My mother's KitchenAid is sitting unused in her condo, because she hasn't cooked in probably four years and my dad is mostly limited to grilling things and boiling things. But she claims she still uses it, and probably believes that, so I just sit on my hands. I do have an acceptable mixer (a Sunbeam), it's not like I'm suffering.

I have my maternal grandmother's china, but I never use it and it's a very boring cream-and-pink-rose pattern that I don't much like. At some point I'll probably Ebay it.

I'm with you on what male writers get in terms of privilege, and I think it's been brought up throughout the femiblogosphere as well, that women get cover stories when it's about babies and relationships and that's pretty much it.

But I think that's a different issue. We're talking about writing with a million qualifiers, excuses, rationalizations. She didn't have to do that if her piece was just a Livejournal post, you know?

Which all leads me to a new question: Did they put her photo on the cover to show that she's conventionally attractive to further qualify that "there's nothing wrong with her"?

Did they put her photo on the cover to show that she's conventionally attractive to further qualify that "there's nothing wrong with her"?

That, or because sexy women on the cover sells magazines.

I've been looking into getting K-Bug a KitchenAid for Christmas. In looking at their site, they have refurbished models on sale for a decent price. Does anyone have any experience with refurbished models? Anything I should look for/avoid?

It's the Atlantic, not FHM.

I inherited my grandmother's kitchen aid. Lord knows how old it is (old enough that it is not a three-prong plug), but it works fine! I did at some point lose the meat grinder attachment she had. And I've never used the dough hook.

I have my paternal grandmother's second-best china, which is also a cream-and-pink-rose pattern. I am rather of fond of it mostly because it has everything, including cream soups. My mother sold the first-best china, in part because we have inherited so much china and it was worth the most, but mostly because she always resented the fact that we weren't good enough for the good china.

Growing-up for goths

Punks grow out of it and ravers stop raving. Why do goths just carry on? Sociologists can explain

...

Dr Paul Hodkinson, deputy head of Surrey University's sociology department and an expert in youth music subcultures, has been re-interviewing a group of goths he first studied in the late 1990s to find out. "They were teenagers and in their early 20s then, and I thought it would be interesting to go back because a number of people do stay involved in the goth scene," he explains.

Though many people who belong to youth subcultures such as punk and rave tend to drift away in their 20s, Hodkinson says it's more likely that older goths will want to remain involved in the scene, even though it may become harder to combine with the responsibilities that come with age.

To outsiders, it's the visual markers of being a goth – long, dyed-black hair, black clothes, pale faces contrasted with dark, dramatic eye make-up –that stand out. Taken on their own, these characteristics might be reasonably easy to cast off. However, Hodkinson says that although the aesthetic and clothing are important, the primary tenets of involvement in this subculture mean being "thoroughly passionate about goth music and style, and some goths would tell you they have an interest in the dark side of life, and a natural tendency towards a degree of angst".

This means a level of commitment to the goth scene, and friendship groups and identity that develop around being a goth, which result in social lives that "are so intertwined that it would feel very odd to leave it," he says.

I have a refurbished Kitchenaid, bought from Amazon I think, and it has been fine with weekly use over the past 5 or so years. It's a little noisy, especially with bread dough, but I am not sure if they are all like that or not.