Sorry to hear that; losing a parent sucks. My dad died suddenly when I was close to the characters' ages. That episode was tough, but I really liked how they handled it. It rang true to my experience. That said, I remember how things like that cut really close to the bone for a long time.

Also, doesn't downing a Diet Coke right before performing, doing an interview, etc. just lead to a lot of ill-timed burping? Thanks, Diet Coke.

They already got me when Marshall's dad died. That was such a sucker punch...

I thought that all of these issues from the film itself were exacerbated by the clip they chose from his performance. The "I just want to be pretty" stuff? Really? Can we not do better?!? (And I find Jared Leto to be so far up the ass of his own privilege! Thanks for your beneficence, buddy...)

Can I add that most of the people my mom encountered who do cancer care or support are so, so good at what they do? I've never seen better care than when I went to her chemo with her. I hope your experience was the same.

Look Good, Feel Better was a major turning point for my mom during chemo when she really started to own her bald head and began looking forward. They were so good to her and she treasured the makeup she was given.

Nice one, Lucille! I once made the mistake of telling my students that I had neither seen nor read the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings series. Forgot about it until student evals. Under "what detracted from your learning": "Go out and rent/read these series NOW! Are you kidding me?"

This is one of the many, many frightening aspects of these stories. There is a segment of the population that actually seeks out this type of transaction. It makes me think of the people who patronize street prostitutes who are massively addicted. Paying for sex is one (not necessarily bad) thing, but the power…

I'm perfectly fine with my daughter learning nuance from other contexts. I don't care to exercise power in the way that spanking (or just the threat of it) entails. In my own experience, a spanking as the consequence of bad behaviour prevented me from engaging with the actual consequences, which would have been more…

I think for those of us raised in the 70s/80s who were spanked on rare occasions by otherwise non-abusive parents, there is some difficulty in seeing that kind of spanking as abuse. But I'd be willing to bet that, like my parents, most of the parents who did that type of spanking now recognize that it is neither…

I was actually breathless for a moment. Wow.

I thought the same thing! My husband got a ring when he graduated from engineering (all Canadian engineering grads get them in a totally wacko ceremony). It's actually a cool way to mark that passage and your membership in the profession.

I can tell you what it's NOT: an actual graduate student at Texas.

Fixed up in hopes that we would produce a half-dozen future Olympians. Nothing like planning to take over the world with your babies before you know each others' last name.

I guess this means I'll have to at least mention "crotch-coffee" in my coffee table book, Espresso Shacks of the Pacific Northwest.

NFL cheerleaders have elite-level abilities and physiques that set them apart from the rest of us, like the players. Staying in shape for the season requires a great deal of effort, like the players. They represent the team in public, like the players. They are an important part of the marketing of the team, like the…

With some change of timing (i.e. the notes not going to school, but maybe being read at breakfast), these will be very precious to her one day. Since I lost my dad, seeing his handwriting is one of the things that brings him back for me. Recently we discovered that we'd accidentally recycled most of my childhood…

I always responded that most 14 year-olds aren't exactly a walk in the park to parent, regardless of gender!

We waited until our babe was born to find out the gender and had the same struggles. Mostly bought from the boys' section before she was born. She has a blue winter coat and everyone assumes she's a boy. But what really got me was when I was pregnant and everyone asked what gender the baby was. When I said we were…

Agreed with Princess Leela. The behaviour of those children was so egregious that I can't imagine what we should desire her response to be. The fact that children feel it is okay to speak to anyone in such a vile manner, especially to an older woman like this, disgusts me. Dodai, you're right that they've only…