Blog Posts by Piper Weiss, Shine Staff

Do you know how much courage it takes for a reality star to pose naked for a cause? Not much. "Real Housewives of Orange County" star Gretchen Rossi is the latest micro-celebrity to use other people's struggles as an excuse to show off her breasts. She also might be the last considering the reception her print ad for a breast cancer charity has received from the survivor community. It's great to support a worthwhile cause, but why do celebrities always get their bare butts in the way? -Piper Weiss, Shine Staff

Read More »from 'Real Housewife' Gets Naked for Cancer, Offends Everyone. Can We Stop Raising Awareness Nude Now?

If you clicked on this post, you probably don't need a recap of the first episode of the new season "The Bachelor." You watched it. Now it's time for a closer read. Here are 13 things you may have missed from week one. -Piper Weiss, Shine Staff

This was the last exercise machine I used. It's going to be a long month of short workouts.

If I were raising myself, I'd be a terrible parent. The older I get, the bossier and less-disciplined my inner-child has become. She decides what we eat (cheese), when we eat (every 30 minutes) and what extra-curricular activities we engage in (Netflix). As you can see, we're very busy. So busy, in fact, we just can't find the time to workout. So many shoe-laces, so few matching socks, so much planning to not drink or eat for longer than is comfortable.

Then, last week, I spotted an exercise plan that even a 34-year-old childless woman with a Wikipedia addiction could fit into her crowded schedule. It's a 30-second workout. Actually it's 3 minutes of a 30-second high intensity exercise three times a week, but let's keep that between us.

This proposed exercise program isn't the kind of thing you can buy on Amazon. There's no beefy celebrity trainer holding an exercise ball waving three fingers at you from the cover of a book. There's no DVD hosted by a washboard stomach that once

Read More »from The Three Minute Workout? I Guess I Can Squeeze It In

Forget pageant queens and reality stars, no one lays the make-up on thicker than a female bodybuilder. Can you blame them? If you were about to walk onstage in a thong swimsuit and have your muscles judged under dentist lights, you'd take your beauty regimen just as seriously. Here's how the world's most muscular women get in cosmetic shape before a show. --Piper Weiss, Shine Staff

Read More »from Muscle Make-up: Beauty Regimens of Female Bodybuilders

(Thinkstock)I've got it. Add it on to the other speech patterns I've been criticized for, including: baby talk when I'm asking for a favor—I know it's the worst—and saying the words "you know" when I'm stalling a story to think about what I'm going to say next. But forget it, I've got "creaky voice," so you probably won't want to hear the thing I'm going to say anyway. (Look out! Falling piano!)

Related: Baby talk: annoying nonsense or evidence of a lasting bond?

"Creaky voice" or "vocal fry" is the new way young women talk, according to linguistic research, and people really hate it. It's been described as a "raspy or croaking sound injected (usually) at the end of a sentence," and the sound of "oil popping on the pan" and also sheer agony.

To listen to an example of "creaky voice" skip to minute 4:35 of Slate's recent podcast on the topic, below.

Then skip to 4:55 where it's described by host Bob Garfield as "annoying...really annoying."

Learn to love it, people. Researchers at Long Read More »from Do You Have "Annoying" Girl Voice?

The controversial stars of Have we gone too far? It's a question we ask at the outset of every outrageous new reality series—be it "Survivor" or "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo." It's also usually an early sign of a show's success.

How reality TV hurts girls

But response to a new show teased as part of Oxygen Media's spring lineup, seems to mark a momentous moment when reality has truly jumped the shark. Collective and largely unchallenged outrage over the network's upcoming show "All My Babies' Mamas" is the unusual case of a show sparking enough controversy to potentially kill it.

"All My Babies' Mamas," a one-hour reality special slated to air in the spring of 2013, features Carlos "Shawty Lo" Walker, an Atlanta-based hip-hop artist with 11 children by 10 different women. Oh, he's also got a 19-year-old girlfriend, who's a year shy of his oldest child.

By the looks of the leaked sneak peak and an early press release, the show's take on this challenging family dynamic is more "Brady Bunch" than "An

Read More »from Oxygen's New Show "All My Babies' Mamas" Makes Everyone Mad and it Hasn't Even Aired

(ThinkStock Images)Up until today, I was proud of my coffee-brewing abilities. I'd splurge on the Starbucks espresso roast at the grocery store and store it in the freezer for maximum freshness. I scoffed at the suggested measurement on the back of the bag, and heaped twice the amount of grinds in the filter, for what I always imagined was the strongest, most Rotorooting cup of hot, homemade, over-the-counter drugs a girl could ask for.

Now I know I was doing it all wrong. Ask a real coffee-brewing professional (and I did), and you'll find there are some things you just have to do when brewing coffee—none of which were part of my morning regimen.

The crazy reason your coffee tastes better hot

The good news is there are also some "don'ts": You don't need to buy a $15,000 brewing system, the kind now found in "third wave" coffee shops and select Starbucks around the country, for a solid cup. You don't even need to buy the fanciest grinds in the grocery store.

According to the pros, all you need

Read More »from Want to Make the Perfect Cup of Coffee? It's Simple, Kind Of

There's the miracle of childbirth. And then there's the miracle of a child shaking hands with her doctor before she's exited the womb.

In October, Randy Atkins was poised with camera as his wife Alicia gave birth via C-section. He was planning on capturing the moment for friends and family, but he didn't expect to snap an image that would captivate the planet.

The year's most interesting babies

In an unbelievable debut, Nevaeh Atkins, age one millisecond, reached out from her mother's belly and offered her own delivery doctor a hand.

"The doctor called me over and said, 'Hey, she's grabbing my finger.' So I ran over there and just grabbed the shot and I was just in awe looking at it. It was such an amazing picture," Randy Atkins told the website AZFamily.com. The Phoenix-based Atkins and his wife Alicia shared the incredible photo on Facebook the day after Christmas. Soon after the image was shared by hundreds and viewed by more than 10,000 users, making it the first and most

Read More »from Most Polite Baby Ever Shakes Doctor's Hand from Womb. The Bar Has Been Set, Folks