My daughter and I watched it too. I felt a real sadness and saw some patterns that were apt in my life (my parents need me since I'm their only living child — my brother died tragically — and I've never been able to leave our hometown) and I think the film also made me even more determined to make sure my children…

Codependency is a pop psychology thing from the late 80's - that was exploited by an author (Melody Beattie- "Codependent No More") who had no psychology, psychiatry or social work education or degrees whatsoever. It is an extremely problematic concept when applied to any situation where an active addiction is not…

Disappearing twins aren't the only form of human chimerism––widespread low-level chimerism was recently discovered in a study of mothers and children; there are literally parts of us that are our mothers and vice versa. There is also mosaicism where people have cells with different genotypes even though they developed…

Footnote: Echidnas are adorable.

Hard won insights in that comment, Bethany W Pope! The Beales seemed to me to be two formerly privileged people who had endured the "apocalypse" of their own lives, and were now simply scavenging/surviving — with a lot of pluck and not a little self-delusion. Grey Gardens' impact lies in the fact that most lonely,…

A domestic dishwasher in 1933 must have seemed really fucking futuristic. My grandparents got their first dishwasher in the early 60's and the entire family gathered around it and took a picture with it.

I am distantly related to these people, though through the line without money or influence, but through the line that carries these particular mental disorders. I barely just escaped being "Little Edie'd" by my mother, and she still managed to steal a good part of my life. The documentary is more like a horror film…

I love watching these shorts right before a horrendous movie on MST3K. There was one about springs! It was a simpler, eviler, time.

My birthday is a few days before Christmas, and Barbie came out the year I was four. My father was sick that year and in and out of the hospital, and my mom was working nights in a restaurant to support us.

Rocking the mechanic's uniform during WWII

She is fabulous.

She can also rock a uniform pretty well. It's a bit Versace, but she makes it work.

She is simply radiant in blue, no other color works for her like blue

This is the perfect lawn jockey-look I've been hunting for to replace the broken garden gnome.

Prince Phillip was dashing af in his youth. He is one of my "back when" hardcore crushes. And he has that rich boy devil may care 'tude that I love to hate.

I WOULD WEAR THE FUCK OUT OF THAT KAFTAN

The way the colors (or lack thereof) go together briefly made me think someone had photoshopped in some black and white pictures for some unknown reason. I'm still not entirely convinced they haven't.

She's worn all the colors...

Upsidedown, gravity defying bow? Yup, only the queen.

That's a common misconception, actually. So, with pin curls, the more you brush, the better they look. For the most part, you pincurl in order to give you the ability to sculpt the hair in ways you couldn't if you didn't have the base curl. When you take out the pincurls, they're tight little ringlets, usually a…