OH MY. Really, she said that?! O_o

It was a long time ago. She was my father's aunt, my great aunt. According to my dad, she was perpetually sad. Seeing her unhappiness was one of the major factors in his rejection of Judaism in general and orthodoxy in particular.

She did. And she never remarried. It's a very sad story.

Yes, she did. :-(

I dislike religious extremism of any stripe. Their gods are always so dour and unforgiving. And yet, somehow Klezmer came out of this, and I love me some Klezmer.

Part of my family was orthodox. When an aunt of mine married a non-Jew, they sat Shiva for her, refusing to even acknowledge her existence until she divorced him. Even they would not approve of this.

This is all kinds of awesome! Congrats! I always look forward to your pieces; it's nice to see you getting some props in the world for your great work. Also, I covet your lipstick in that picture.

LIES! It is texturally revolting. Of course, this could have *something* to do with the jello eating contest I was forced to participate in during 6th grade. I have never recovered.

Larry King, you are SO WRONG. Jello is a scourge.

Boy, I could start a business!

Perfect! Tina is a much better friend.

Ooooo .... Splendid idea!

Dear first author: Sara is right. Your friend is an asshole. Want me to Photoshop her out of your wedding pictures?

We certainly do! Katelyn, you and Wellesley will get along just fine. Love, a Mills grad.

I was on a bit of a Johnny Appleseed tear not too long ago, as we've been making our own hard cider. We have some friends with an orchard, so we pick the apples, press the apples, and brew the cider. It's an awful lot of work, but so, SO good.

Johnny Appleseed wasn't exactly the figure folklore has made him out to be. He wasn't planting apples for eating ... no-siree. He was planting CIDER apples. His apples were for drinkin'! He was kind of a cool dude.

When I went off to college, my dad sent me with his copy of the Complete Works of Shakespeare, with all the notes he'd taken in it when he was in college. They were HYSTERICAL. The best part of any Shakespeare class was getting to read my dad's notes on the play/sonnet.

I feel the feels too ... but only the good ones. This is marvelous. He is working mg those lederhosen something FIERCE.

<running off to google right now>