I just had this same experience at my son’s preschool in Australia. I pack pretty healthy lunches, in comparison to what I used to eat. Cubed cheeses, crackers, ham or chicken, veggies, olives, fruit, baked pretzels sometimes, and always a sweet rice or oat bar. We also have to pack a morning tea, and I pack honey…

No kidding. When I was in college my family accidentally “adopted” a Russian kid (he was 19, same as me) who had made his way to Ohio in the most circuitous fashion. I was very surprised by his experiences - same fear, same general sense of impending doom, and the same “othering” propaganda. He was so wary at first. I…

I think I presented my argument poorly. I was sort of talking to an imagined audience of millennials. Why? Dunno. I am Gen-X. Right there in the middle of that shitty failed birthright. Cold war, isolation, crap economy, and adults who had utterly and massively failed their revolution, and so decided to get rich…

I love you. Every time.

Gen X just acted cynical. It was a product of the very dark background noise of their formative years. I think they were the most earnest cynics you could ever find. Truly, they wanted to believe. They just couldn’t find anything to believe in. These poor kids were being raised by the Boomers, just after they gave up…

Nice call on Decembrists. I’ve always wondered if I would have loved them, no matter what, just based on their name...

Solitude Standing is a pretty decent song. Maybe if First Aid Kit covered it or something. I don’t know. It was a long, long time ago.

In Sydney, the Royal Botanic Gardens is a fantastic place to pull up a blanket, a bottle of wine and a book: https://www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/welcome/royal_…

I grew up in Ohio and we definitely called it a dip in the backwater region where I lived. When we went to Columbus or something they might have said scoop. The old people all said dip. I am pretty sure the old folks I knew in Kentucky called it a dip too. Maybe it’s an Appalachian regional term? Not sure. The same…

I am old enough to think this is hysterical!

I’m very much in favor of mandatory voting. You have to vote in Australia, and I think it’s a damned good thing. Young people here are far more invested in politics. It doesn’t hurt that campaigns are publicly funded and there are very strict laws on corporate donations. I think you feel better about voting when you…

That’s a whole ‘nother ball of wax, but heck yes. I get frustrated that Americans are so wilfully detached from the political system (voting rates are pathetic), when it is such a privilege. What you’ve seen (I’m guessing South and Central America) is a reminder of how precious our civil rights are, and how important…

HOW can she sing? When I was pregnant, I turned down every gig after about 10 weeks. Was it because my kid was breech and had his stubborn little coconut head jammed under by ribcage for 6 months solid? I just wanna know how somebody that pregnant can perform. I’ve seen several artists do it now (Lily Allen, Beyonce,…

I made the mistake of taking my 4 year old son to see Cinderella. Roundly a failure. It was like taking him to see Pride and Prejudice with some great CGI. However, we got a family motto out of it. “Have Courage and Be Kind” is the best advice I’ve ever heard. Or at least it’s right up there with Kurt Vonnegut’s…

I starred this, but honestly, it could go either way.

You can strike “in Hollywood” there.

My aunt is the sick burn dowager empress. Something about funerals brings out the absolute flamethrower in her, too. We were at my grandfather’s funeral and the former mistress of another aunt’s husband was waiting in the receiving line. My aunt stared her down like a cattle dog until she reached the family and then…

Come to think of it, yeah, that was a pretty sick one. I play a long game.

Yep. Me too.

Oh me too! I tend toward the unfortunately passive aggressive. Example: I used to work for the guy who I ended up marrying (years later). He had a girlfriend who HATED me at the time, though we’d never met. She was really rude every time I answered the phone, so I started to pretend that I didn’t recognise her…