Rebecca A. Foster

All of the Anthony Weiner press coverage makes me feel somewhat validated for having done this . I stand by it. I don't as a general rule comment on current event news stories here, because I can't imagine anyone gives a rat's ass what I think about the news. However, the subsequent debate about whether or not sexting is cheating reminded me of the short, personal checklist I've amassed of potential red flags that the guy asking you out/hitting on you isn't as uninvolved as he claims to be*: 1. Only wants to see you during non-prime time hours, i.e. lunch but never dinner. 2. Gives you an email address and/or phone number just for you (you usually find this out when he calls/emails you from the other by accident). 3. Only wants to talk to you from work. 4. He has a cat and lives alone (so he says). (I have a bias that young, single men who want a four-legged pet get dogs, not cats. Also he turned out to be married so I was right.) 5. Only wants to see you f...

I got this t-shirt at Target several years ago. Yes, I do love nerds. Nerds know cool things! And can do cool stuff!  Now, saying you like nerds is not the same as saying you like socially awkward types, although there might be some overlap*. To me, nerds are people who care a lot about something and invest themselves in it deeply and don't care if it's cool or not; they do something because they love it, not because they care what anyone else thinks about it. And if it's not mainstream? All the cooler. Nerds unite! *I'm okay with socially awkward. It can be cute. _____ I hate wearing clothes. I'd go topless all the time if I could. My mom used to always say she hated wearing clothes and I was so scandalized by this! Moms should be dressed at all times! But now I totally get it. I have a bit of a reputation of liking to wear as little as possible, whenever possible. (I was gchatting with someone and they connected by video; me: "Um, I'm not dressed....

I found this in my purse; evidently I love hotel room keys and can't bring myself to turn them in when I check out. I did the same thing in NYC, but found it in my pocket when I grabbed my Metro card on the way to the ceremony, prompting the dash back to the hotel with the best man to properly check out, prompting his cute line about having the rings with him, prompting me to think he is darling. Anyway, if you ever go on vacation with me, don't let me be in charge of the room key, mmmkay? In Vegas I grabbed a key because I was the last one out sunbathing, my fair-skinned friends are sun-wussies. On one occasion their abandoned chairs were taken by a group of five handsome men. Hooray for wuss friends, right? Except...I was on my stomach reading a magazine, put my head down to close my eyes for a minute, and too lazy to move the magazine. Do you know what tanning oil and sweat do to ink? I do...now. It transfers it to your skin rather well. I got up shortly thereafter to leave...

I love studying the history and usage of words and currently own several different types of dictionaries, some specialized for the field of linguistics and lit criticism, some for general use. And one statistics dictionary I hope I never have to open again. But the end all, be all of dictionaries and the Golden Chalice of this book nerd is still the Oxford English Dictionary, or, in nerd parlance, 'The OED.' It's a 24 volume set (20 original, plus four supplemental volumes) and you can usually buy it for around $1,000. It takes up a lot of room. I almost bought it several years ago, but I knew I wasn't settled enough yet to buy a 24 volume dictionary. It's the kind of thing you don't want to haul around very far or often. But it's still a dream of mine to own the complete OED in print. In the Rebecca Scale of Consumerism, the OED ranks higher than diamonds. www.oed.com