As a twenty year old dealing with the stress of college, socializing and beginning adulthood, the last place I expect to find stress is the gym. Exercising is a great way to blow off steam, work up a sweat and leave high on endorphins. However, I have found that the gym has become a hot, new 'pick-up' spot, where every gym-goer is a participant whether they want to or not.

The formula is easy: girls increase their heart rate on the cardio equipment while guys increase their heart rates by watching them. There is nothing more masculine to me than watching Mr. Free-Weights (who will represent the genre of guy I'm discussing) lift a five pound free weight once and grunt loudly to accentuate how heavy the weight is and how strong and manly he is to be lifting weights. Mr. Free-Weights will then take a ten-minute walk around the gym checking out the inventory of girls, flexing his biceps at anyone who happens to make eye contact with him. After his ten-minute scan, he returns to his free weight to grunt and inventory some more.

Miley Cyrus has a new BF.  He's 20, she's about to turn 16.  I'm a dad of a daughter who adores Miley and her on-screen alter ego of Hanna Montana and I really don't want to be in the position of having to explain another Hollywood unplanned pregnancy.  I know others worry too.

Even though Miley is wearing a purity ring, indicating a vow of chasity, there are other rumors that indicate that she is on the pill.  I hope Miley is on the pill if she continues to date the 20-year-old, because experience proves that kind of relationship--where the older person has so much power and influence--results in sex.

Moreover, research shows that when teen girls have sex at a young age with much older partners, the chances are greater that their first sexual experiences are involuntary or unwanted and that they will become pregnant.

But what really gets my back up is that Miley's dad, Billy Ray, supports the relationship. 

Did that mullet hurt his head?  What do you think?

Let mine be blogosphere comment 67 million regarding 15-year-old Miley Cyrus and the nude-but-covered photo of her that appears in the current issue of Vanity Fair. Three modest thoughts: 

1. A parent interviewed on Good Morning America this morning suggested that---I'm paraphrasing here---that the photo wasn't as bad as it could be...that you couldn't see the curve of Miley's back..that Annie Liebovitz is a respected photographer, etc.  Huh?  This is not a discussion about art and taste and nudity, this is a discussion about a 15-year-old girl who posed nude and the publication of that photo. 
2. The GMA segment went on to suggest that the Miley photo could serve as a teachable moment (now in the running as one of the most overused phrases of 2008).  What's the teachable moment here?  Fifteen year old girls shouldn't be asked to pose nude.  End of lesson. 
3. When this story broke yesterday about the Miley photo, the Vanity Fair website apparently crashed due to overwhelming traffic.  Remember people, it's not what they're selling, it's what you're buying.