TresSugar

How Old Is Too Old? Should Medicare Shell Out for Over 100s?

CitizenSugar — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 11:00:15 PDT

Seen a lot of sliver foxes running around lately? That's because the population of folks in the US over 100 has nearly doubled since 2000. If the candle-blowing continues like this, within 40 years, it could exceed one million. A million people over 100. Slate has a piece examining the cause and effect of great medical care - people live longer, and consequently require more and more care for many years longer than the Medicare system was equipped to handle - like one woman who received a $35,000 pacemaker the month before her 100th birthday.

Living long is fantastic, but it raises a question: Would the health care money be better spent on younger patients? The piece makes the argument that health is like wealth. Some people are blessed with it, and some aren't - and it floats this theory:

Just as some people have enough money, others have had enough time. If you make it to 100 and can fund your own surgery, that's terrific. But Medicare should focus its resources on people who haven't been as lucky as you. Living to 99 is no tragedy. It's a blessing.

Should there be an age consideration for patients to receive spendy medical procedures for those who've lived good, long lives?

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Who Won't Be Fairest of Them All in Four Years?

CitizenSugar — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 12:00:38 PDT

I promise we're not going wall-to-wall Pennsylvania today like some (cough, cable news, cough) but we were just talking about this the other day with John Edwards! The Internet works in mysterious ways. You Obama supporters out there might want to think long and hard about electing his royal handsomeness. Do you want this to befall his pretty mug in four years?

The folks at PopPhoto put together a set of outrageously addictive photos of the candidates that let you roll over and see what the toll of four years as commander in chief will take on their youthful good looks. Yes, McCain, too! You guys are terrible. Go check it out. Who do you think comes out looking the best?

We'll have the Pennsylvania primary results here tonight, the split-second they're called. Don't forget to check back to see who's on the way to looking like their picture.
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22 Actresses Who Could Play Anastasia in Fifty Shades of Grey

Becky Kirsch — Fri, 25 May 2012 17:07:34 PDT

We've been throwing out ideas for who should play Christian in Fifty Shades of Grey, but he's not the only lead in the upcoming movie. It's safe to say that a ton of young actresses will be vying for the role of Anastasia Steele, the beautiful but insecure 21-year-old that becomes a love interest (and an obsession, really) for billionaire Christian. You've had a lot of thoughts and suggestions about which actresses you'd love to see play Ana, so here are the top 22 candidates.

Healthy Ice Cream Alternatives You'll Scream For

Leta Shy — Fri, 25 May 2012 15:33:46 PDT

The unofficial kickoff to Summer is this holiday weekend, and while it may not be sizzling yet, nothing says holiday celebration quite like a healthy barbecue. But if you're in need of a creamy cold treat, you don't have to sabotage all the bikini prep you've been doing. Here are a few delicious alternatives to regular old ice cream!

Video: 5 TV Shows to Help You Survive the Summer Drought!

Becky Kirsch — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:53:20 PDT

Most of our favorite shows are wrapped for the season, but that doesn't mean your DVRs will be getting a break for the Summer. There's a whole crop of series (both old and new) that are coming your way, and BuzzSugar editors Becky Kirsch and Shannon Vestal are breaking down the five must-see shows to get you through the Summer. Watch and tell us which show you're most excited about.

Jennifer Garner Sticks Close to Seraphina as Violet Finishes Up Her First School Year

Katie Henry — Fri, 25 May 2012 09:38:17 PDT

Jennifer Garner gave 3-year-old Seraphina Affleck a piggyback ride into the Brentwood Mart yesterday. The girls picked up a gift and coffee to go and then headed on their way. Later in the day, Jen spent one-on-one time with her eldest daughter, Violet, after school. Jen's been on a break from acting since giving birth to Samuel earlier this year, though she's making her debut on the Internet in a new short film. Jen stars with Alfred Molina in the Youtube feature Serena. Their 12-minute film documents a complicated relationship between a serial liar, played by Garner, and her priest, Molina.

Ben Affleck and Jen have a few more months to enjoy time at home with the family, including baby Samuel, before they return to work this Fall. He's starring in and directing the CIA thriller Argo, due out in October, and Jen shares the big screen with Joel Edgerton in Disney's The Odd Life of Timothy Green, which is set for release in August.

Ink Up With Photojojo's Camera Tattoos

Kelly Schwarze — Fri, 25 May 2012 07:37:06 PDT

What do you give a photography pal who already has every camera, lens, and accessory under the sun? Gift skin ink of the nonpermanent variety in the form of the Tattly Camera Tattoo Set ($25). Since the photographers we know are rarely without a camera, a tattoo of any duration seems like a natural next step.

The illustrations by three Brooklyn designers are not your average grocery-store toy-machine temporary tattoo. The set of 12 tattoos in six different designs - including an old-school Polaroid, Rangefinder, TLR, SX-70 Polaroid, and black-and-white aperture shutters - are so beautifully crafted that we almost hated having to use them during our real-world testing. A breeze to put on, each tattoo is about three inches in size and surprisingly long-lasting! Many of our testers weren't able to clear the ink for several days, scrub as they might (I'm going five days strong with my tat).

Sure, temporary tattoos may not seem like the most practical use of $25, but as a just-for-fun gift or party activity to show off your photography cred, this new scene of high-end washable tattoos is something we're ready to stick to.

Lil Links: How Do You Decide to Add Another Baby to the Family?

Rebecca M Gruber — Fri, 25 May 2012 05:32:19 PDT

Is three children one too many? - BabyCenter Blog
Sienna Miller shows off her boho-chic bump - Celebrity Baby Scoop
16 reasons to live like a 2-year-old - HuffPost Parents
Jillian Michaels says adoption is a calling - Celebrity Baby Blog
The pros and cons of common labor and delivery positions - FitPregnancy
The best baby travel gear - Parenting
9 cute headbands for baby girls - The Bump
Should this little girl's hair bow have been banned from school? - Yahoo! Shine
6 mom-approved movies for grade-school kids - Circle of Moms
How to cut your kids' hair at home - LearnVest
Custom birthday books moms and kids will love - Cool Mom Picks

Hysteria Director Tanya Wexler Talks Vibrators, Faking It, and Duck Sex

Tara Block — Fri, 25 May 2012 04:00:15 PDT

Don't be shy . . . It's time to talk sex toys! And Hysteria director Tanya Wexler is writing us a prescription for pleasure. Tanya's film - what she calls "the vibrator movie you can bring your mom to" - is in limited release and stars Hugh Dancy, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Rupert Everett. When working on a romantic comedy that centers around the invention of the vibrator, you end up with some entertaining and embarrassing situations along the way, and lucky for us, Tanya spilled all the hilariously dirty details. From teaming up with the film's partner Jimmyjane for a drive-by vibrator drop-off to a certain female Oscar-winner to trying unsuccessfully to get ducks to shag on command, Tanya was bursting with great stories from working on this very unconventional film. And while Tanya isn't ashamed to discuss the sexy subject matter of her latest film with us, the mother of four and her partner of 21 years did have a tricky challenge telling her preteen kids what her movie was about. (She eventually gave them the script and let them figure it out themselves!) Check out our interview with the fun-loving director now, and we dare you not to have a girl crush on her by the end!

TrèsSugar: What were some of the challenges to getting a movie made about vibrators?
Tanya Wexler: Getting the script right was tricky because if you just make a movie about the invention of the vibrator, it's actually a really short movie: you go "bzz" and it's done. And we had a kind of light romantic comedy. I say I made the vibrator movie you can bring your mom to. But some people wanted it to be raunchy or some people wanted it to be more serious and about feminism. People project a lot onto this movie of what they want, because there isn't a lot out there about vibrators and women's pleasure, and we still don't really deal with that topic very well, or we're overly antsy around it. And as a result, people have a lot of ideas of what the movie could and should be, and you can't please everyone. [laughs]

TS: Ha, good one.
TW: It's nonstop!

TS: Do you find sex toys inherently funny or something to be seriously celebrated?
TW: Yes!

TS: Both?
TW: Yes! Yes. I think they make me laugh, and I think that the inner kind of Beavis and Butt-head in all of us goes "[laugh]." You know, that inner 13-year-old, like, "Hahaha vibrator . . . " and yet they're awesome and fun.

TS: What shocked you the most when researching the movie?
TW: That ducks are the rapists of the bird world, and you'll see when you see the movie, because there's a little bit of questionable duck behavior - or awesome duck behavior - in the movie. It's totally a sidebar, but you cannot make ducks shag on command. I'm just saying.

TS: What about the whole history of hysteria being a medical condition?
TW: When I first heard the idea, I was like, "What do you mean it was invented in Victorian times?" I knew about hysteria, but the idea that the treatment was manual [British accent] massage deparaxism - which is what they called it - and, of course, the denial. The most shocking thing is the denial, that they didn't think it was sexual.

TS: Do you think they were really in denial?
TW: No, I don't think that some people were. My college roommate was with her high school boyfriend for two years and she had never had an orgasm. I think there's all kinds of denial, especially with women's sexuality. So the fact that there are young women today who haven't had an orgasm, whether self-induced - which is insane - or with a partner, then why wouldn't we think back then that women wouldn't know what orgasms were?

They would get a massage, and the doctor's saying, "Without a penis, this isn't sex, because sex is about procreation," so what is this? The best physical therapy you've ever had. So once you don't think of it as something other than what the doctor's supposed to do to cure your uncontrollable crying or uncontrollable laughter or whatever, then it's just an awesome muscle spasm. If you don't think women have their own inherent sexuality, then you're not thinking about it like that.

Keep reading for Tanya's thoughts on Fifty Shades and more!

Shawn Johnson Talks Weight Loss and Learning to Love Her Body

espnW — Fri, 25 May 2012 03:05:26 PDT

We are pumped to share one of our fave stories from espnW here on FitSugar!

By Shawn Johnson

Shawn Johnson is blogging for espnW throughout her training for the Olympics in London this summer. Follow hers other Olympic hopefuls' journeys on espnW.com.

Four years ago, I was standing on an Olympic podium, wearing a gold medal, and still thinking to myself how I could have been better. It had nothing to do with my performance - it was all how I looked. Back then, I always felt like I could have been a few pounds lighter. But the irony is, when I look back at the pictures, I look unhealthy and too thin. It's easy to get into a trap as an elite athlete, because you're made to feel that you're never perfect, that you can always be better. That's how you improve in your sport, but it's also tough because you aren't satisfied with yourself ever - it's second nature not to be. I'd always think, "Just get a little stronger, a little lighter," until it was completely ingrained in my mind.

Shawn Johnson takes us inside training camp

It's easy for people to blame gymnastics for this mentality, but I feel like the sport has improved a lot. The horror stories we heard from generations ago (think Joan Ryan's infamous book Little Girls in Pretty Boxes), you don't hear at all anymore. But I do believe it can improve further and that good nutrition could be a key to all of this, if it were only taught at a young age. Many gymnasts go into the elite level at 13 or so, and a 13-year-old isn't going to go to the library to read some book on nutrition! She needs to be given the right information on how to eat well. Otherwise, it's not until she's out of the sport that she realizes the damage she's done to her body by not eating enough over the past 20 years.

Shawn Johnson in the driver's seat

I see all the success we have as a country where the gymnasts aren't 100 percent healthy, and I imagine how amazing we could be if we were doing it in the healthiest way possible. I don't think it's a failure on anybody's part; the education just isn't there right now, and it's just not thought about in our sport. My parents have told me since I was little, "You're given your body for a reason. It's OK to be different. Being unique is a good thing." But I always struggled to believe it. I'm stocky, muscular and short, and I wanted to be thin and flexible so bad! My mom would say, "You're not made that way, and you're not going to become that, so you have to learn to accept and love the body you're in." Well, some people are born with that appreciation, and some people have to work really hard to get there. Put me in that second camp.

Read on for more on what Shawn Johnson has to say about body confidence and how she feels in her gymnastics leotard.