If I could make GIFs, I’d use the one of Dany’s dragon flaming the guy for this. It’s bad enough that Wharton had to put up with that bullshit when she was alive, but AFTER DEATH!?! And for a guy who claims he wants to write big social novels, he’s never written anything even close to as good as House of Mirth, or my…

I found substitute moms along the way, and have had a series of wise, motherly, wonderful therapists. And my best friend has 5 kids and grew up in a commune, so she shares — I have a whole pack of kids *I* get to mother, which goes a long way toward healing. Oh! And a badass girl first cousin who now that my darling…

That more and more of us come out of the woodwork each year *does* help, doesn’t it?

It’s what finally got me to cut off my mother. Having a loving, sane, responsible partner, who supported me for years as I tried to negotiate middle ground. But even I realized that her ultimate goal was to break us up (and randilyn, like you, I found him late — 45) so that she’d have all my attention again. The…

Oh condolences on your lost baby! My youngest brother died at about that age and it’s so hard — he was a real person! But a baby, which makes everyone so sad that they mostly can’t deal with it.

Aww. Thank her. Some of us would not have survived without those moms who took us in ... I have a whole pack, and they almost make up for the crazy one who is actually mine.

Thank you for this. Mothers Day is always hard, and no matter how deeply I understand that I had to cut myself off from my mother, the guilt, every year. So painful.

In North Carolina, when I guided rafts on a river, in the bottom of a canyon, the question was: “How come them trees up there are higher than these ones down here by the river?”

My brother developed a shellfish allergy in his mid-30s (just as we moved to the Bay Area, from Chicago— SO unfair!). We had a lovely dinner at Aqua, where they made sure that for each dish the rest of us had off the tasting menu that had shellfish, his was equally as delicious with no shellfish. They were so gracious…

You can also get everything in the pot, and put it in the oven overnight at 225. Your house will smell delicious all night long. And then, if you’re a crazy person like I am, and have become obsessed with clear stock, you can do an egg white raft to clarify out all the fat and floaty bits (Michael Ruhlman has good…

It’s terrible! You’d hate it! And there are a lot of Michiganders already here (it’s pretty great, but you have to bring your own job, unless you’re a plumber or an electrician).

A woman’s right to choose is explicitly written into the MT Constitution, *and* Steve Bullock is a terrific, Democratic governor. We had an interesting legislative session this time around (our legislature only sits every other year, for a few months). Democrats and non-crazy GOP fought hard to get Medicaid expansion,…

My brother worked at a huge warehouse of architectual salvage stuff in Chicago in the 90s. Bums would come to sell them stuff all week, but on Saturdays, when the suburbanites would come shopping, they’d shoo them off. He starts shooing one “bum” off one Saturday, and didn’t believe until he pulled out his Amex black…

But no one is more conformist than the wealthy — especially the preppy wealthy.

I was about 12 and my uncle took me out for a ride in his iceboat (like a sailboat on runners, really fast and exciting). Tiny though, and I had to sit between his legs. Boner ensued, and he was clearly enjoying the whole thing. I faked being scared and made him go back. Still makes my skin crawl.

The weather finally warmed up here, so I did my semi-annual, wash and line dry in the lovely sunlight that kills cooties. Also, stripped the pillows down and set them outside for a nice bake as well. Fresh!

Oh, you’re making me miss the Beehive state. After grad school, I moved to California and was at dinner with my brother in an East Bay supper club kind of place. I’m looking at the menu and say “Can I get a real drink here.” “Ferdinand,” he says. “You’re not in Utah anymore!”

Yeah, I had terrific feminist post-Vatican 2 nuns as well. But I remember there were a few terrifying old bats still lurking around, the ones who refused to give up their old habits. They were diminished, but you could see how they could have been terrifying.

Oh the converts. The worst!

I gave Roxane's book to my entire tribe of 15-25 year old girls this Christmas. Because I'm *that* auntie ...