Late this summer, my father died. I'm still grieving the loss. I will be grieving the loss for the rest of my life. But the rest of life is a very long time, and there are many days to get through, and so I work very hard on coping and I think that I'm doing pretty well. But some days are harder than others. Some days are much harder than others. Holidays are the hardest.

I hadn't realized that this was actually something that real women actually did, but apparently it is: vaginal cosmetic surgery is maybe not as popular as Botox, but women are getting it done. The thing is, according to a British study, getting your hoo-hah snipped carries a lot of risks. More risks than Botox. About the same amount of risk as female genital mutilation.I know. I squeezed my legs together, too. You might as well keep yours squeezed, because this topic doesn't get any prettier.

For those of you who have ever wondered, would Darwin take Xanax? - and I know that you're out there - there's finally an answer: no, because depression is a sign of strong evolutionary adaptation. Or something. Maybe.According to a report discussed this week in Newsweek, depression may be an "adaptation" in human beings - and, oddly, rats - that provides for selection of stronger, fitter humans:

Last week, I wrote about a mother losing her unborn child to swine flu. This week, I'm going to write about the death of a thirteen year old boy. Am I trying to scare you? Hell, yeah.I wrote yesterday at Their Bad Mother about Evan Frustaglio, the thirteen year old Toronto boy who died suddenly from H1N1 this week:

You have to look out for the flu, do you hear me? You, and everyone you know. That may or may not mean getting a flu shot - more on that below - but either way, watch for it, cover your mouth, wash your hands, see the doctor... do whatever it takes to contain it. Especially if you are pregnant, or know someone pregnant, or might possibly one of these days sneeze on someone who is pregnant. Because those someones? Their lives - and the lives of their babies - depend on it.