http://penny-arcade.com/2012/06/01/turnaround

Tycho:

I saw a single still used to promote a Hitman: Absolution trailer, a phalanx of leather-clad Battle-Nuns, and decided to skip it.  I felt like I had probably seen something very similar at some point.  But being mad at it is apparently a thing, a compulsory thing.  Except I don’t do compulsory, and I also don’t do infantilizing chivalry.  So I don’t do well at these kinds of parties.
The cinematic ambitions of the Hitman games have always been prominently displayed on (or very near to) its sleeve; I watched the video to see what the deal was, and

Elliot and I started reading his first chapter book this week, The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner.



I was a voracious fan of these books as a kid. For those who have never read, The Boxcar Children are Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny- four orphans with remarkable self-reliance. In the first book of the series, they take up residence in an abandoned boxcar rather than live with their presumedly awful grandfather. All ends happily and the four children continue to have adventures across 19 of the original novels (all penned by Warner) and over 100 subsequent books (all written after Warner’s death in 1979).

In later books, Warner would shift the focus toward the four kids being amateur mystery-solvers, in the vein of Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys… but she always stayed true to the gentle wish fulfillment of the first novel in the series, namely these four children being able to take care of themselves pretty handily with very little adult assistance.

Elliot LOVES the book- we’ve almost finished the first one and I have the second in the series, Surprise Island, on reserve at the library. I’m glad this aspect of my childhood holds up for him… so much of the stuff I loved as a kid doesn’t. I’m interested to see how he’ll respond to the gradual change the series undertakes to being firmly rooted in the “kid mystery” genre.

It’s funny to me; the majority of books I devoured as a young reader took place in an extremely idealized version of the late 1950/early 1960′s. The later Boxcar Children books, the majority of Beverly Cleary’s output like the Henry Huggins series (although Cleary admirably honed in on the unsureness of middle class life in the later Ramona books), and even Encyclopedia Brown fit this mold.

Of course, I didn’t realize this at the time. I just enjoyed the stories… as well I should have, and as well my son is. It’s just interesting to look at, in retrospect.

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Thought I’d quickly mention: I’ve started a Tumblr for the comic, which you can find and add to your daily reading if you so desire.

I had been a faithful user of  both the diva cup and the keeper for years, but they are now too small for me after childbirth. I am 5'10" and 210 lbs or so. I am not happy to be using tampons again. It looks like the diiva cup is one of the largest according to the size chart and it is too small. Is there anything else that might work? I am 34 and my flow is beyond heavy especially since I am breastfeeding. Oh, and also I live in Canada so I am not sure if everything is available here.

http://penny-arcade.com/comic/2012/06/01

New Comic: Turnaround

I have successfully had my paraguard installed for about 3 days now, and am hoping that if robots take over before the zombies come their scans will recognize the bit of copper as machinery and keep me alive as one of their lesser minions :) 

This was the (hopefully) final step in a 3 year journey toward finding the right form of birth control to keep me happily child free for the rest of my life. I tried several times in my mid 20's to find a doctor who would agree to IUD or sterilization but couldn't find any that weren't convinced that since I've never had kids I'll eventually change my mind. I got lucky through a few condom breaks and such, but a few years ago decided that I was done trusting to luck. I've had the same planned parenthood doctor from my first visit. 

(no questions, just intro type stuff and insertion story)

( rambly introduction background story stuff )

It has now been almost 4 days since I first tried a menstrual cup.  The DivaCup to be exact.

I'm a Murphy's law kind of girl so I figured nothing would go right for me and my money would have been wasted.  I just knew I would have to convince my husband that I needed to buy name brand after name brand of cups and then finally find out I would never be able to use a cup for some bizarre reason.

Alas, no.  Today, after only 3 days, I did NOT leak AT ALL!!!!  Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy. 

To quote a friend that recommended cups to me: 

http://penny-arcade.com/2012/05/31/humble-bundle-v-holy-shit

Tycho:
These last couple bundles have been fucking crazy, but this one is just balls out.  Amnesia, AND Psychonauts, AND Limbo, AND Sword & Sworcery, and Bastion if you pay over the average?  It does not compute.
(CW)TB

Hello, I love my mooncup UK but am currently pregnant, and due in july. So the size of my current one is the smaller size B. Will I need to purchase size A after birth or has anyone still used the same size cup after birth?

Thanks!

I’ve talked about this before here, but I wanted to make sure I had it in a comic. Henry loves Masters of the Universe, the Fleischer Brothers/Famous Studios Superman cartoons, and recently he’s been watching a lot of old Spider-Man cartoons. Funnily enough, we don’t watch the Spidey cartoons form 1967; I find them to be pretty unwatchable. No, Henry (and Elliot) go in big for Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends, the cartoon series that aired on NBC in the Eighties.

I was too young for that one when it was originally on, but I’ve watched a couple of episodes with the boys and it’s not horrible. As a superhero comic book fan, I would have appreciated how many guest starts the show accommodated if I had seen it then. Via Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends, the boys are now fans of Thor, Captain America, and The X-Men. In particular, the show seems to be X-Men crazy, with a bunch of episodes focusing on them. I know Marvel had been trying like crazy to get an X-Men cartoon series off the ground at the time… perhaps this was their sneaky, backdoor way of getting the characters into cartoons.

(I should also point out, theme-wise, we’re only four comics into the summer and this is the SECOND strip about my kids watching old superhero cartoons. THEMES!)

this is my second cycle using the cup. after finally getting it in and using it properly for a few days, what a dream, this is the best invention ever! it's so clean and simple.

i have a few tips to people who were like me. i searched all over this community before buying a cup (small ladycup) and when i was having problems getting it and out the first few times. i must say, there wasn't a ton of info for my questions or tips that i found really helpful other than relax and keep trying (which can be daunting!)

for me, the cup sits really low, i cannot for the life of me get it to go up at all once inserted. this freaked me out because everyone seems to say it has to sit around your cervix and the stem can't sit outside the body. for me, that couldn't be further from the truth! so others like this, it's ok!! i'm 24, not a virgin and pretty petite, but i know there is more space in there. 

easy tips from me that i didn't seem to find on the site (i'm sure they are there somewhere):

insertion - the first few times i tried, i made sure to have a mirror under me to see what i was doing. this sure does make a difference. not the most pleasant thing to look at... but it really helps and i highly recommend it. i use the punch down fold with the folded part facing upwards. i put water based lube ON the rim of the cup and smooth side after i have folded it. this is the easiest for me - lube is crucial for successful insertion! once i get the rim in, i let it open, then bring the whole cup down to the entrance to let air in since i cannot get fingers in there to do it. there's a whooshing noise to let me know it's ready and then i push the whole cup back in with the whole stem sticking out. after i walk around a bit, the stem goes just inside my body. i let it go where it wants to.

the first time i got it in, i was kind of freaking out because it felt like a flattened pancake and was sitting really low and i could not twirl it or move it up. but i've learned that is just where mine sits. i got this impression this was totally wrong. so if this is happening to you, don't worry! if it doesn't leak, you're fine. if the cup is open and forms a seal, it doesn't matter if it is high or low because there's no where for the fluid to go other than into the cup.


removal - one time, my stem did 'disappear' about an inch away from the opening, so i was confused and had a hard time 'bearing down' to get the stem. again, i used a mirror to help see what i was doing cause i don't have much space to get fingers in there. after a few times i realized that the easiest way to get it out is right after i pee! i drink a lot of water and pee a fair amount, so each time i peed, i noticed the cup comes down on it's own. then an 'ah-ha' moment occurred. if you pee like you have to do it as fast as you can, that constant 'bearing down' pressure makes the whole stem come out easily (for me). then using some TP i grab the stem and wiggle it back and forth and out it pops. if i don't want it out yet, i just pee slowly and no pressure. sorry if TMI but, it works really well. no scary 'i can't find it!' or 'it won't budge' moments for me anymore.

i love the size and the 'squishiness' of the lady cup. it doesn't hurt at all when i take it out. i haven't had any problems with it opening or leaking (yet..) and only the one time i had a problem with the 'slipperiness' of it, but since i got the hang of removing it, it hasn't been an issue. 

it really does feel like you don't have your period and you can kind of forget about it! what a great invention. spread the word!!