As thanks for helping out, I once had a friend who was going out of town have me housesit in part to keep an eye on his aunt, who had had a bad concussion. At the end of the weekend, she took me out to dinner to thank me and tried to pay with bags of quarters and dimes! "You can't do that!" I told her. "You live…

And has been taking hair lessons from Connie Britton!

I have a whole pack — none of whom are actually related to me. Lucky for me, my bestie had 4 girls and a little boy — so between the 4 girls and their friends — I do a lot of auntie-ing (and as the lady who isn't a wife and isn't a mom, I get the sex questions! didn't expect that, but kind of like it.) Go mentor…

Oh I'm sure. I don't have any kids of my own, actually — just a pack of nieces — so I haven't had to fight those battles. They liked a lot of fashion app/games on the phones when they were littler, but don't seem to be too into the games as tweens. I'm afraid I'd be a luddite mom about all that stuff — channeling my…

I had no idea what Mortal Kombat even was (clearly, I don't have boy children) — that was horrifying! I loved that they were all grossed out.

Yeah. Taylor Hackford — the director. And you all are making me feel SO OLD because no one seems to know this — he directed An Officer and a Gentleman, White Nights (Barishnikov! Gregory Hines!), Dolores Claiborne, Ray ... among others. Now, I'm off to find White Nights streaming somewhere before the superbowl ...

What I loved though was how horrified all three of them were when the game did that though. Really horrified. Since their idea of play seemed to be "hit all the buttons as fast as you can and see what happened" — and then *that* happened, and all three recoiled in horror.

Yes, I have a crazy, narcissistic, alcoholic mom who I would never in a million years take dress shopping — and that lady would have made me cry cry cry (in a good way).

The only bad I look in a swimsuit is sunburned. Always. There is no sunscreen strong enough. Hence, no one ever sees my swimsuit because it's under a long sleeved shirt and a long skirt (and a big hat).

My dad did it — started when my brother was a baby. "Borrowed" his social. He didn't saddle my brother with any debt he was liable for, but it took over a year (and a surname change) to clean up his credit report. Lots of loans, cars, department store accounts, a couple of credit cards. Such a peach, that dad.

Years ago was helping run a writers conference at Squaw Valley. At the hotel next door, Husquvarna chain saw thing — carvers maybe? We couldn't find Gary Snyder until we wandered over and found him happily testing chain saws. One of the many reasons I just loved that guy.

Black washable wool merino long underwear/leggings! In 2 weights. I live in Montana and they've been my slut/whore pants all winter. Warm. Cozy.

She's dead now, but my grandmother was fiercely pro-choice. Had at least two more children than she wanted to, was a terrible mother (although an adventurous and beloved grandmother). In high school, when Planned Parenthood opened it's first clinic in our area, she told me that if I got in trouble I should come to her…

Yeah. Me too. She's terrible on a lot of stuff, but on this one, she gets a big gold star.

Harold McGee wrote a piece a few weeks ago testing this - no bad cooties. He actually recommends hot water for faster thawing and to leave less time for bacteria to grow.

The new cast iron pans are terrible — they don't polish the surface anymore. Check out second hand and antique stores for an old Griswold or other vintage one — with a nice, smooth, surface. My 10" cast iron pan cost 15 bucks twelve years ago and it lives on my stovetop. I use it for nearly everything (that and my Le…

I got a puppy this year. A Border collie/Aussie puppy (with, we think, some Great Pyrennes in the mix). I live in the mountains. Walking the puppy up and down my favorite 3 mile trail loop every day (and now breaking out the xc skis), and paying a little more attention to my diet means I've lost 20 pounds in the six…

I thought she was being political, and it was pro ERA — you know, the Equal Rights Amendment that failed long long ago, when I was still a young person.

Oh snap, you're right. Should have realized it growing up in a family of serious dyslexics. Classic illiteracy strategy — along with "what do you like here?"

Exactly. We wound up at Aqua (ages ago now) with a big group of people. We all ordered the tasting menu, and my brother pulled the server aside and told her he was allergic to shellfish (which had, sadly, just happened after we moved to the Bay Area). They were so great about it. Every course that had shellfish, they…