Blog Posts by Piper Weiss, Shine Staff

Co-authors Fein and Schneider (TheRulesbook.com)

I can pinpoint the year my mother lost all credibility as a dating expert. It was 1995, the year Ellen Fein and Sherri Schneider's The Rules was published; the year my sister and I came home to find two copies of the bestselling book;based on a list of seduction tenets from 1917; waiting for us on the kitchen counter.

"Nineties women have simply not been schooled in the basics the rules of finding a husband or at least being very popular with men," read the introduction.

What followed was advice like "Don't stare at men, don't talk too much, don't call him, let him take the lead" --and the inexplicable--"be easy to live with."

More outrageous than the thirty-five chapters telling women to shut their traps, was the subtext that being yourself was a turn-off.

The Rules are a template for homogeny, a step-by-step guide for purging impulses and opinions, in order to become a Stepford wife. They are so specific and robotic they even tell you how to stand (straight),

Fact: One third of the women pictured are actually enjoying this activity.(ThinkStock)It's being called the most insane email a bride has ever sent to her bridesmaids. But if you've been in enough wedding parties, you probably won't be too shocked by the epic bridezilla missive going viral this week.

The email, sent anonymously to Gawker, starts off by addressing the 10 "lovely" bridesmaids tasked with being unpaid interns for the worlds worst bridal boss. It goes on to anticipate their failures as friends and humans.

Thirty bridesmaids, one bride. It happened.

And while it represents all that is wrong with the wedding industry, it's also part of a trend for brides to send an "opening email" to bridesmaids with a list of expectations (i.e. demands, dates, overview of expected financial expenditure, etc.) Brides on forums like Wedding Bee and The Knot debate how to present their demands to bridesmaids. Do you send a group email? Do you create a newsletter with updates? Do you outline what the bridesmaid's job entails?

The cost of being a bridesmaid

When Barack and Michelle Obama's 20th anniversary conflicted with the President's first pre-election debate on Wednesday, work won out. The first couple sent congratulations to each other via public Twitter accounts, but pushed their private celebration from October 3rd to October 6th, so the President could focus on the debate. Not every marriage could survive those types of decisions, but not every marriage plays out in the White House.

"Inevitably, presidential marriages are different from all others," writes Kati Martin, author of Hidden Power: Presidential Marriages That Shaped History. "To get elected to America's pinnacle of power requires absolute commitment not only from the candidate but from his spouse as well." That's particularly true once 1600 Pennsylvannia Avenue becomes home. How does married life change during presidencies and how do couples preserve their private moments together under a national microscope? It depends on who you ask...

The new look of Arby's: turkey and sans serif. (via Arbys.com)

It's not your momma's Arby's anymore, though some wish it were. After some bad reviews, and an unfortunate discovery in a roast beef sandwich this summer, Arby's is trying to start "fresh."

First there's the new logo, which looks like it was hit with a Mac-computer, rather than truck. A compact, sleeker version of famous rope-wrapped cowboy hat features the "Arby's" name in sans serif, lower case.

Burger King's new menu looks a lot like McDonald's

And say goodbye to the "good mood food" slogan. Now it's all about "slicing up freshness."

A new ad campaign, directed by Borat's own Larry Charles, takes aim at competitors like Subway by claiming Arby's as the freshest sandwich shop in town. Make that 3,500 towns worldwide.

Freshness, of course, depends on how you slice it. Arby's claim to fame is that their kitchen staff slices their meat by hand every day. Other chain restaurants outsource the job to factories so their cold cuts arrive pre-cut.

"We're in

Jerry Sandusky: excused abuse as horseplay. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)Horseplay: the word is as old as it sounds. The etymology has something to do with English Morris dancers performing with wooden hobbyhorses. If that sentence reads like hieroglyphics to you, horseplay's synonyms won't help much either: think skylarking, highjinks, buffoonery.

But you've heard it before: in 2012, horseplay is used often, particularly in high-profile situations. These days it defines-- or rather, blurs--the inflammatory.

In the current news cycle, horseplay is used in connection with everything from alleged hazings to an accidental firing of a weapon. The one thing that ties all the reports together: they happened to kids.

"Horseplay, not bullying." That's how a Washington teacher describes an event that left a 14-year-old contemplating suicide, according to his parents. The teacher is accused of joining students in restraining an eighth-grader under a pile of chairs.

In another murky situation, this time at a Virginia high school, the term was used

Don't even think about petting that turtle. (Thinkstock)If a pet turtle shows up at your home, do not take him in. He is considered armed and dangerous. No joke.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the number of Salmonella cases linked to tiny breeds of the reptile (it's not an amphibian!) is on the rise. As of last week, there are six current outbreaks of the bacteria-borne illness directly linked to exposure to the illegal contraband. Yes pet turtles are illegal.

Farm pulls fruit after salmonella scare

Ever since 1975, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has placed a nationwide ban on sales of the repitles-with shells 4 inches or smaller. After a spike in Salmonella-related sicknesses, the little guys were found to be breeders of the bacteria.

Here's how it happens: They release the bacteria when they relieve themselves (that's a fancy way of saying turtle poop). Remnants of the Salmonella strain live on their shells and get transferred to human hands and mouths easily.

"Young

The old-fashioned punishment could mean punishment for parents in Delaware. (Comstock/ThinkStock)

The issue of spanking has divided parents for years. But one state in the United States may be taking a side. Earlier this month, Governor Jack Markell passed a controversial Delaware bill--criminalizing the act of recklessly or intentionally causing physical pain on a child.

Bill 234, sponsored by Delaware's Senate Majority Leader Patricia Blevins, asserts that when a "person recklessly or intentionally causes physical injury to a child through an act of abuse and/or neglect of such child" it is considered third degree child abuse and a class A misdemeanor.

The ambiguity of the definition of "physical injury" has prompted the law to be unofficially dubbed a "spanking ban" by some and has sparked debate over the state's right to interfere with personal parenting practices.

But one of the bill's biggest proponents, Attorney General Beau Biden, son of Vice President Joe Biden, has been adamant that spanking isn't the target of the law. "This will not do anything to interfere with

Andrea Zuckerman: editor of the The Blaze, valedictorian, and worst dressed character in TV history. On Thursday, October 4, Beverly Hills 90210 celebrates its 22nd birthday, and we celebrate 22 years of suspending our disbelief that a 30-year-old woman is in high school. Not even the blanket statement, "it was the '90s," can explain why a teenager shares a wardrobe with Hillary Clinton. But Andrea has her reasons. In fact, she's a bit of a know-it-all when it comes to style. Are you surprised?

--By Piper Weiss, Shine Staff and Andrea Zuckerman, West Beverly Blaze