All this talk of forecasting is making me think of Bellwether by Connie Willis. It’s an excellent novel!

Thanks for the internet therapy!

The depths that people will sink to never ceases to amaze and grieve me.

I was like, “Please, please please, be a well-intentioned but ill-advised attempt to teach a valuable lesson about internet safety and privacy . . . Oh Lord, have mercy.”

Punching a pillow into a pillowcase? I’m literally laughing right now, because even if nobody ever taught you how (which I can definitely understand), why on EARTH would anyone think that was the best way to go about it?

My mom taught me to fold sheets nearly the same way—maybe you’ll find it easier, since you say you have trouble with the fourth corner. Instead of going one by one, fold the sheet in half so you’ve got two sets of two corners tucked inside each other. Then just tuck one of your sets inside the other. I swear there’s…

Thanks! Next step, world domination!

The sad thing is, women are also more likely to stand up to bullying, etc, if they perceive someone else to be hurt than themselves. It’s possible to shrug something off and think, “Eh, it doesn’t hurt me, really.” But if somebody says that shit to their kid? All hell breaks loose. So, though I agree that the way we…

I’ve been afraid this might happen to me someday. Good to know my fears are justified :(((((((

I deal with being grey by finding a thread that is at least tangentially related to what I want to say. Sometimes it means that I derail the conversation to my interests, but oh well! I decided that there’s no point to responding directly to an author, unless I come to the conversation VERY early.

I can’t imagine not stopping. I’ve been in situations before where I’ve called 911 but not stopped because I didn’t feel safe and didn’t think I could do anything useful, but if there’s a body in the street, you stop. Especially if it’s a kid, for heaven’s sake.

Maybe I’ve spent too much time in academia, but yeah, I think sometimes people forget that for people who end up in good situations (not erasing the people who have definitely been hurt either by the church as an institution and by individual people in the church), being a church member can be a source of comfort,…

Just looking at that picture made me feel trapped, and I’ve never suffered from claustrophobia.

My trick is to buy from a website that also has (1) a brick-and-mortar store in my area, (2) a decent return policy, and (3) free shipping for purchases over a certain amount. I buy a variety (enough to put me in free shipping land), try them on, and return the ones I don’t like without having to pay for shipping and…

No, it was poorly written. Not your fault.

Yeah, it sounds like the flap over “niggardly” a few years ago. Folk etymology strikes again!

It’s like my dad says, “If you ever find a perfect church, you should leave. They definitely don’t want someone like you.” So, I’ll send some internet hugs to you, fellow member of a family that sometimes demonstrates the worst aspects of family instead of the best.

I generally find nuance to be helpful. When you’re looking at a system, it’s good to know both what it does poorly and what it does well.

I mean, in the flood of information that enters the internet every day, I can’t see how a few pics of playing with dollies or riding bikes or whatever is going to matter. Worst case: someday, someone will laugh at their dumb hair or stupid outfit. I think they’ll live.

I clicked through, and they’re from Wheaton, IL. Everything makes sense now.