It’s not necessarily one of those days, like, say, International Women’s Day, that prompts us to suggest, “Shouldn’t every day be… ?” But today, according to CBS and 1-800-FLOWERS, is Ex Day. (Unlike, say, International Women’s Day, Ex Day does have corporate sponsors.)

Inspired by the new CBS series The Ex List (BG, distracted by Prison Break, Chuck, and Sarah Palin, has been utterly remiss in her field research! Any reviews?), the initiative is designed to “let love bloom again” and “bring new life to past relationships through a special ‘Ex Day’ bouquet.”

From the press release: “According to a recent study by Wakefield Research, 39% of people feel they let ‘the One’ get away, and more than 2 in 5 Americans still have romantic feelings for an ex. Tapping into an American impulse to reconnect with a past love [the French don’t do that?], the Ex Bouquetâ„¢ sends a heartfelt and understated message and can be delivered same day at the click of a mouse, thereby eliminating the stress of an awkward ‘ex encounter.’ [Except for the part where your ex’s new squeeze is sitting at the next desk.] Crafted from fresh carnations, Gerbera daisies, Asiatic lilies, daisy poms and button poms, the aromatic arrangement says, ‘How have you been? Now you are in the awkward position of having to call me to say thanks even though you’ve moved on, leaving me to pick apart your ‘mixed messages’ and in no better a place than where I started‘ in muted green and white hues.”

I know that ever since we here at BG HQ introduced the world to the saucily lower-cased slydial, a service that allows you to call directly into someone’s voice mail — ring-free — the world has, in turn, been waiting impatiently for the slydial video contest to arrive directly into our YouTube.

And as of yesterday — finally — there it was. The “How sly Are You?” sweepstakes gives you 90 seconds to show us just how slyly  you slydial. (The company has provided some sample videos for sly-spiration.)

Just one question: how sly is it, exactly, to make a video of yourself lying to your boss/boyfriend/mother/car insurance agent and post it on YouTube?

“Uh, yes, hello, Breakup Girl? Gee, I guess your phone is off or something because this went straight to voice mail. Yeah, well, anyway, this is Maria and you know that post I said I’d write today on the slydial YouTube contest? I just am not going to be able to get to it. I’m sorry. Maybe you could get on of the other super-bloggers to do it? I think Mia said she had some time on her hands…”

Researchers at Florida State University embarked on a skin-deep academic journey to uncover men’s preferences for women’s hair length. They learned that men favor loooooong hair. Add thick and brown to the tresses equation and they’ll be swooning. Yes, you heard me correctly – brown. The men studied reported a preference for brunettes over blondes. So why the fascination with her, huh? And where, BG might wonder, does this leave redheads? (Here’s the advice from the report our tipster spotted at AOL Shopping — ! — which itself should tip us off that this inforrmation is more advertorial than scientific: “Don’t have long tresses? Fake it! Shop for a long, brown wig.” Sorry, Det. Scottie Ferguson, it actually does matter to me!)

But while we’re here, just for fun, how heavily does hair length/color weigh in your attraction to a potential mate? What happens on a bad hair day?

I never quite understand what’s going on when companies — like Lexus, say — “build their brands” by putting “content” on their websites that has nothing to do with … Lexus. But after watching these geeeeeenius (and BG-relevant!) videos starring Lisa Kudrow, I just don’t care.

Pre-Halloween romance-novel heebies:

If those are his hands, and those are her hands, then WHOSE HAND? IS ON? HER LEG?

Via FailBlog.

Even if we can’t easily verify all the details of the original story, we can be reasonably sure these babes are cooler than Ant-Nellie. (And anything starring Kevin Costner.) From Kate Harding at Broadsheet:

Someone needs to make a movie about Jacquie Davis and Helen Cliffe, like, yesterday. The story of two old friends who happen to be female bodyguards is intriguing enough right there, but better still, they’re wisecracking female bodyguards! Take single mother Cliffe on her work-life balance: “It’s far more stressful than being shot at, sorting out the childcare.” Or former police officer Davis on working for the Saudi royal family: “It’s the same thing every year: you have to be vetted by a guy from the Saudi embassy saying, ‘Oh, my God, you are a woman!’ At which point you have to throw one of his blokes on the floor and stamp on his windpipe to prove you can do the job.”

(more…)

From our pals at the Daily Bedpost, advice on minding your booty call manners that you’ll never hear from Miss Fling.

Most people don’t talk about booty calls. That’s part of their appeal: “We don’t have to endlessly com-mu-ni-cate because we’re not in a serious relationship.” People rely on a tacit understanding when it comes to casual sex with their friends and neighbors, and especially their exes. But it’s silly to assume that everyone “understands” the exact same set of personal guidelines. The implicit, unlegislated booty call is a complicated procedure, due to varying agendas, the likelihood of miscommunication, and the chance of emotional intimacy. The smart people know that without rules, there are expectations, and those, by definition, make things messy. Even if you don’t think you have any expectations, that in itself is an expectation: That you not expect anything of me, that you not sleep over, that you not get mad if I don’t call you back. So let’s once and for all manage those expectations with The 25 Rules of the Modern Booty Caller.

Click here for the rest, including this uber-rule: “No matter how casual the set-up, remember that your booty buddy is a human being.”

Here, your soon-to-be-weekly again installment of Ask Lynn, the advice column penned by BG’s alter ego at MSN.com (powered by Match.com). This week, we meet “Weekday Dater?”, who wonders why she seems to be everyone’s Girl Wednesday. The guys she meets — including, notably, a current fellow who’s otherwise totally coming through — never upgrade from the school-night date to the weekend rendezvous. Are these guys too busy? Or “too busy?” How can WD find someone who’ll stylus her in for Saturday? Read Lynn’s answer, and then come back here to comment!

Connecticut ruling overturns ban on gay marriage.

James Gunn’s PG Porn. SFW!

Ending: Meh. Male lead: PRICELESS.