Avon! Brilliant! I had an aunt who was an Avon lady for a spell and every christmas, we'd just get grocery bags full of crap that is just a little off in color, smell, and texture and always gave me a bit of an allergic reaction. In fact, maybe Avon should start an ad campaign around the slogan "Avon: It's just a little Off."

Oh girl, me either. But you should just run with the comparison!

When your avatar is tiny, I always think it's a swan. Today is the first time I clicked and realized I was totally wrong, duh.

Never mind about the root canal. :slaps own wrist for inattentive reading: But the prodigy dental student wish stands. I suppose the fast healing could come in handy, in general, as well.

I wish you fast healing, prodigy dental students, and soft foods for your root canal.

re: your comments comparing many third world women to FLDS women: I think you're bingo smack right on target. Your detractors in that thread were making a knee-jerk parallel with third world/poverty and assuming you means that poor mothers can't be good mothers. I IMMEDIATELY thought about female circumcision, and I found your comment to be particularly on point.

Just as the FLDS women blindly adhere to a lifelong tradition that clearly has a terrible effect on their little girls, many (far, far too many) women in third world countries unquestioningly subject their daughters to mutilation every day. It's easy to forget because it isn't constantly blaring at us from CNN.

Maybe we should all take a good long look at these pictures again.

Thanks for your thought-provoking comments.

dosido