Banana Peels for the Win (Maybe)

The banana peel.  The things that makes the banana so portable and then, yest leaves you with this limp thing to discard.  I confess I have never tried slipping on a banana peel, but since I, you know, exist, I am aware of the comedy trope. Well, now it turns out that banana peels may be useful in dealing with water pollution.  No, really.

In Defense of the Push Up Bra

Recently the morning TV news ran a story along the lines of people are trying to make your teens to sexy with push up bras.  (So not kidding.)  Now, I take these scare stories with a grain of salt.  I remember reading articles about things I was supposedly doing as a teen that were putting my virtue, my innocence, and my safety in question, and they were right sometimes, wrong sometimes, mostly exaggerated most of the time. 
However, I also know that some parents or other adults don't have time to parse out the real from the exaggerated.  (Witness one relative telling my cousin that she was risking being murdered by being on MySpace.  Again, not kidding.)  Sure, in a perfect world, adult caregivers of teens would have responsible and meaningful discussions about these things with their teens, but it doesn't always happen that way.  (And sometimes that's the teen's fault too, not trying to place the blame solely on adults here.)
So, that leads me to the push up bra.  Now savvy shoppers will note that the push up bra has been around for a while.  And the argument that before it was only marketed to adults, is flimsy at best, since teens who wear bras are going to consider themselves the target of any bra advertising. I can't ever remember pausing to consider the age of the bra model in making my shopping choices.  Now certainly there are some styles that are, ahem, less about support, but let me assure you in this case we are talking about a full coverage push up bra. 
Now some folks seem concerned that it adds cup sizes and that perhaps teens are not ready for that.  These folks are apparently unaware that teens have never needed a push-up bra to increase their cup size, it's just more convenient for that padding to come pre-packaged, rather than a personal aftermarket addition.
I am assuming that everyone can understand that some people (be they teen or otherwise) may need to wish to appear a little more padded.  And sure, we can argue that we're giving in to the notion of what you're supposed to look like, rather than appreciating what you truly look like, but as a late developer, I can also see the appeal of just knowing what you might look like with a little more.  (And I think, generally, most people discover that two cup sizes doesn't make quite as much difference as you might have imagined.  Or in some cases, just looks ridiculous.  )
But, the advantage of a well constructed bra with a little (yes, two cup sizes is two inches, so it is more than a little) padding turns out to be, in addition to support, that one garners an extra layer of protection from environmental and physical incursions.  We all know that certain external conditions can lead to physical responses in the breasts, and while again this is totally natural, I think it is entirely understandable to not wish to share that reaction with the entire school.  (Or office.)
Also, should someone commit the accidental (we are going to assume accidental here) boob brush, it's a little easier when there's some padding between you and the brush.  Breasts stick out, these things happen, but it's still weird, especially when they are a newer body part. So, things that help with this discomfort, are all good to me. 
And, in the end, my bra has never been responsible for my life choices.

Acting it Out

My sister participated in the youth jobs program one year.  She helped with a day camp for a few weeks at a park in our neighborhood. She liked it well enough, got paid a real wage, but pretty much just did it that one summer. (Although it certainly wasn't the last day camp she worked at.) But this program, at the National Portrait Gallery, where the teens take on personas of the portraits sounds really cool.  Next year, I'll have to make sure to stop in and check them out. 

Curse You!

So, in knitter circles there are tales of the sweater curse.  (Perhaps in crochet circles too.)  The story goes that if you knit a sweater for someone you are dating, the relationship will end around the time you finish.  So the knitter is (assumedly) broken-hearted and either in possession of this sweater that is now one more physical reminder of this relationship, or left to ponder that all that knitting is now off with someone who doesn't deserve it, or to possibly wonder if they hated the sweater that much.  Supposedly marriage inoculates one from the curse.  (My favorite part of the Wikipedia entry about this is this quote: "No controlled studies have investigated this phenomenon, and the available evidence is largely anecdotal, which is generally of low reliability due to cognitive bias. Particularly important in this effect may be confirmation bias, as knitters may remember breakups more clearly after giving a hand-knit sweater, which represents a significant investment of money (typically over $100), effort (~100,000 stitches), time (as much as a year) and romantic imagination."
However, there is a solution (other than first securing marriage or choosing not to believe in curses, which sure, you could also do). One woman has a sweater imbued with chili which will then cause the recipient to itch and burn.  That will show them.

Don't Speak

After seeing someone complain about people telling the they look tired on Twitter, I had a little epiphany, saying, "You look tired," is like saying, "You look pregnant."

It is generally established that telling someone they look pregnant is not a great idea unless you actually know they are pregnant* because either: they are but you have now stepped on their announcement, they are but they didn't want to tell you yet, or they aren't and now you have made them terribly self conscious about their waistline. 

You look tired (or it's friend  - you look sick) is really the same thing.  Now, possibly you happen to know that this person was up all night with a teething or ill child, went to a midnight showing of a movie, and/or was partying til the break of dawn.  Or maybe you don't and now you have made that person terribly self conscious that they look old, or tired, when up until then, they thought they were having a pretty good day.  And if they are in fact tired, you have burst their bubble about how well they were faking it. 

I recognize that generally, you look tired is meant in a sympathetic manner. And I'm not trying to tell people to stop being nice.  I am suggesting that this is not the way to go. 

*Except, of course, for that one woman from "I Didn't Know I was Pregnant" who says she wishes her co-workers had told her she was looking bulky about the middle.