When Falls the Coliseum

Tags: advice
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How to survive the snowmageddon of 2010

Posted on February 10th, 2010 at 10:26 pm by Nancy DeGregorio

If you live in the Northeast part of the United States, you’re probably up to your eyeballs in snow. Certain areas, including mine, have been socked with the second snowmageddon within a week. It’s creating a lot of stress for mothers everywhere — schools are closed and toddler classes are canceled. The roads are impassable, and even if they weren’t, it’s impossible to dig the minivan out from the mountain of snow anyway. What’s a mother to do with an endless stretch of days indoors with a bunch of kids? Here are some ideas to keep your children entertained and you stress-free while stuck in the house. [Read more →]

Tags: advice, environment & nature
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The hazards of pole dancing for exercise

Posted on January 6th, 2010 at 10:45 pm by Mike McGowan

Back in June, reason.com ran a story about a woman in Pennsylvania who wanted to begin a pole dancing class for exercise. The town, Mars, was fighting her attempt in an effort to keep their streets clear of the hordes of hookers and prostitutes that were bound to descend upon them like a plague of locusts.

Tags: advice, sports
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6 holiday gift ideas that don’t suck

Posted on October 30th, 2009 at 8:30 am by Ruby Mac

Last week I promised you five non-sucky, non-budget-breaking holiday gift ideas, but I can tell you’ve had a long week, so you’re getting six. Two ideas for your girly-type recipients, two for the less overtly effeminate, one for a household or couple of any orientation, and one for kids.

Pre-Season Training: 5 holiday gifts not to give

Posted on October 23rd, 2009 at 8:30 am by Ruby Mac

You know you’re already thinking about it, especially if you’re one of the 7,000 Americans whose unemployment benefits are running out, or if you live in, say, Michigan. In these darkest of before-the-dawn days, maybe it’s a good time to reexamine the holiday gift-giving ritual and all its evil, consumer-driven overtones.

Or maybe, you know, not. Not this year. This year some of you would like a little normalcy, a little dignity, a little tradition, just with fewer finance charges and bank overdraft fees sprinkled on top.

I hear you. You want your brother-in-law to look over at you and say, “Nice,” and mean it. Impact, not indigence. Let’s get started — yes, pre-Halloween, so sue me – with 5 gifts to avoid giving. [Read more →]

3 steps closer to getting less done with fewer excuses

Posted on October 9th, 2009 at 8:30 am by Ruby Mac

Discipline is hard and not fun and I’m no good at it. So, since I’m surfing around anyway instead of working, why don’t we find out what sort of free motivational programs are out there for lazy creative types like us?

Let’s start at the beginning; I think that’s a common thing among the disciplinati.

Alarm Clock. So many clocks, so little time that I feel like working. I had high hopes for Alarm Cocky, which is a timer that lets you choose from a number of alarms, such as a guitar riff or a standard beep, or a freaked-out rooster cock-a-doodle-doo (hence the name). But I couldn’t get it to do a short 10-15 second trial and I didn’t want to sit around waiting for a longer experiment, so I can’t recommend it. Klokoo.com had a cheesy home page with weird RSS links and a slogan that read “Wake up tomorrow morning with Klokoo the radio alarm cock online” that made me nervous about what I might roll over and and see on my work laptop, so I went elsewhere. Kukuklok.com was a better option with a simple design that seems to work okay with a small selection of alarm noises, but the coolest was MetaClock (www.metaclock.com), which lets you pick a wakeup time, a song, a website you would like to pop up, a note from yourself, a random fact, and a “Today in History” factoid. [Read more →]

Tags: advice, all work
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OMG u cnt bleev w@ ms. Jones jst z 2 me!*

Posted on September 25th, 2009 at 8:30 am by Ruby Mac

Dear Ruby,
My 12 year old daughter is back in school and this girl (let’s call her Becky) who she’s been hanging around with all summer is now completely blowing her off! I feel so bad for my daughter and I’m really angry at Becky, who I’ve been driving to parties and feeding meals to all summer, basically treating her like a member of the family.

Would it be out of line to say something to her when I see her at school? I volunteer once a week or so and I feel very awkward and like I want to call her out on her snotty behavior. She’s always polite to me.

Mom on Warpath

The midlife crisis in this house? Nacho or Cool Ranch

Posted on September 11th, 2009 at 8:30 am by Ruby Mac

Dear Ruby,
I am in my 50s and the kids have moved out. The wife and I were thinking it would be fun to smoke a joint. I’m all for it, but she says that pot nowadays is like ten times stronger than it was when we were kids and we’ll freak out or overdose or something. But I think she still wants to do it.

Do you think this is a good idea or should we just stick to beer and Captain Morgan?

2nd Adolescence

All hail Lynne, Bitch-Whisperer

Posted on September 4th, 2009 at 8:30 am by Ruby Mac

Dear Ruby,
I have a gal working in my office who is a real Bossy Betty. Doesn’t matter who, doesn’t matter what, she’s got an opinion on what should be done and by golly she is going to make sure you take her advice. It’s bad enough on work matters, but I surely don’t need her advice on my personal life! Ignoring her just seems to encourage her and my boss doesn’t seem to mind that she’s running the show. Any advice on dealing with her?
Lynne

Tags: advice, all work
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Responding to the public/private family secret

Posted on August 28th, 2009 at 8:30 am by Ruby Mac

Dear Ruby,
I recently found out through my local newspaper that the nephew of a friend of mine was arrested for something very, very serious. This is not a friend I see very often, but someone I still feel close to.

The nephew does not share the same name with my friend, and I only know about him as a relative because I knew her estranged half-sibling (the nephew’s parent) during the short time (one summer) that they had a relationship with her family. I doubt almost any of her other friends from that time made the connection.

As I said, this was a very, very serious incident; the kind of thing a family will likely never live down. I’m wondering if I should let her know that I know. I’m guessing she might be hoping that no one will make the connection and if I tell her I know I’m afraid it might depress her and make her think everyone knows. I would not want to do anything that would cause her one more moment of grief right now. What do you suggest?

Afraid to Reach Out [Read more →]

All in good time, my pretty, all in good time

Posted on August 21st, 2009 at 8:30 am by Ruby Mac

Ruby,

Why a whisker? Why my chin? Why now?

Middle-Aged in Milwaukee

Guess who’s coming to dinner? The bean dip is a clue.

Posted on August 14th, 2009 at 8:30 am by Ruby Mac

Dear Ruby,
My boyfriend and I are hosting our first dinner party this weekend, and he just told me that two of the guests are vegans. This is a surprise to both of us and I’ve already bought the chicken to grill and most of the other dishes have butter or milk or cheese. I’m almost panicking! It’s not a payday weekend and I really don’t have another $50 to spend for a second meal. Please help!

The Flesh-Eating Hostess [Read more →]

Tags: advice, recipes & food
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The future’s so bright, I gotta wear . . . a paper hat

Posted on August 7th, 2009 at 8:30 am by Ruby Mac

Good news! There are reports of a light at the end of the recession tunnel. It’s great that there might be a light. Of course, it would be greater if we weren’t in a tunnel.

Unemployment is still high. Combined with under-employment figures, the estimates come in around 16%. Until there’s some massive hiring, it’s the austerity plan — or no plan – for an awful lot of people.

For those of us who are not yet seeing the light, much less feeling the glow, here’s a special list of 23 things you can still enjoy for $5 or less: [Read more →]

Push her far away/With inane haiku; I know/You have it in you

Posted on July 24th, 2009 at 8:30 am by Ruby Mac

Dear Ruby,
A question in the form of a haiku:

Nice to work lady
Now she talks to me all day
Want her to stop please

Regards, Johan [Read more →]

Tags: advice, all work
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When shameless psychological manipulation is the only way

Posted on July 17th, 2009 at 8:30 am by Ruby Mac

Dear Ruby,
I have married into a cancelling family. The women in my husband’s family cancel things all the time. They don’t even bother to make excuses sometimes. His sister will say, “Something came up,” or “We just couldn’t make it.”

I didn’t mind this so much before we all had children, but now my kids are constantly disappointed that they won’t be seeing their cousins after all, or that Grandma changed her mind about going to the mall. How do you deal with mind-changers without starting a family feud?

Sincerely, Just-Do-It Joelle

Don’t defriend — debunk!

Posted on June 19th, 2009 at 8:30 am by Ruby Mac

Dear Ruby,
An old friend friended me on Facebook recently and we emailed back and forth a few times. I was really excited to be back in touch until I realized that he believes in all kinds of crackpot 9/11 theories and now he is sending me links to videos and websites that I have no interest in. How do I get out of this relationship? I used to like him and agree with him on a lot of topics, but now I’m so turned off that I just cringe when I see new emails from him.

Sincerely, Defriend Me! [Read more →]

Tags: advice, black helicopter watch
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Cheap tip of the month: the Art Photo

Posted on June 5th, 2009 at 8:30 am by Ruby Mac

Graduations, weddings, birthdays, mother’s/father’s days, presents for teachers — spring seems to be the same thing as ka-ching at our house.

Here’s this month’s excellent tip to meet your social gifting obligations and still have a few bucks left over for summer:

The Art Photo

What’s their thing? Monopoly™? Karaoke? Ford Rangers? Power Rangers? Did they meet cute at a local bar, or does he dearly love a certain pinball machine? Will she only listen to public radio, or whale songs, or white noise, or Suzy Quattro?

Send in your boxtops for a gay secret decoder ring

Posted on May 29th, 2009 at 8:30 am by Ruby Mac

Dear Ruby,

I work for a large company and I’ve gotten friendly with a woman in another department who’s in the lunchroom when I am. I suspect she’s a lesbian and I’m a straight woman, so I want to let her know that a) her orientation is not a problem with me, and b) I’m not interested in romance but I am interested in having her be my friend. She has not said anything specifically so I am wondering how to bring it up. I think it’s a pretty friendly place to work for gay people so I’m not sure if she’s in the closet just to me or everyone. Any tips to break the ice?

Straight but not narrow

From roots to Choos: how do you fight your urge to splurge?

Posted on May 22nd, 2009 at 8:30 am by Ruby Mac

The study is out and the facts are in. Nearly 80% of a sampling of women surveyed in the UK (as stressed and recessed as anywhere else economically) admitted that they would still “splurge to cheer themselves up.”

According to Karen Pine, a University of Hertfordshire professor and author of “Sheconomics” (and soon-to-be-nominee for Author of Most Dumbass Title of the Year Award), “This type of spending, or compensatory consumption, serves as a way of regulating intense emotions.” [Read more →]

Bad grad = sad dad

Posted on May 15th, 2009 at 8:30 am by Ruby Mac

Dear Ruby,

I’m graduating from college this spring. My dad has always said that he would buy me a car when I graduated from college and he’s really excited about it and wants to go looking at cars with me. The problem is that I plan to move to a non-car-friendly city after graduation and I’d much rather have the money than the car. But he’s talked about this for so long and he’s so excited about it that I can’t say no. I kind of brought it up with my mom and she just said to make sure it’s a car I like. Any advice?

Bad Daughter in Boston

Why Steve doesn’t know about the woodchucks

Posted on May 8th, 2009 at 8:30 am by Ruby Mac

We have woodchucks.

I see them everywhere lately, rootling around in the the grass. It must be some sort of seven-year cycle or something. On Tuesday, driving home down a busy stretch alongside a vast trainyard in our utterly urban part of town, I counted four groundhogs (one on his hindlegs looking like an upended meatloaf), as well as a coal-black squirrel, a bunny, and a dead mallard in the grassy boulevard (the only casualty). [Read more →]

Tags: advice, family & parenting
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The good news? Sometimes no one barfs

Posted on May 1st, 2009 at 8:30 am by Ruby Mac

Dear Ruby,
My girlfriend and I are planning our first road trip together with her 6 year old daughter. I like kids, but the only thing I know about them is based on me at that age. What do I do to keep her little girl occupied in the car all that time? I used to play with Matchbox cars and Legos, but from what I gather she’s not so into that stuff. I want to surprise and impress my girlfriend and keep us all happy without stopping in every town for a new Barbie.

Fun Uncle Paul

P.S. There’s going to be about 8-10 hours of driving each day for at least 2 days and we do have a portable DVD player. [Read more →]