I don’t have many regrets from college.

I don’t regret that “B” I got in English my sophomore year because I opted to go to a date party instead of the library. I don’t regret hooking up with a good friend, even if it turned out horribly ugly in the end. I don’t even regret catching a terrible cold that lasted 3 weeks after wrestling in Jell-O in the middle of October…in Michigan.

But if there is one thing I do regret from my years of undergrad it is that I never went abroad.

When my friends first started discussing going abroad for Junior year I was wary. Living in another country sounded interesting, but I was worried about being half way around the world for such a long time. I would miss my family. I would miss my friends. I would definitely miss late night pizza in Ann Arbor.

My friends moved forward, signed up to study in Australia and I opted out in favor of more time in good ole’ Michigan.

And I didn’t regret my decision…then. I had a great time! While it seemed like everyone I knew was going to be abroad, I ended up having tons of friends stick around Michigan with me. We all got a ton closer, I got more active in things around campus, I had an awesome spring break and it was a really fun semester (turning 21 helped, obviously). So what if my friends were off in Australia learning how to surf, camping in the rainforest or travelling through East Asia on their way home? Ann Arbor was just as great.

Then I graduated, got a job and realized that I only get 2 weeks of vacation time a year. Not nearly enough time for me to settle into another country, experience other cultures or see the world.

And the regret sunk in. Read More »

I’ve talked about American Apparel before. Those ads that look like porn with bad lighting? Those models who may or may not be underage but who are definitely bored and affected?Well, it gets better.

A contributor for Jezebel (one of the funniest gossip sites out there) recently wrote about her experience working at the enigma that is A. Apparel, proving that it’s not just their ads that are pretensions and strange.

“I thought cocaine was kind of scandalous when I started working at American Apparel. And so I naturally found it kind of scandalous that a major coke dealer actually served as a kind of informal HR chief for many of the American Apparel stores in New York.” The Jezebel story begins, going on to explain about the monstrosity that is Dov Charney—the Canadian founder of A.A. Read More »

The first time I ever fired a gun was to, well…make my boyfriend happy.

I wanted to impress him so he thought I was adventurous and had an interest in the some of the same things that he did. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I know guys think girls who can shoot guns are sexy. I mean, think of all the movies where hot babes are firing weapons.

I never heard a guy who was turned off when bad-ass assassin Angelina Jolie was taking people out in Mr. and Mrs. Smith. But in reality, I could have cared less about firing a gun.

Growing up, even on the mean streets of New Jersey, I had never even seen a gun, fire arm, pistol, or whatever you want to call it except for television and movies. It wasn’t that my family was against weapons or the right to bare arms, we just didn’t bare arms. So when it came time to act interested, I had to do just that, ACT.

But being familiar with fire arms and pistols is something that is very important and every woman should know. Not only can it be thrilling to fire a gun but it is also very empowering. I think the hardest part for me was that I didn’t know what to expect. I hate to admit it but I tried to do some research online, in hopes that it would help me better.

I went here and I was able to see how gun works but still needed much practice before improving my ability to aim and shoot one. When I finally wrapped my hands around the gun, I was really starting to sweat bullets (pun intended). After I fired the first round though…it all changed. Read More »

It’s not like I expect Maxim to be the New York Times. It’s not like I expect them to propagate feminist causes. I don’t even really expect them to be very literary—but going after certain women and calling them “unsexy”?

That’s just lame.

The Five Unsexiest Women Alive list, compiled as a direct response to Esquire’s Sexiest Woman Alive article, is a negative, annoying editorial meant to do nothing except pick on aging stars and go after girls who are already suffering.

Explaining #5 on the list has “about 23 pounds of Funyun pudge”, Maxim goes after the easiest target of 2007, Britney Spears. Yes, she used to be hot and now she looks a little rough. Yes, she used to be a badass dancer and now thinks stumbling around constitutes a performance. Yes, she’s a bit of a media whore…but the girl has problems. Big, intense problems. Let’s give her a bit of a break, shall we?

Besides, when was being “not skinny” having “pudge”? Read More »

The inner 7th grader in me is SUPER excited today.Why may you ask? Well its the day before Halloween. And whether I’m fourteen or forty-four the day before Halloween is filled with a sense of excitement.

Decorations are up, candy is in position, pumpkins are carved and costumes are ready. Everything is in its place and the young-at-heart-part of me has ants in my pants and is tired of waiting!

But that isn’t the only reason that today feels a bit more like 1999 than 2007. In 1999, you turned on TRL or the Today Show and who did you see?

Britney Spears or the Backstreet Boys singing to screaming pre-pubescent girls pronouncing their love with tears of adoration.

Flash forward to October 30th 2007: Turn on the Today Show and who do you see?

Post-pubescent girls still screaming their hearts out for the BSB.

Pull out your butterfly clips and Kipling back-pack purses girls:

Britney’s latest release Blackout and BSB’s Unbreakable (both aptly titled) are hitting stores today! Read More »

New Pornographers: Challengers

Take a second to check out the New Pornographers’ video for their single “Challengers” and then download it here!

Sometimes I indulge in this fantasy where I drop every responsibility I have (damn you, student loans!) and run away to a foreign land.

Then my dreams are dashed when I realize that I do, in fact, have responsibilities that need to be attended to…and even if I didn’t, I don’t have thousands to throw away on a trip around the world. So, what is this 20-something to do? Well, realistically…I go on Facebook and check out the pictures my friends took back in 2005 when they went abroad.

Then I stumbled on an application that looked a bit curious…Trip Up CouchSwap!

It’s perfect! It merges reality and fantasy and wraps them up into one attainable goal for us travel-loving college kids. Poor college kids sleeping on other poor college kid’s couches…for cheap (or free)? Sounds like a typical Saturday! What more could we need?

I’ll tell you: CouchSurfing.com

Here the idea branches out even further into it’s own little social network where people around the world document and rate the travel accommodation they’ve received by traveling backpacker-style.

Now, I’m the first to admit to a little too much trust in my fellow man (or woman, whatever) and the idea of getting murdered while taking a nap on some person’s futon doesn’t really cross my mind…while you may be thinking there’s no way you’ll ever allow some random to take you in. Well, I’m officially calling you out. Read More »

Back in the day, a celebrity’s entertainment value was limited to only two dimensions: the big screen and the small. But with the advent of the internet, (thank you, Al!) we are now able to delve deep into their personal lives and obsess over their every move 24/7- sometimes for the good they do, but mostly for the bad.

We follow their daily mishaps online as if it were the nail-biting storyline of our favorite primetime soap. There is something so inherently beautiful about the celebrity trainwreck. You know you should, but you cannot look away.

So, in celebration of this morbid fascination, we thought we would give you the chance to choose your favorite celebrity’s next misfortune.

The following are 5 Top Tabloid Heavyweights. Click on a storyline to vote for the headline you would like to see happen next.

Britney Spears

Britney Spears’ next move?

Choose your own celebrity misfortune for Kate Moss, Ellen Degeneres, Paris Hilton and Heidi Montag after the jump. Read More »

The New York Daily News reports that in recent weeks, several allegations made by students at the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls claim that school matrons fondled and beat the female students.One incident claims a matron allegedly grabbed a girl by the throat and tossed her into a wall.

Uhhhhh…OK. Look Oprah, when you said you were going to bring western education philosophies to the African continent, I guess we should have asked – which education philosophies? I think we all thought you would leave out the inner city public school philosophy of beating and molesting students out.

My bad…we’ll ask next time.

The allegations came to light after a student ran away from the school’s dorms, reportedly because the abuse had become overwhelming.

“I’ve disappointed you. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry,” Winfrey told families in an emergency meeting on Sunday at the South African school. The school’s principal and two matrons were placed on leave following the allegations. Read More »

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• COED Magazine lists the 20 Rules of Boozing!