Agreed Moulin Rouge seemed as if it were directed by a hyperactive squirrel on meth. And that was too bad, because it really did have its—admittedly campy—moments. But jesus, let the editor alone for a minute, let them do their thing. This is also the problem with every Michael Bay movie. 'OK a Decepticon just smashed…

When you watch even an action movie from the 80s/90s you realize the jump cuts are sooo much loooonger than in a modern action or fantasy movie. Something like Aliens has what now seem like extraordinarily long lingering shots and slow switches between cameras for conversations between two people from each one's point…

In Zelda games the new level on which you're moving to get gear for the upcoming boss/level is so fun to look at and interact with that it's intrinsically less boring even if you are in some strict sense "grinding" through the game.

We did khaki pants, blue blazers and matching ties for the dudes at my wedding, and they looked fine. I mean, it was outdoors, so it was inherently less formal, but still.

When I had to bring my now-husband from Eugene, OR back to East Hampton for Thanksgiving at my grandfather's I had to take him shopping. I literally could not believe he did not own at least one blue blazer. "What? It's ok if it's not new or anything. Not even one?" We just kitted him out for the 5 days or whatever…

I BOUGHT MY CHILDREN ALL THE THINGS. I MADE WALLPAPER OUT OF WRAPPING PAPER AND FRAMED PICTURES WITH WASHI TAPE. THE MIGHTY LOOKED UPON MY WORKS AND DESPAIRED.

My daughters loved theirs and played with them for years; you're good. I'll admit the Barbie knock-off kitchen set in the plastic box was a serious contender though (the plastic came off the front and then the toy fixtures were sort of taped to a cardboard backing which we never removed.)

She's foine.

So sorry OutlawCountry. I am sending you hugs from an internet stranger. It will get better and it won't always hurt this bad, even though sometimes something will happen that makes a vivid memory stab you out of nowhere like an icepick in the temple. (Like, maybe, some victim-blaming bullshit you read online about…

I'm not saying there's magic black people with secret wisdom, I'm just saying there's shit where Vines will blow up quite notably among black twitter users or whatever and then 6 months later mainstream culture (which is mainly but not only white) picks them up, not infrequently swapping them out for white performers…

Parents have been telling their kids not to get fucked up wasted at college since forever, and they've also been consistently getting totally ignored by their kids who go on to skip class to smoke weed, sleep all day, and fuck shit up generally. Right? And yes, I feel confident that EGR would say to her child both,…

I think we will probably end up disagreeing on some things even though we mostly agree on things generally. Half my family is from South Carolina, so I think I maybe have a better handle on old-school racism? Yes, seriously, the spectre of the Black Panthers and of Malcolm X suddenly made the previously…

Sure! I'm always happy to have irrelevant strong opinions about Ancient Greece. It sounds like you probably know more about Egypt than me though. I started to teach myself hieroglyphics but it was the same semester I started...like...Sanskrit I guess and it was a no-hoper. Fun though!

Maybe start carrying xanax around and offering it to them. Wait, can I have some, actually?

Sure but you can do anything. Totes unfair.

I majored in Classics at Columbia and then went to grad school in Classics at U.C. Berkeley in the 90s, getting an MA in Ancient Greek History and Literature, before eventually switching to a newly-created dual-department Ancient Phil./Classics PhD with a minor in Indo-European Linguistics. (Parenthetically, I don't…

Fair point about the "when they were a celeb" thing. I was wrong there, then. We're even!! About the laptops I meant that Apple's notorious security flaw allows you to remotely access the laptop of the person whose account you've hacked if you have "find my computer" turned on. If you read the Wired article from…

Nah, she knows what the word means, and unfortunately your working knowledge is excellent as well.

What makes you think men can't get tramp stamps?

First of all, I really appreciate your being willing to discuss this so reasonably, and I'm perfectly happy to answer any questions you have. I get into lots of arguments online with men who hold something like your views but they don't go well. My daughter comes in and says, "mom, are you arguing about sexism on the…