Good advice on the second letter. Friends grow apart, and it's not anyone's fault. Is it worth it to cling to a friendship with a person that you have absolutely nothing in common with anymore? A person whose priorities are so drastically different from yours that it's like they're speaking a different language?

Awww, are they not respecting your free speech on this privately owned website? Poor dear.

Well, look at the adults in the conservative Christian movement. See how they play the victim, see how effectively they can derail any reasonable conversation. These kids have learned well.

So many parents seem to actively teach their children to disrespect their peers and teachers, to thumb their nose at the school. . .and then the same parents whine that their child hasn't learned anything.

This is awful no matter how old your kid is, but to say that to a first-grader?!? Sheesh, poor kid. I hope you have a chance to talk with him again about it.

You also have to love how they seem to think ALL OF AFRICA has one homogeneous culture. Africa: Pretty Much the Same Everywhere.

Not to mention the viral load per vaccine is usually waaaay lower than the shots we received as kids. Most vaccines are fine if the child just has a mild cold or something.

Well. . .if you lived somewhere cheaper, you wouldn't need a job that paid as well. That commute sounds exhausting. Is there any way you could work from home more?

Make it wit chu by Queens of the Stone Age. Silly, corny, but still awesome.

I was close to my grandfather too, but he's been gone a long, long time. I'll tell you a happy/funny story about him. When I was about seven years old, I stayed with him for two weeks because my parents were in Europe. It was early summer, and the fireflies (or lightning bugs, whatever they're called in your neck…

You're not being too sensitive. No true friend would give you a hard time for not drinking. I've always been a social drinker, and I can tell you, it's NOT hard having friends who don't drink! Some abstain for personal reasons, some for religious reasons. It doesn't matter, we can all still get together and have a…

Keep your eyes on the prize - getting your teaching credentials. I would wait until that's accomplished before tackling some of the personal stuff. Do you have a parent or someone who could/would co-sign on an apartment for you if your credit's not good enough to rent by yourself? If not, that's going to limit your…

I assume the "24-hour security" that comes with your transportation is mostly there to keep you from making a spectacular ass of yourself while running around town?

Beautiful. I hope she has a really, really good teacher who helps her stick with it and not burn out!

Elaborate how? I'm not giving names. . .

Ah, there's so many now mine's going to be buried! Oh well, here it is:

Well? What tattoo did he help you pick? What does it look like?

I'm pretty sure EVERYONE is going to the mall less. Shit's overpriced, and most of the malls near me have lost at least one anchor store in the last few years.

Yes, everyone has missed his point because of the stupid way he followed it up. I personally know at least three actively, obnoxiously "pro-life" families where a daughter or mother quietly obtained an abortion. Because, you see, it's different when THEY need one.

It's everywhere. Not just in the South, and not just in the U.S. Having said that, many areas of the South do seem to be more blatant about it, don't they?