Margaret Willison (@mrsfridaynext on Twitter) put together a playlist of responses to the question “What is the first song you loved that you discovered on your own?” and it is full of songs from when I was in school and college. Also, when in doubt, the Hadestown Live Original Cast Recording on loop--I’ve loved this…

Grüner Veltiner. I have a bottle of red, but it has a cork and my Mormon family don’t own a screw. So after this, it’s hard seltzer or bourbon. My 23-year-old niece is getting married tonight (the rest of the family is watching over Skype), and my wedding that was supposed to be on the 25th is not happening (we didn’t…

I’m doing basically all of the cooking right now at my parents’ because they refuse to let me pay rent and I feel guilty (even though my stepsiblings who have lived here for YEARS have no such compunction), so tonight: chicken pot pie topped with buttermilk biscuits. I’ve had two glasses of wine and will have to…

CONGRATULATIONS!!!! That’s amazing news! Please, please try not to let yourself feel too guilty about the good news during a shitty time--seeing nice people thrive makes such a huge difference. 

I absolutely adored The Lunchbox! Such a good movie, and Khan was a truly talented actor. Such a loss. 

As someone who owns at least seven red lipsticks alone, I support this. 

I haven’t been wearing much makeup, but I do own an obscene amount of lipstick, so I’ve started putting that on, at least. Today, I did a full face, because I stayed up too late crying and then had a horrible nightmare, and this at least makes me feel like I’ve got my armor on and can face the day. 

I am really loving it! They were some of my fiancé’s favorite books as a kid, and since he is still in Shanghai (and likely will be for a long while), it’s a nice way to feel closer.

Flight wasn’t too bad—it was after commercial flights were suspended, but like a lot of places, the US Embassy did some repatriation flights. My parents are, thankfully, pretty lovely, but even though a couple of my adult siblings live at home, it’s weird for us all that I’m back for more than a visit--I’ve always…

OH MY GOD I LOVE HIM SO MUCH! Look at that little face! Those paws!

I feel this. With the stress baking and limited movement, I have put on weight and while I know it isn’t the end of the world, I’d been struggling with how I felt about my body before this and I am upset that even the modest progress I’d made is gone. Time for a long walk (maybe with the dog, maybe without) and a lot…

That’s entirely reasonable, tbh. 

Currently in Utah, and even here, the state-run liquor stores (the only kind) are still open. I am deeply grateful for it—my parents are Mormon, but I am not, and I like my wine and bourbon. It’s a way of holding on to my autonomy. 

I’m so sorry; that’s incredibly hard. A long walk sounds like a brilliant idea, especially with an audiobook. I’ve started listening to Redwall, because an abbey of woodland creatures eating wonderful food and fighting evil is exactly what I need right now. 

Hiya! I’ve left Bangladesh for the duration (work was told to reduce their footprint in-country because we would be a resource drain in a poor country if we got sick), and am currently living with my parents. I love them, I am glad to be home, but also I think it’s hard for my mom to see me as an adult sometimes…

I love it! I also dyed my hair purple this week, with the help of my stepsister, who is a hairstylist. Even more importantly, she helped me get all of the purple hair dye off the tiles in the guest bathroom, because if my mother had seen that, I would ABSOLUTELY have perished. 

Spoken like a man whose children call once a year at best. 

On the cleaning end, my sister and I did something similar as kids. We had our list of chores that went cheerfully ignored all afternoon, until our mom called on her massive, 1998 brick cell phone, letting us know she was 15 minutes away, and were the chores all done? We lied through our teeth that nearly everything…

It didn’t fully register with me just how much cheese that was until I looked at the empty tub of Costco ricotta. 

So glad to know it’s memorable!