

So, yeah. Among all our cat picture postings and general whinings, occasionally we get our CT (straight) boys whining on about women.

How do we work? Well, I guess it’s not that simple. But, BUT…real women are actually not all that complicated. We’re just like you. Only with vaginas. However, there are a few things we do like…or love…that aren’t too confusing or difficult, and might help you boys along the path to glory. Continue reading →

Monday Morning Afternoon Poetry

Each week we bring you a poet, some of their work, and leave the rest up to you.

This week’s poet is Anne Sexton. Also, this week, EthologyNerd is substitute-hosting for Jennywren.

Background:

Anne Sexton was the Courtney Love of 1960’s American poetry. Sylvia Plath, her good friend and main rival at the time, was winning awards and smiling dutifully at receptions; Anne was showing up drunk to receptions if at all, lighting hundred-dollar bills on fire in restaurants, having multiple affairs, and was generally considered the one poet you had to see read…again, if she made it and you could understand what she was saying.

Widely considered to have opened the door for modern “confessional” poetry, she tackled all manner of controversial topics in her writing, including menstruation, abortion, her mania and depression, and her rebellion against her straitlaced, WASPy,  somewhat abusive upbringing. As her mental illness worsened, so did her personal relationships. Her decades-long marriage ended in divorce in the early 1970s as Anne descended further into prescription drug abuse, alcohol abuse, and her suicide attempts, of which there had been several in the past, became more frequent and more serious. Her last suicide attempt in 1974 was successful. Continue reading →

Petco Does Not Take Customer Service Seriously

One week ago, I went to get freeze-dried liver and ended up with a bee in my bonnet. I was in Petco and what I saw – an employee doing in the guise of training – was a problem. What has happened since; namely, NOTHING, is the bigger problem.

Before I get into my beef with Petco, here’s my thing about customer service: It can be challenging. It’s often totally annoying. People are cray-cray. In one fashion or another, I’ve worked in customer service my whole life. I worked in restaurants from age 14 to…well, too long. But I had to kiss ass and solve problems that ranged from the trivial to the mundane to the crazy to the serious. Much to my dismay, I took that  experience into animal shelter work. I totally wondered at my first animal shelter interview why my future boss quizzed me on how I’d handle “difficult people.” Continue reading →

What Your Pet’s Name Actually Says About You

Your pets. They have names. If yours do not, name them immediately, because it’s really demoralizing not to have one. There’s a lot of armchair analysis of what your pets’ names say about you out there; in fact, Jezebel had an article on this topic just a couple days ago.

It made me think: Who are you to speculate on what pets’ names mean? Being “an unmarried lady who is heading full steam ahead toward age 30” as our intrepid Jez author is, doesn’t convince me of your bona fides. More to the point, the article itself really cemented my snap judgement of said qualifications.

Continue reading →