Blog Posts by Sarah B. Weir, Yahoo! blogger

courtesy Simon and SchusterWe think about divorce in terms of "failed" marriages, but author and filmmaker Dana Adam Shapiro's new book is a reminder that often our best shot at finding lasting love comes from the personal growth that occurs in the aftermath of a painful break-up. Over about four years, Shapiro, whose documentary Murderball was nominated for an Academy Award, traveled across the country interviewing hundreds of people who had survived a tough divorce and published many of their stories in the collection 'You Can Be Right (Or You Can Be Married).'

Related: Dana Adams Shapiro's Filmography on Yahoo! Movies

When Shapiro, now 38, hit his mid-30s, he witnessed many of his friends' marriages start to fall apart and wondered why. At the same time, he hadn't been able to sustain a relationship over the long haul. "I've been a serial monogamist for over 20 years," Shapiro tells Shine. "I've had five three-year relationships and one year-long relationship, but I've never been able to make the

Read More »from ‘You Can Be Right, or You Can Be Married’: Lessons for Marriage, Learned from Divorce

Adopt-A-Guy pop up shop (photo: AFP/Getty Images)The French dating website AdopteUnMec.com (Adopt-A-Guy) is set up like a man boutique where women peruse the virtual racks looking for their perfect match. "Special on Carrot-Tops" advertises one online banner. Another alerts "buyers" to a "Total Liquidation of Men with Curly Hair: Everything Must Go." Now, the company has taken their wares to the streets with a pop-up store in Paris where women can window-shop for a mate. Some critics are saying the concept is exploitative and there would be a public outcry if women were similarly put up for sale.

Study: Why Online Dating Doesn't Work

The Daily Mail reports that gawkers flocked to the grand opening on September 11 to check out the real dudes being displayed in glass containers that resemble boxes of Ken dolls. These toy boys have names like "Mr. Muscle" and "The Rocker." The traveling boutique will be open for 10 days before moving on to other cities. Reportedly, the men in the displays are male models being used for promotional

Read More »from Adopt-A-Guy: Parisian Pop-Up Shop Sells Men

If you have every tried to photograph a dog, you know how difficult it is. They twitch, they yawn, they walk away. Jessica Trinh's portraits of Chuppy, a golden retriever, and shelter dog Daisy look effortless. "Photography makes you look at things differently," the 17-year-old writes on her blog. "You notice rain drops and the way the sun kisses the Earth….There is no time to waste because there is an urgency to capture each loving gesture, smile, and laugh in both humans and animals." To see more of her extraordinary pictures, check out http://www.jessicatrinh.com.

More Photography on Shine: Artist's Strange and Wonderful Family Portraits

Read More »from Teen's Gorgeous Portraits of Her Dogs

How healthy are your cleaners?

Even some cleaning products billed as being "green" contain dangerous chemicals reveals a new guide released by the Environmental Working Group (EWG). "Quite a few cleaning products that line store shelves are packed with toxic chemicals that can wreak havoc with your health, including many that harm the lungs," EWG senior scientist Rebecca Sutton said in statement. "The good news is, there are plenty of cleaning products that will get the job done without exposing you to hazardous substances."

EWG analyzed over 2000 household cleaning products and rated them for safety. They found that over 53% of the products tested contained chemicals that are harmful to the lungs and 22% can trigger asthma. Some common cleaners contain formaldehyde and chloroform, known human carcinogens. Drain and oven cleaners often use caustic chemicals that can burn the eyes and skin.

They also found many products don't adequately reveal their ingredients. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

Read More »from Healthy Cleaning Guide: Best and Worst Cleaning Products

Have you ever looked in the mirror and anxiously thought, "Oh no, I'm starting to look exactly like my mother/father?" Artist Ulric Collette's spliced family portraits affirm that it's not your imagination. Looking at the pictures he creates by merging portraits of two close relatives, you can see how their genetic overlap creates striking visual echoes across decades and genders. Strangely, some siblings morphed into one face appear to be more identical than twins. Flavorwire jokingly calls them Franken-photos.

More magical photos on Shine: Mom Photographs "Flying Baby"

The first image in Collette's "Genetic Portrait" series, which he began in 2008, was a happy accident. "I was trying other things with a picture of me and a picture of my son," he tells Shine, "and this happened." Instead of aging his son using his own features as he intended, the result was a fascinating mash-up of two faces that share much of the same DNA. He posted the image on the photo sharing website

Read More »from Ulric Collette: Artist’s Strange and Wonderful Family Franken-Photos

courtesy Kimberly DeckerNobody enjoys potty training, and especially not the diners trying to enjoy their lunch at a popular Utah restaurant, the Thanksgiving Point Deli. KLS News reports that some patrons were shocked to see a young mother sitting at a table with her toddler twins perched on portable toilets. "She had to undo the jumpsuits, and take them all the way down so they were completely nude, with the jumpsuits down to their ankles," said Kimberly Decker who happens to be a mom of three, "just eating their chicken nuggets, sitting on little toddler potties."

PHOTOS: 7 Ways to Encourage Your Toddler's Creativity

Decker snapped a picture of the unappetizing incident on her cell phone and posted it on Facebook. The social networking site has since removed the image, but not before it set off frenzy of feces-fueled activity on the Internet.

"I do not like to bash other Mommies because the job is hard enough but SERIOUSLY what was she thinking?!" commented one reader on the Huffington Post. "That is

Read More »from Mom Potty Trains Toddler Twins in Restaurant Dining Room

Canada's top medical journal has called for the repeal of the country's 120-year-old "spanking law," which allows corporal punishment. In a strongly worded editorial published on September 4, John Fletcher, the editor-in-chief of the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ), called physical punishment an "anachronistic excuse for poor parenting." The editorial accompanies a meta-analysis of 20 years of research about the ill effects of spanking, conducted by Joan Durant PhD of the University of Manitoba, first published in February and reprinted in the current volume of the CMAJ.

Related: Spanking, Hitting Kids in Public Surprisingly Common

An estimated fifty percent of Canadian parents spank their children, and Canada, like the United States, protects parents' right to physically discipline kids. Section 43 of the Canadian Criminal Code states, "A parent is justified in using force by way of correction…if the force does not exceed what is reasonable under the

Read More »from Canadian Experts Call for Nationwide Ban on Spanking

Abbie and the Rims. Photo courtesy of the Portland Press HeraldAsk yourself honestly: You find a big wad of cash on the ground, there are no surveillance cameras in sight, and nobody is watching you, what do you do? Jennifer Jacobson, a stay-at-home mom in Maine, admits that she had to think about it for a minute when her eight-year-old discovered $4,000 on the sidewalk by a Sam's Club. As for her daughter Abbie? "It never crossed her mind to keep it," mom tells Shine.

Related: Father of Two Becomes Hero in Girl's Rescue

Abbie Jacobson saw the money spilling out of a small green cloth purse back in April. "She was so sad and sick to her stomach" thinking about the people who had lost it, says Jennifer. Dad John looked inside and, in addition to more than $4,000 cash, found some Cambodian currency, gold rings, and a debit card from the University Credit Union in Portland with the name "Ra Rim." The family gave the money to the police and called the bank leaving their telephone number.

Related: Man Reunited with Wallet Lost at Bottom of

Read More »from Maine Girl Returns Lost Money, Gains Awesome Reward