We read A Prayer for Owen Meany my junior year of high school. I'm still surprised they let that happen at an all-girls Catholic school in south Lousiana (and, come to think of it, the teacher wasn't there long), but I'm glad it did. I don't love it as much as I once did, but it's still a formative book for me.

Yup. Time for a drink. That was rough.

Seriously. Absolute sorrow and respect for anyone struggling with HIV/AIDS, but I hate the sentimentalization/glamorizing of it. My aunt went to California in the 70's/80's, got a little careless with the sex and the drugs and came back to Missouri with HIV and a kid (thankfully HIV-free). She had to quit her job at…

Matthew Modine?

I don't know anything about The Normal Heart. Can I assume it is a Very Special Story?

Ha, love Lange's aristocratic "Help me up the stairs, peon" arm lift. Sincerely love.

I think they were both cracking up for reasons only they know.

I don't know why I'm bothering . . .

Yes, because no one's ever examined his/her beliefs in the wake of criticism and realized (s)he shouldn't carry such beliefs or at least shouldn't air them because they're hurtful. "Stand by your assholery; don't reconsider it" is excellent life advice. Thank you.

I've always wanted to read/see a time travel story wherein the past community discovers the visitor is from the future and expects all sorts of detailed info about future events and technology, only to find that the time traveler doesn't know much that's useful. I feel like most people (myself included) have only a…

It was surprisingly pert.

Dude said that Jamie might have to marry Laoghaire if her dad heard they'd been canoodling, and that Jamie needs a "woman" not a "girl" for a wife, and Laoghaire would be a girl even when she's 50. Or something to that effect.

Well, that's between you and your nipples.

Ugh, I realize you're at least half a gimmick and I shouldn't bother, but didn't you refer to her as a "degenerate slut" and reference her "gaping cooze" upthread? "Some males" indeed . . .

It drives me crazy that someone might avoid a show he would otherwise find interesting because he heard it's "for women." If you structure this exact same narrative around a male protagonist, no one would say it is "for men." It reminds me of my sister's skepticism when I gave her son "The Wolves in the Walls," since…

I mean, I somewhat agree, but the truth is, showing a minority hero doing ordinary whitebread hero stuff (such that the show is not "about" the hero's minority status or even affected by it in any particular way) would itself be somewhat revolutionary, or at least new.

Well because the author's point was that even at that time it was an over-used trope/premise. Like it or not, "resourceful-black-dude" or "resourceful-Hispanic-dude" or "resourceful-Asian-dude" as the protagonist fighting "dim-witted-baddies" would be an at least somewhat refreshing take on a well-used formula.

Eh, not really. I mean, dragons were integral to the erstwhile ruling family taking over years ago, but then dragons declined and eventually the ruling family was overthrown. So dragons definitely aren't world-destroyers in that irrevocable sense. In fact, up to now they're more or less set up as saviors, assuming the…

The only time I've had suicidal thoughts — and one very half-baked attempt — was after the loss of my fiance. I'm sorry you lost your wife, Gaff. Please don't ever harm yourself.

I feel like a jerk because if you'd asked me about Robin Williams 30 minutes ago, I probably would have said something appreciative mixed with disparagement (of some of his lesser roles, of his inability to turn himself off, etc.), yet now that he's dead I just feel sick and sad and realize he meant more to me than I…