One of my exes constantly bitched about my padded bras. To clarify, I have no desire to appear more endowed than I actually am. I only have predominantly padded bras because most bras sold today are padded. Anyway, I got tired enough of his bitching that I bought a bunch of non-padded bras. Even though he's gone, I still have all these non-padded bras, which I usually wear when I'm too lazy to wash my padded ones right away. So, yesterday, I made the unfortunate decision to wear one of those non-padded bras and a blouse made of very thin material. Which meant that my pokey nipples were prominently displayed. I know that headlights (i.e. visibly pointy Farrah Fawcett-in-the-red-swimsuit nipples) are somewhat socially acceptable...after all, Rachel on "Friends" often displayed them, and appeared to be unself-conscious. But I'm no Rachel. I tried to come up with ways to deal with the problem. I contemplated running over to a store during my lunch break, and buying a new bra, or buying a new shirt of thicker material. But I'm too stingy to do that. So I mostly resorted to crossing my arms quite frequently, or lots of fake itching so that the itching arm would cover my chest. They're only nipples, right? Just a part of the anatomy, and actually functional in my case (well, they will be, if I ever reproduce.) I'm not offended when a man's nipples are visible through his shirt. So why am I so ridiculously uncomfortable when mine announce their existence? Hmmm.

I am in love with the British import sandwich chain Pret a Manger. Their chicken avocado sandwich makes my belly very, very happy. Can they please open a branch in Durham?

The most accomplished and experienced Iraqi doctors are fleeing the country. Good lord, it's total chaos, utter lawlessness. With violent threats, mounting casualties, rampant malnutrition, intermittent electricity, outdated equipment, and lack of access to medications, I can't even imagine what the doctors there are going through. Can you imagine needing a gun to practice medicine, for fear of being ambushed, or being the target of angry extremists or relatives of a patient you couldn't save? I can't. Does Bush not see that this is indicative of a poorly-run occupation? That we haven't even come close to curbing the violence over there? How are things going to get better if he doesn't even acknowledge the gravity of the situation in Iraq?

Hmm, I've been accused of having a pathological lack of trust...maybe I need a kick of oxytocin?

Although I'm a bit ambivalent about the ethics involved in his work, I think it's adorable that Woo Suk Hwang feels it's important to talk to the incubating embryos. He said, "I could communicate to cows eye to eye...I want my laboratory to communicate with cells heart to heart...If there are no humans beside the incubators, they may feel very lonely. So I discussed with my members. We decided that someone has to be beside the incubators and talking to the cells." Talk about a work ethic...7 days a week, 365 days a year? Damn, that gene definitely did not end up in my chromosomes. That cursed polar body stole it from me.

This Salon article about the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS relief made me almost cry with tears of frustration. Abstinence-only sex education is so clearly not effective, and will do nothing to abate the AIDS crisis. When legitimately helpful programs are already underfunded, and millions are dying without access to drugs or proper education about how to protect themselves, it's criminal to pour money down the drain like this. And now he's resisting the proposed $25 billion increase of funding in support for Africa. Ugh.