I think it’s also a bit of a snake-eating-its-own-tail situation, where being criticized by trans people and their allies makes her upset and defensive, and this just reinforces whatever crap she’s reading on TERF websites about the evils of trans activists. And every time she says something she gets criticized more,…

Which is an interesting idea that pre-judging the teenage lives of stupid inexperienced 11 year olds and moving them into fanatically devoted near cult level houses in an isolated boarding school where people can torture each other, maybe isn’t the soundest idea the wizarding world could have come up with.

If that time existed, it was further in the past than you think. Charles Dickens, for instance, used to do public readings of his work, and people would bombard him with questions about the tiniest minutia of his novels. And yes, Dickens totally counts as a fantasy author (he didn’t write fantasy exclusively, but…

The weirdest thing about the whole JKR ark is that all she ever had to do was nothing. She could have done nothing and carried on being untouchably wealthy and (improperly as it turns out) beloved. And she couldn’t manage to do it.

Could be worse. There could have been Sorting Underwear that figured out if you went to the boys’ dorm or the girls’ dorm.

Settle down, Hufflepuff.

I guess I’m a purist and prefer my ham unglazed. My Grandma was definitely on Team No Glaze. Any time we had glazed ham somewhere else, it was an overly-sweet thick glaze that was unbalanced and sticky. It seems simply unnecessary if you have a nice ham to begin with. No thanks.

My go-to is to use different varieties - red, russet, and white.  I use mexican crema, salted butter, crushed garlic, salt, and pepper that has been  heated in a sauce pan prior to combining with the potatoes so the cold ingredients don’t cool off the dish.  I don’t use a ricer just because I grew up on mostly smooth…

Because ‘Murica. 

I need to know what #11 and #12 are so I can filk “the twelve days of christmas”.

Do I need to remind you how many millions of people thought Donald Trump was fit for a second term as president?

obviously it depends.

Why can’t I ever stumble across a bargain like that at my local Safeway???

It all depends.

Hooray for the generous tippers, and double-hooray for the stipulation that it be divided amongst the staff when you know how much restaurants depend on everyone doing their part (and helping each other out) to succeed.

Note to any copycats out there: leave a 5600% tip in cash, don’t add it on to a credit card receipt that has to be processed by the restaurant and possibly flagged as fraud.

Or just go with them. They let you bring a friend and allow them to pay for their stuff separately.

If you want to shop at Costco and have a friend who has a membership, give them money to get you a gift card. They let you in with the gift card, or at least they do in the Midwest.

Roasted rack of lamb with mint jelly or sauce is a treat. I have yet to try it with a chocolate sauce but I do not comprehend the hate for chocolate mint. Peppermint Patties are a national treasure and grandma always had a sleeve of Andes mints for after dinner coffee on holidays. Oh well, more for me.

We (me + husband) eat dinner at the kitchen table every night, but nearly all other eating is done in the living room -breakfast, lunch, snacks, etc.