Yep. I was fairly young when my mother died after a long illness and my family pretty much exploded—and I think Didion captures deep mourning well and what just surviving can take (since her daughter was gravely ill.) She really was losing everything, but her self (and her work) at that point.

Keep in mind where the world's population is. The U.S. is not overpopulated, but the part of Asia that contains 60 percent of the world's population (aka China, India, Indonesia, SE Asia) sure is. Your having a kid isn't going to make that big a difference and is actually a good thing for the economy because most…

Ooh, she and La Swinton should be cast together in something—not sure what, but something. Or at least some weird fashion editorial.

There are two different genetic adaptations for lactose tolerance in adults—the northern European one and one that developed separately among some African groups. So the lactose tolerance might be African after all.

Yes, the minority of humanity, but not the minority of Americans. Basically, people of northern European descent and a small percentage of Africans have a genetic adaptation that allows them to break down lactose as adults. When you look at the climate in northern Europe, you can see why the ability to drink milk…

Oh, that's a drag. She's at an age where the whole milk's a good idea. It has useful stuff in it that isn't in almond milk.

Apparently, one of the signs of lactose intolerance is starting to dislike milk. I remember I stopped drinking it around 10 for the most part. I'm more of a malabsorber than truly intolerant, but while I pretty much love all forms of dairy where the lactose is broken down or removed (there's relatively little in…

Water dripped through ground almonds—so like coffee.

It's not synthetic, it's actually pretty similar to how you make coffee. Grind up the raw almonds and drip water through them.

I find it kind of bland and sweet myself. I like it in some things, but it lacks the complexity of milk.

Oh, FACT—40 percent of adults have developed a gene that allows them to drink milk—so why shouldn't they drink it?

FACT: the ability to digest lactose by adults has been so useful to some groups of people that the tolerance has developed twice—there's one among Northern Europeans and another one in Africa.

FACT: We…

That was one seriously spoiled pomegranate. How can you not tell that it's rotting—I mean, brown, not red.

Yep. Girly things are inherently bad because they're *girly*—it's the idea that being a girl means all sorts of limits. I just saw a robotics team today where all the members were wearing tutus. STEM and ballet can mix—and why not?

Hayao Miyazaki movies—not Princess Mononoke or Nausicaa (not really kid's movies), but My Neighbor Totoro (wonderful), Kiki's Delivery Services, Spirited Away, Ponyo, later on, Castle in the Sky and Howl's Moving Castle.

Ten? You have official bragging rights. Now you just have the-equivalent-of-One-Direction to worry about in a couple of years. You're probably stuck with Taylor Swift. Because we're all stuck with Taylor Swift.

Yep—it's one thing if you use your own ingenuity and inspiration to give your child a special place. It shows your child that you can do things/invent things. It's another lesson if you spend a pile of money on something. Different lessons, different levels of involvement.

It's one of the earlier forms of peer pressure, from what I can see. My daughter had never seen a Disney movie, hadn't been overly exposed to pink, but had a princess period because all her little preschool girl buddies were into Disney princesses. At her birthday party, she was drowning in Disney princess gack.

But…

Hmmm, 2.5—you're not out of the danger years yet. In fact, you're barely in them. If she reaches 7 and never has a tantrum over a pink princess dress, then I'd say you have bragging rights.

You're an awesome stepdad. Everyone should be lulled gently to sleep with the dictionary.

Yeah, Whovian Liz definitely seemed up for anything or at least for Ten.

Well, now it's been released in the late-Winter dead period. The studio knows it's crap—only small movies and failed movies get released now. For a big-budget summer release to get moved to February? Tax write-off disaster.