Lemondrop

You probably give better advice than most paid advice columnists, right? Well, our friend John is ready to take you up on that. Leave a comment with your advice.

John's question: "I have two kids who I love dearly, and I'm separated from my wife. More often than not, ladies seem to bail when this comes up in conversation. Should I wait longer to drop this bomb in hopes that they'll dig me more and feel more committed to me? Or should I bring it up early on so we don't waste our time?"

Ladies, let's help him out. Should John fess up about his parental status straightaway, or take some time before he breaks the news?

About our Charity Case: John (pictured here with his four-year-old daughter) works as a handyman. He lives in upstate N.Y. and loves hitting up swimming holes and picking berries in the summer. His favorite kinds of dogs are mutts.

Writing about music, even in the supposedly equal blogosphere, has long been thought of as a boys' club. But there are awesome ladies out there typing away about music, and it's about time we shined a light on them.

Three Imaginary Girls: These funky-cool ladies out of Seattle have the most popular/beautiful/updated/organized blog about indie pop and rock music by women anywhere (that we've seen). What started in 2002 as a place for three friends to chat about their concert-going experiences has turned into a home for album reviews, interviews, commentary and even love advice.

Rock Star Life Lessons: Carla Lynne Hall is a professional musician, music industry professional, teacher and writer (for Vibe magazine) known in inner music circles as the "DIY Diva." She doesn't really write about specific bands but instead uses her blog to dish about the industry, give tips to struggling musicians, interview music lovers and generally rant and rave about her favorite topics.

The OCMD: Julie (pictured here) has a problem: "Obsessive Compulsive Music Disorder." Not life-threatening, mind you, and it makes for a great blog. She lives in the music-friendly town of San Francisco, loves and writes about (mostly) indie rock and electronica and has a three-year-old boy. Her funny blog ("music is my crack") is broken up into categories like Mixtapes, Discoveries, Shows and Trendspotting. Bookmark it now, and mark our words that you'll be addicted within days.

Tell us: Did we leave any awesome ladies out? What types of blogs do you enjoy? Tell us in the comments.

Lindsay Lohan is still enjoying her sapphic relationship with Sam Ronson, no matter what the "gossip websites" say, according to LiLo's MySpace blog. Whew, now we'll finally be able to sleep again. (via Perez Hilton)

Amy Winehouse rebounds better than any substance abuser, err, woman we know. She was seen frolicking with a rugby player Josh Bowman. (via Dlisted)

Kate Hudson's mom taught her the importance of a sex-filled marriage while she was preggers. Wow, and we can't even get our moms to stop spelling p-e-n-i-s. (via PopSugar)

John Travolta's son Jett died of a seizure, not a head injury as was previously thought. Jett reportedly suffered from seizures throughout his life. (via LA Times)

Jennifer Love Hewitt has called off her engagement to actor Ross McCall. The couple apparently broke up over the holidays after dating for over 2 years. A Christmas break-up? Talk about brutal. (via PopEater)

Sarah Jessica, Kim Cattrall and the rest of the Sex posse will be back for a sequel to the "Sex and the City" movie. Eventually, that is. Patricia Field, the stylist for the show and movie, revealed that the movie is "in the really early process." (via MTV)

Most of us have at least a few "friends" who we've never met in real life -- the one who friended us after seeing the comment we left on a mutual friend's photo; the daughter of our mom's co-worker who e-mailed us for career advice ages ago and who still sometimes forwards "Arrested Development" links.

Turns out this type of friendship is becoming more common. A new TNS Global survey of over 27,000 people found that folks are increasingly connecting with others online for platonic purposes.

Participants from China said that of all their relationships, about 80 percent are with online-only friends (people they've never met), while U.K. respondents said about 25 percent of their friends are online-only. Americans are on the low end of the spectrum, saying that online-only acquaintances make up 20 percent of their pals.

What's more surprising is that 61 percent have met their Web friends face-to-face. A whopping 76 percent of Germans have admitted to crossing over from cyberspace to the real world. France, Sweden, Denmark and Norway round out the top five populations most likely to meet their buddies in real life. (56 percent of Americans have met someone they first met online.)

Click here to read how people befriend their online friends -- and why others don't trust them.

Ah, the price of beauty. The creams, lotions, tonics. The lengthy series of injections. Um ... wait, what?

It seems that women in the U.K. have turned to black market hormones to give themselves that kissed-by-the-sun, distinctly un-British, tanned look. All you have to do is take a syringe (shudder), fill it with the unregulated drug you bought off the Internet (cringe!) and inject it into your body for at least 10 days (GAH!).

The drug, Melanotan, works by mimicking the hormone that causes skin darkening and facilitates tanning. It was originally created for a skin cancer trial based on the idea that women with naturally darker skin are less prone to the disease.

Click here to read more.

Hungry for some sugary sweet, slightly creepy fun? Check out The Imaginary World's incredible archive of cereal boxes from the '50s, '60s and '70s.

Cheerios, Corn Flakes, Grape Nuts and all the other classics are there, but we're more interested in their lesser-known, long-extinct brethren -- Sir Grapefellow, Orange Kombos, Moon Stones and the like.

At left, one of our favorites: the unfortunately named Fruity Freakies. Mouth-watering as it sounds, it's not too hard to see why this one didn't stand the test of time.

Click here for more of our favorite retro cereal finds

The difference between boy and girl kisses
Surprise: Guys kiss for sex, ladies kiss for relationships (Lime Life)

Frisky's 2009 Astroguide
Will you be getting lucky this year? (The Frisky)

A guy's take on women's magazines
Girly mags don't quite get it right (Divine Caroline)
Tell the ex's new girl the truth about him? (Dear Sugar)

Futurists predict you'll be getting lucky this year (Nerve)

The ultimate dry spell: 15 years of accidental celibacy (Salon)

When's the right time to tell him you're a virgin? (College Candy)

Study shows virginity pledges don't work (YourTango)

For a guy's brain, is too much cleavage even possible? (Daily Bedpost)

Tell us: Come across something particularly amazing on the Internet? Have your own blog that should be featured here? Send suggestions to tips@lemondrop.com.

Sure, those chic handbags and sky-high heels make you feel oh so supermodel(ish) ... but they're also mini death traps in the making. Read on for the most painful byproducts of looking pretty. Ah, the things we do for fashion ...

High Heelitis
Achieving statuesque status comes with a fair share of risks, as this Washington Post article helpfully/terrifyingly demonstrates. Those to-die-for pumps put added pressure on the joints (especially the knees), throw your body's alignment out of whack, tighten your calf muscles and Achilles tendons, and can result in a slew of unsavory side effects like bunions, hammertoes, Morton's neuroma, joint pain, sprained ankles and a heel-strap-induced "pump bump" called the Haglund's deformity.

And let's not forget that tragic episode of "Sex and the City" in which Kristen Johnson tripped on her stilettos and took a swan dive out the window. Talk about a fashion victim.

Click here to find out about four more fatalistic fashions.