I’m just a very sexy baby!

It was! Two thumbs up, would highly recommend spending one’s wedding night in jail (that's been turned into a luxury hotel).

We also sprung for a super fancy dinner, then spent the night in a super fancy hotel (that used to be a brutal jail, SYMBOLISM)! It was a great day.

So, I’m going to chime in as that smug jerk who opted out and went to city hall. I get that it’s not for everyone- you celebrate in whatever way feels best to you!- but I had an awesome wedding day that involved exactly no worrying about anyone else’s expectations, and instead just doing stuff that was fun for my…

I’m sorry to tell you I had one and it was just meh. Fine, but not memorable. Definitely not minty enough for my palate (that may have had to do with the VERY casual mixing job they did at my local McDonalds, though).

Correct. And?

But but but sometimes I just want a plain old cup of Dunks, which is its own perfect little entity just as it is. Not all of us need our tastebuds blasted out by some burnt-tasting dark roast drip coffee, blech. The mermaid has her place (I’m a gold card holder there, trust), but it’s not analogous to Dunks. 

You don’t need to know the history of all Indian culinary traditions before trying an Indian dish, but knowing something simple as “this is classic Indian comfort food” has value, as opposed to thinking something just appeared out of the ether/was invented by white “influencers,” which is almost certainly what a lot…

Cultural appropriation matters when it’s hurtful to the people whose culture is being appropriated. That’s the case with this author, though she made her peace with it ultimately. My white self is not about to tell marginalized people and people of color how to feel about elements of their culture being lifted and…

Enjoying new things is great, but being respectful of other people’s cultural contexts for those things is crucially important. I am willing to bet none of the influencers the author saw in line for those turmeric lattes knew they were part of a larger Indian culinary tradition. See also: columbusing.

Agreed. Aside, how lovely is Grace? I heard her on the Dear Prudence podcast a while back and was thoroughly charmed once I heard she was British. That's a relationship I'm rooting for, big time.

He also referenced but didn't explain the estrangement in his newsletter around Thanksgiving. I was sad to hear it then, and am even sadder about it now that I know what happened. I’ve spent a non-zero amount of time worrying about him, as an internet stranger who has long wished him well from afar. His sister has a…

I don’t know, I haven’t had Papa John’s in years but I had Domino’s at a kid’s party a few weeks ago, and it was only borderline edible. I don’t know what the “cheese” is made of, but it’s not what I’d consider cheese in the traditional sense.

This is the only correct response.

Yes, but scrapple, despite its many charms, is not notably photogenic. Two words: Wawa. Hoagie.

I am so, so grateful my grimy, oddly-stocked city S&S doesn’t rate one of these nightmares.

Shut the front door and give this woman a Pulitzer! (Not being even a little facetious)

My husband and I are baseball people, and traveled down to Baltimore for a ballgame once. The Camden Yards giveaway that day was packets of Old Bay. It seemed... very on the nose? Or maybe they just give away packets of Old Bay at every game?

Milk and blood are so comparable that milk is mostly white blood cells (that is why it’s white)!