Memorial Day has never been an easy or comfortable prospect for me. I am the daughter of a veteran. The great-niece of a veteran, the ex-girlfriend of several veterans, the friend of both veterans and actively enlisted servicemen of different branches of the military. There are enough veterans in my life that it never…

SEASIDE HEIGHTS, NJ - MAY 27: Nicole Zupp carries a huge stuffed monkey on the boardwalk on the first weekend of Jersey Shore beaches re-opening to the public on May 27, 2013 in Seaside Heights, New Jersey. The region continues to recover and rebuild after Hurricane Sandy devastated parts of the coastline. (Photo by…

A young spectator shields her eyes from the sun with an American flag during a Memorial Day wreath laying at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park on Roosevelt Island, Monday, May 27, 2013, in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

Ahead of what has proved for many Americans to be a happily gluttonous Memorial Day weekend, The New York Times ran a Q&A with ice cream trucker Peter Van Leeuwen, of the artisanal ice cream Van Leeuwens. Obviously, there was lots of delicious banter about ice cream and the scooping thereof, banter most definitely…

Cathy Ridge, of West Cobb, Ga., touches an American flag at the grave of her husband, retired U.S. Marine Gunnery Sgt. Charles Edward Ridge, Monday, May 28, 2012, at the Georgia National Cemetery in Canton, Ga. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Hey, dudes: Memorial Day, arguably the most romantic holiday of the year (although Arbor Day and International Tuba Day are also conducive to getting your fuck on), is fast approaching, and it is time for you to select a gift for the lady in your life. What better gift than this undeniably labial-looking Amazonian…

[Arlington, Virginia; May 31. Image via Getty]

[South Beach, May 29. Image via Bob B. Brown on Flickr.]

[Washington, D.C., May 30. Image via AP.]

[Washington, D.C., May 30. Image via AP.]

There are two things I know for certain about my grandfather: that he fought in the Battle of Okinawa in World War Two, and that his favorite movie was "The Day the Earth Stood Still."

[Annapolis, Maryland. May 22. Image via Getty.]

Attention readers: We will be posting on a shortened schedule today, tomorrow and Sunday. On Monday, the site will go dark completely, except in the case of breaking news. A happy, safe holiday to everyone.

Memorial Day weekend message: We will be posting on shortened schedules tomorrow and over the weekend, and the site will go dark completely on Monday. Speaking of holidays: Today is our second birthday. Terrible twos - and Champagne toasts - here we come.

In honor of the holiday weekend, Jezebel will be publishing on an amended/shortened schedule today (we're off all day Monday). However, we'll still be running our favorite Friday features - Missdemeanors, Fine Lines - in addition to various pictures and posts, so do stay with us until 4:20's 'Pot Psychology'. As for…

Perhaps you've noticed the preponderance of videos and other "fun" shit on the site today. The reason for that deluge is as follows: This is the end of our first week of "real" blogging (which is kind of like fighting the Japanese in the Pacific theater, you know), we're exhausted, and we have a half day today in…