How often does this come up in conversation?

That was Roald Dahl? That's fantastic. I saw that on an episode of Twilight Zone. Barbara Bel Geddes was the wife. EDIT: Or maybe Alfred Hitchcock Presents. I don't know, some black and white shit.

Noted. I have a lot of Amis gaps in my reading.

Yeah, the further I read, the more obvious it is that Amis is not expecting us to love this guy. I'm finding his honesty about himself to be endearing so it kind of comes full circle for me.

I'm reading The Rachel Papers by Martin Amis, which was my choice for YA book club. I think it's all right, but I think the other ladies are going to HATE it. Ah, well. I wanted something that was in the neighborhood of Catcher in the Rye but not actually Catcher in the Rye.

May the best woman* win!

I'm sorry to hear that. I'm 38, and I think I just figured out what I want to do. But writing is an awesome skill for almost everyone, so you're ahead of the game in that regard.

"Breakfast at Tiffany's" sounds like something a third-rate improv troupe came up with at their first show.

I sing the song all the way through, then sing "By Mennen!" Usually works. If not, apply "What a Fool Believes" as needed.

Not exactly an -ism, but one of the guys (Jupin?) commented that eating a pear is "like biting into a velvet dress." I had a pear the other day and was like, "Oh, God, it IS!"

"…in which the nostalgic siren song of “alternative” radio would have lured sailors to crash, again and again, upon the jagged, gray-dyed-blonde spikes of hard reality…"

See his pug-nosed face!

Applying to grad school to teach Spanish and ESL. My Spanish is aight, but I have to take an oral exam in about 6 months, so I'm focusing on learning that. Some days are better than others. But I have to get out of my current career. I'm burned out and I make no money.

Anyone else seeing a Hellmann's ad on this page? Well played, Hellmann's. Well played.

The Labrador video is a shot-for-shot remake of the Voices Carry video.

Yep. File that under "Things I learned from Stop Podcasting Yourself."

It's the easiest constipation cure there is!

Oh, I know. It's really sad, especially since the letter writer seems to really want to be involved in the sister's life. Some people want a fashion show, not a commitment ceremony.

I think the bride is trying to exclude her sibling from the wedding. "I only have one conflict in the next two years." "Well, that's the exact weekend we're doing the wedding." Yeah, right. She doesn't want to explain her genderqueer family member to her sorority sisters and work friends.

Yeah, it's a gift, and the giver should at least try to give a gift that doesn't totally clash with the recipient's wishes. That was terrible advice.