I absolutely love your screen name. But I have a not-so-secret fungi photography habit.

Oh, me too. That 'stache, that voice. That last cowboy standing thing. Sigh.

Oh, now you've done it. Swoooooon.

That is the perfectly perfect gif for the occasion. I feel the same way about recordmachineman's wonder chest!

I agree. But fighting back escalates the situation and remaining "calm and submissive" (awful as it is to borrow a phrase from a dog trainer) keeps the abuser feeling in charge and prevents any escalation. Her posture and poise suggests to me that this isn't new behavior and she's had lots of practice at diffusing it.…

I am so sorry for everyone dealing with losing their fathers. I am sitting here with a huge lump in my throat and a raw, raw sadness. I hope you all made it through the day with as much peace as you could muster. xx

I am sorry you lost your brother. Sounds like he was a good egg.

Thanks for posting that. It makes me feel for her - it sounds, anyway, like she's seen the light. It's nice to get some balance in the discussion.

Yeah. I fell asleep first at my first slumber party and my underwear ended up in the freezer, but they didn't know about the soaking in water part. I spent years wondering what was the point of that punishment. Cold panties. Big whoop.

I am an artist (not visual, but just the same) and I was childfree by choice for AGES. Married for 10 years with no kids. It was a decision I made in part because I believed it wasn't possible to balance my art with being responsible for a little human. My husband threw a big wrench into the works by suddenly deciding…

I'm kind of in the same place. He's a kid, and by all accounts a good kid up until now. I wonder if he'll feel remorse at some point in the future, or if he's thoroughly indoctrinated. Obviously the bulk of my sympathies lie with the victims, but a small part of me feels terrible to see a mere kid caught up in…

I think random kids running by and clocking strangers in the face was a "thing" in NYC a while back. At least up near Columbia. I had a friend (tiny, frail - I know not a great feminist description, but she's frail. Breaks easily) who was punched hard in the face by a nameless random kid. And the campus doctor who saw…

Thanks. Bipolar is a sticky wicket, but I am doing well right now. That's part of the reason I am content to be on a drug that does, admittedly, make me a lesser version of myself. Anyhow, over time it mellows out. The problem comes with stopping and starting again (a bipolar specialty). Then you have to reacclimate…

That is really kind. Thank you. I lived in NYC for ages but I'm in Sydney now. I rarely make any big changes in my meds over here because there is a different philosophy in treating bipolar here. Like I said, if I changed my Topamax, I'd have to change to some sort of mood stabilizer. I just see my NYC psych every 6…

I'm having a hard time with this whole thread. Okay, yes, wine terminology is silly. At first glance you really wouldn't think something jammy or leathery would be drinkable, but of course there are lots of people looking for those qualities in a great big Australian Shiraz. If you know much wine terminology (say, you…

The neurologist told me at the time that if I vomited on Imitrex I would have nausea with all the triptans. Is this not true? I still have breakthrough migraine and then I take Migraleve (codeine, acetaminophen and an antineauseal), which my friends bring from the UK. It usually works. Now that I have a toddler,…

I had vomiting problems with Imitrex so they switched me to Topamax, which is a blessing and a curse. You have to take it everyday and it works to prevent migraine. I'm skinny and it helps on the side as a mood stabilizer (I'm nuts), but I'm dumb as a box of rocks. Or at least diminished.

There are lots of comments and not sure if I should add to the fray, but I am kinda old and I have dealt with these matters lo these many years. I have a fancy NY psychopharmacologist who has helped immensely with meds, but non-prescription ideas I used when I was trying to get pregnant were: exercise - cardio…

Oh now, that's waaaay too close for comfort.

Makes me so mad. How is she so much more worthwhile to our society than my cousin, who is an addict, and did 2 years on a meth conviction? They're both addicts, but he also held down a job. He has a family and a daughter. In fact, he was clean when he went to prison. But he's broke. I agree with the commenter…