In today's Knoxville News Sentinel there is an article by Kevin Cowan regarding ladies shorts. He briefly discusses the new "sophisticated" look of shorts.

Now, don't get me wrong, I love shorts. I'd wear them year round if I could. However, I've never thought about how shorts "can be appetizing at dinner". What's that about?

In addition, Mr. Cowan (and eHow.com) should be very cautious when discussing shorts in the workplace. Both suggest shorts should be "modest" when worn on the job. Neither mentioned a tip to ask your employer if "shorts" are acceptable at work.

In a sidebar, there are suggestions from Suite101.com for gals with large hips and ladies with a pudgy midriff.

Thanks to Kevin and the KNS for helping us "gals" try to navigate the world of shorts. I'm not sure it was worth the full page, but I bet Saul had fun taking the pictures.

It's over -- Tammy Faye checked out today.

Link...

I met her on five or six occasions back in the 80s when she and Jim were hiding out in Gatlinburg, after it all started unraveling for them. A very rich, ultra-religious Gatlinburg lady , Alma Reagan, invited them to stay there, and gave them a very nice house to stay in for as long as they wanted it (I later met Al Gore there).

Oddly, unexpectedIy, I found myself liking her. She was genuinely sweet and had a kind heart. Jim was a creepy phony.

One day, I was leaving the Sevier County Courthouse and there were Tammy Faye and her son, Jamie, siitting on a bench next to the Dolly Parton staute. I stopped and said hi to them, and we talked for a few minutes. She told me how much she loved Dolly, and how she'd hoped to meet her while she (Tammy Faye) was there. But, she said, she guessed that wouldn't ever happen, now that the Bakkers were so radioactive. I watched from a distance while her marriage ended, Jim went to prison, she remarried, became a gay icon, her son became a preacher and TV personality.

It was painful to watch her wasting away.

She was a good old girl, and the world will be a little duller for her leaving.

Girl Scout Cookies are here!

We were out running some errands and came upon a local Girl Scout troop offering up everyone's favorites at $3.50 per box.

We got: Thin Mints (of course), Samoas, Do-Si-Dos, and, what I think are a new addition to the lineup, All-Abouts.

All-Abouts are a shortbread cookie with fudge chocolate on the bottom. Mmmm. Each cookie has a saying about what being a Girl Scout is all about, thus the All-About name. Recommended.

(The irony is that one of our later stops was to get me a new blood glucose monitor to replace the old one I've had for about ten years.)

Good news for Blount County. The Tomato Head is opening a new location in downtown Maryville.

Bloggers interested in improving their writing skills should check out Jim Stovall's JProf website.

Jim Stovall recently joined the U.T. faculty as a professor of Journalism and Electronic Media. Of particular interest to bloggers are his course outlines for Introduction to News Writing (JEM200) and Managing News Websites (JEM422).

(See there, I learned something already. Namely, the use of simpler terms such as "course outline" v. "foppy" words such as "syllabi." Besides, I can't pronounce "syllabi.")

In addition to helpful instruction on news writing and content organization, the lecture notes include interesting background, examples, and links to other resources. There's even a crash course in Photoshop.

Jim's website and blog have lots of other great articles on reporting, writing, photojournalism, and all things journalism related. Bookmark it, visit often, and improve your blog writing skills.

Another great resource is U.T. Journalism and Electronic Media instructor Bob Stepno. His Other Journalism blog tracks developments in technology and online media including alternative and citizen journalism. His U.T. page and his personal website have tons of links to news about journalism and resources for online news writers and bloggers.

This is not the first time a couple gets married in a Wal-Mart. "About a dozen couples have tied the knot at Wal-Mart Supercenters during the past few years --including at stores in Fort Myers, Palm Harbor, Texas and New Hampshire, according to newspaper archives."

They both work there.

..."the couple couldn't afford a big wedding." ... She "will be walked down an aisle of impatiens and begonias by a store manager, while a cashier will perform the ceremony."

Here's another one of those personality surveys that assesses your social values and "tribe membership". I'm an "Autonomous Rebel". Post your results in comments. (By way of Kevin Drum.)

Matt Edens, meet Lindsay Ferrier. (By way of Nashville is Talking.)

What is this new radical generation that won't grow up (think Peter Pan)? Can I join? Or, do I want to? Wearing the same thing all day can definitely be less expensive, but where is the relief to go home and change into play clothes?

It’s more interesting as evidence of the slow erosion of the long-held idea that in some fundamental way, you cross through a portal when you become an adult, a portal inscribed with the biblical imperative “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: But when I became a man, I put away childish things.” This cohort is not interested in putting away childish things. They are a generation or two of affluent, urban adults who are now happily sailing through their thirties and forties, and even fifties, clad in beat-up sneakers and cashmere hoodies, content that they can enjoy all the good parts of being a grown-up (a real paycheck, a family, the warm touch of cashmere) with none of the bad parts (Dockers, management seminars, indentured servitude at the local Gymboree). It’s about a brave new world whose citizens are radically rethinking what it means to be a grown-up and whether being a grown-up still requires, you know, actually growing up.

Kids as accessories?
Worst fear? Kids become Republicans. (Now they have my attention!)

Maybe I won't join but I will enjoy watching and participating. I just hope they know what they are doing.

I've got a special Fat Tuesday post up at Facing South with suggestions on how to celebrate your own virtual Mardi Gras.