I love that there are multiple guinea pig apparel vendors in the world and that you know about them. And you're right, those are some fabulous costumes. Makes me want a piggie of my own!

Yesss. So awful and limited. And it is a billion times worse than when I was in high school, because there was no Internet.

For really lovely, well-fitting dresses, I recommend www.igigi.com. They aren't cheap, but I've never bought anything from them that didn't fit beautifully and they do have a sale rack.

I I didn't mean to suggest anything about the efficacy of the twelve steps vs anything else, but I do know it is highly common for rehabs, respectable and otherwise, to be based on AA.

Oh, God. I always thought that character was Judy Garland. I love that book. In fact, everything Jacqueline Suzanne has written is magical.

While I get your point and it might be a flaky way to put it, both self-reflection and meditation are a fundamental part of the twelve steps, upon which virtually every credible rehab facility on the planet is based. Even if she went to a prison-like rehab facility, she'd be required to meditate and do a lot of…

Yeah, drugs are bad. My skin started looking so much better almost as soon as I stopped using and drinking. Our bodies are resilient, but they'll only take so much abuse before they start to fall apart.

I'm also a kind of judgy recovering addict/alcoholic. From what I hear, Betty Ford is a good choice. It has a well-known name associated with celebrity, but it also has a strong reputation within the recovery community. It isn't Promises or Passages (which claims to "cure" you of addiction). I think if she actually…

More bedazzled tunics patterned like an antique Parisian suitcase, please! That's what we fat ladies like!

I thought that about addicts/doctor shoppers, too, as a former one of both myself, but if it has to be paid for by the employer there would be some kind of centralized records presumably and would have the same degree of protection against fraud as any doctor, by which I mean not much.

This person is totally insufferable. Even though your responses are excellent, measured, and correct, it doesn't really matter what you say because they'll believe whatever they want to. I'm enjoying reading your exchange though.

I had a friend who is overweight describe to me the horror of having her socially stunted OB GYN balance her clipboard on her naked stomach, all the while describing to her how bad, very bad being a fatty is and how she was too fat to get pregnant. My friend's description of the incident was both hilarious and…

Wow. That's some bullshit right there. I'm so grateful for my fat, funny and attentive doctor. He understands the struggles of being overweight, so he makes reasonable and encouraging recommendations, like finding exercise I enjoy and not framing health as a weight loss effort but rather doing something and eating…

That might be the worst episode ever, though the "walking on sunshine" huffer is a close second.

I made the mistake of watching the video, too. It made me feel like the OLDEST.

It looks like Cheerios in milk to me.

"Dry" by Augusten Burroughs is a very realistic account of rehab life. She doesn't goes through rehab in it, but I also really recommend "Drinking: A Love Story" by Caroline Knapp. It's a wonderful recovery memoir.

It is so interesting to me to read about people's experiences with other facilities. Where I went really stressed that the family was recovering as a unit, so we had lots of opportunities for family and friends to participate in therapy and groups, visiting hours every day, and were allowed to have our cell phones in…

There are plenty of young people in rehab. I'd say of the folks I went through with, about half of them were under 30 and several of them had been to rehab multiple times already.

I don't think it is realistic to imagine she'd end up at a facility like the one you're describing, but there's a lot of middle ground between that (I went to a legitimate rehab, but it wasn't super restrictive- we had our phones—in our rooms only, books, cosmetics in the room, but also a highly structured schedule)…