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When I was in high school, I hated Valentine’s Day. I was a nerdy high school student and despite my valiant efforts, I plodded through most of my high school days without a boyfriend. That meant, no Valentine’s flower deliveries to the front office with my name, no secret Valentine candy bars stuffed in my locker, and no dates for the Sweetheart Dance. The whole week, at least in my mind, only served to highlight how seemingly unpopular and unloved I was. Now, as a happily married adult, I still mostly boycott the overly-commercialized holiday. I prefer receiving random flowers...

Climber lingo got your head spinning like a hanger on a loose bolt? Err … At any rate, what are whippers, dry fires, and Gumbies? How is “free” a verb? Find out with the GearJunkie glossary of climbing terms. If you’re new to the sport, the language climbers use can be incomprehensible. Take this passage for example: “Bro, that whipper puckered me! Thanks for the soft catch. Good thing that placement was bomber. There goes my onsight.” Anyone who’s spent a few days at the crag has probably heard most of these terms. But deciphering their meaning could entail deep...

“The Most Popular Agent” / Drs. Starkey & Palen, via Wellcome Collection When did I become the kind of person who walks a mile along the highway at midnight to meet a stranger at a motel? This is the question I keep asking myself when cars approach on Route 8, the main road connecting Moscow, Idaho, where I live, and Pullman, Washington. Some drivers slow down as they pass, and I wonder if they’re staring at my bright red jacket, which I chose because it makes me feel like James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause. I wonder if they...

Although the popularity of the genre has ebbed and flowed over time, the romantic comedy is a perennial favorite. Harkening back to classics like 1934's "It Happened One Night," rom-coms have been around nearly as long as cinema itself. For devoted fans of the genre, watching the same Nora Ephron or Nancy Meyers movies over and over can be comforting, but there's nothing like the thrill of seeing a new cast of characters finding their way in and out of love with each other. While Valentine's Day is just around the corner, romantic comedies are comforting any day of the year. For those ready to...

Kitchen floors are prone to messes—even the least clumsy among us have to admit to spending some time vacuuming up crumbs and blotting up spills. It doesn’t make for the most practical atmosphere for an area rug, but who can deny the effortless chic that one brings into the space? So we started searching for the best kitchen rugs we could find, looking beyond the standard woven fibers to discover floor coverings that combat the most stubborn stains, from coffee droplets to tomato paste. These mats also had to be comfortable underfoot—after all, most kitchen floors feature materials that are...