Blog Posts by The_Stir

Struggling to make it through December? Love trouble ruining your Christmas and promising a sad-and-lonely New Year's Eve? Let Ask Dad sing some sweet carols and "Auld Lang Syne" to your frozen heart. Tell me your troubles.

Why do men move on so fast after a breakup? I had a recent breakup from a seven-year relationship, and my ex was in a new one just two months later and was married within two years while I was still mourning. Why didn't he take time to get to know himself as a single man?

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First, know that this is not a universal male thing. Many of us need months, even years of playing sad drunken songs on dark bar jukeboxes, wandering a dirty apartment with a bare, chicken-wing stained chest, and many, many viewings of many, many sci-fi trilogies before we dream of another real relationship. (That's what you meant by getting to know yourself as a single man, right?)

And there are plenty of ladies who have

Andrej PejicAustralian Andrej Pejic is one of the hottest models on the fashion scene right now.

You'll be seeing a lot more of Andrej's lovely face soon, in Jean Paul Gaultier's spring ad campaign and in the new Marc by Marc Jacobs ads.

When you see photos of this beauty, who has appeared in the pages of French and Italian Vogue, you may be struck by Andrej's enviable cheekbones or gorgeous long blond hair.

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But there's something about Andrej that's a little ... different.

And you've got to see it to believe it.

Click through to find out what I'm talking about.

Andrej is a dude.

And that photo never fails to surprise me!

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Yes, ladies, 19-year-old Andrej is at the forefront of a new modeling trend -- guys who look like girls. And while I've seen plenty of androgynous-looking male models, Andrej may very well take the

Reading the wedding announcements in the Sunday New York Times usually leaves me with a warm fuzzy feeling. Especially reading the stories that sound like true love and love found the second time around after being widowed or divorced.

There was no warm fuzzy feeling after I read the story of Carol Anne Riddell and John Partilla, two people formerly married to others who met in their children's pre-kindergarten classroom. The four adults became fast friends, socializing together and even taking their combined five children on family vacations together.

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But then Ms. Riddell and Mr. Partilla fell in love, confessed their love for each other, left their spouses, moved in together, and got married.

Oh, and then told the world their love story. At the expense of not just their former spouses but of their five children, who even if they can't read now, will be able to read this story for eternity thanks to the magic of

No need to wait for the report from social security, CafeMom has the top baby name trends of 2010. After surveying over 47,000 new moms who birthed and named babies this year, we can definitively tell you what new trends are dominating the list, and what names are on their way out.

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Who are the biggest trend setters in the baby name world? Not surprisingly, celebrities and what they choose to name their babes play a big role. But more important than the newest baby Stefani/Rossdale: You. Plugging in and chatting it up is making the baby name trends rise and fall more dramatically in the past few years than in the past decades as moms become more informed of their options.

Check out our top 50 boy and girl baby names and see how you made it all happen.

Celebrity:

Judging by baby names, Matthew McConaughey is hot, and Will Smith is not. Levi rose significantly on this year's list, but Jayden dropped like a

Christmas cocktailsWho knew that those doll-like Rankin/Bass TV characters you quoted every Christmas as a child would be enjoyed later in life as a cocktail?

All of your favorite Christmas characters -- Rudolph, Frosty, and of course, Santa -- have been turned into 10 deliciously seasonal cocktails. 'Tis the season to be merry, indeed!

The Grinch: Your heart (and alcohol level) will grow three sizes with this deliciously green cocktail made of 2 oz. of Midori, 1/2 oz. of fresh lemon juice, and a teaspoon of sugar syrup. Mix with ice and strain; top with a red cherry to represent his heart.

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Mrs. Claus Wild Side Punch: Her husband is a fat guy who just works one night a week -- trust that Mrs. Claus keeps her liquor cabinet stocked. This punch is a quarter X-Rated Fusion liqueur, a quarter tequila, a quarter pomegranate juice, and a quarter cranberry juice.

Gingerbread Man: You've probably had your fill of gingerbread men this

You've heard plenty of heart-warming stories about how organ transplants save the lives of recipients, often allowing people decades of normal life after their new heart or kidney or whatever comes to them.

And then there are poop transplants ... just as life-saving, but considerably more disgusting. No, it's not something an 8-year-old boy made up, it really actually happens.

If wrapping your brain around the idea of poop transplants makes you want to vomit just a little bit, think about this: If you're one of those super germophobes who slather their kids in hand sanitizer and use disinfecting wipes on every surface that they touch, you're at fault for the very existence of such a gross-sounding procedure. It's caused by one of those superbugs that are on the rise thanks to the use of antibiotics.

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While most of us try to avoid introducing other people's poop into our bodies, it's a last ditch hope for someone suffering

ChampagneIt's easy to make New Year's resolutions, but keeping them is the hard part. Never fear, there's an app for that!

In our technologically advanced age, you can use the fact that you carry your cell phone around with you 24/7 and are likely sitting in front of a computer during most of the day to your advantage. Some of the perks include constant reminders, cutting-edge technology, and can't-get-away-from-it accessibility.

Presenting our list of the most commonly made New Year's vows, and the technology that can actually help you achieve them:

The resolution: "I'm going to lose 15 pounds."

The solution: Lose It! app (Loseit.com; free)

For iPhone users, the free Lose It! app is an extremely easy way to keep track of your calorie intake and how much you exercise. On the homepage, it claims that the average Lose It! user loses 12.3 pounds! The maker is also working on bringing the app to the Droid, according to its Facebook page. You can make a custom calorie budget,

weddingYou've heard the old adage: keep your friends close and your enemies closer. I'll do you one better. I keep my friends close and his ex-girlfriends closer. So close, in fact, that my husband's first girlfriend was the maid of honor in my wedding.

Ten years after the wedding, it's a story that still raises eyebrows. "You what? She what?" And so I launch into the story. I moved to my husband's town just two months before our wedding, and got a job at the local newspaper. Day one on the job, I met a woman about my age, and we laughed the morning away. Then I went home for lunch.

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"I met this girl," I told my fiance. "She seems nice. Maybe you know her?" Then he dropped the bomb. "Remember that girl I told you I dated my senior year? That's her." She wasn't what I pictured. When I first heard he dated some girl named Elena, I'd had a picture of a voluptuous Russian girl with blond hair and a fur coat in my brain. Yes, I