I agree that Elizabeth Banks has enough comedy weirdness to pull off the role, she's just not at all what I pictured Effie looking like. But then when I heard that she was cast, my immediate thought was, oh, okay, that sounds really good actually.

Oh, god, that's just, I mean, fuck. So sorry. I'm crying with you now.

Blerg, me too! Starting my sophomore year of high school, I religiously took my pill at the same time every day. Fifteen years later, I went off the pill and my husband and I started trying. After a year of ovulation kits and body temperature charts—nothing. The thing that makes me crazy is there's no way for me…

Just got told I'll only see my dad four more times before he dies.

FINE! NOW I'M YELLING TOO!

Woody Harrelson as Haymitch was a totally perfect casting choice in my book. Another unexpected, but inexplicably perfect one was Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket.

Stop fighting, you guys are ruining Royal Baby Day!!!

My iPad is hellbent on making me sound like a moron or a lunatic. Or both.

For reals? For reals.

I'm so sorry. I imagine it's even harder when you can remember a time when she was a good mom. For me, when it comes to my (deeply broken and dysfunctional) family of origin, I always have to do the emotional math. It's not about avoiding hurt, because that's impossible. It's about making smart decisions to…

After a lifetime of terrible abuse from my mom, the thing that finally made me cut her off was a relatively small financial thing. I mean, it was still something that would be totally shocking to a person with a real mother, but compared to my childhood, it was nothing. I think it was less about the specific thing…

Also, hugs for you because you're getting married and that should be a happy thing and you shouldn't have to put up with this shit, especially from your own mother.

Oh, man. Mom issues. I get it. I haven't read any books about it, but I'm pretty sure my mom fits the narcissistic mother descriptor, and probably a few other descriptors, too. We haven't spoken in three years.

ASOIAF fans: I'm dying waiting for Winds of Winter to come out. What do you recommend for reading in the interim? I want more fantasy, but it doesn't necessarily have to be medieval-type fantasy, and I would prefer something that a) isn't a ten-book series, and 2) is FINISHED, ffs.

I'm not sure if I saw the same preview as you, but the one I saw showed a little bit of the wedding dress scene, and it looked perfect. I'm so excited!

Well, this does not give me much hope on the GT front. :-/

Dude, me too. I haven't been commenting long, so I get it, but I feel like I'm in high school again and trying to get noticed by the cool kids. Not fun.

Oh! Okay, sorry. I didn't get it. I'm pretty new around here. :/

I don't know the laws of every state, but I can tell you that if there are states with statutes purporting to require prosecutors to file charges any time an act of domestic violence is reported, regardless of the facts of the case or the perceived credibility of the complainant, those states are very much in the…

Criminal charges, even felonies, need not be submitted to a grand jury in California. Also, despite your use of all caps above, there are no "special laws" that allow prosecutors to charge domestic abusers without the victim's consent. The decision to charge any crime is in the prosecutor's discretion. The question…