Yeah, the problem with this rush to mask-making is that it’s being done by people with very little experience.

Sewing is a hobby, and luckily I had a great stash of cotton/elastic as well as free kits from a local fabric store, so I’ve done about 25 masks so far. My secret, shameful thought though is.... does anyone actually want these?

I’ve donated most of them to healthcare workers, and give away the rest to friends, and have…

She was pitch perfect. She got a laugh every time during our preview, and there were actual gasps when Emma insulted her. Genius balance between annoying and enduring. 

I wonder sometimes if part of the problem is analyzing everything to death... and I say that as a classic over-analyzer. I spent *years* agonizing over my appearance and dating choices; was I too picky, was I too high-maintenance, was I too ugly and fat, was I too needy, an endless loop over relationships where…

“You’ll Get Better” and “Daylight” are gut-wrenching beautiful. “Delicate” was also my favorite off Reputation, though, so maybe I’m not a great judge.

I’m a Warren supporter, but you really could sell me on a lot of Sanders’ policies. Occasionally I’ll come across a passionate, well-reasoned and respectful argument for free college for all* and it nearly tilts me to supporting Sanders, and then one of his supporters will be screaming about “centrists” who want the…

I also love their Cold Gear tights! I’ve been wearing their sweatshirts as my outer layer (not a ton of wind, luckily) along with some Smartwool base layer, and it’s been working fantastic. I agree that running outside is the best; sadly, nearly every neighborhood within a 20 minute radius lacks sidewalks. I’d have to…

Yeah honestly at this point the fact that my body fat is the number that isn’t budging is what’s bothering me the most; upping protein and doing more lifting is probably the direction I’m trying next. My carbs have also been creeping up as I’ve been running more; my running coaches keep insisting that I’m slow because…

Then color me extremely embarrassed! Thanks for the clarification! 

Yeah, hi, I’m someone who has been failed by those exact same “laws of physics”* (guessing you mean CICO) and had some good in-depth discussions with Ishamael; they are one of the few posters I’ve ever run into that hasn’t subtly called me a liar or told me I’m just lazy and looking for excuses to keep being fat. So,…

Hope ya don’t mind a bit of thread jacking; you and I have talked exercise before (I’m the short lady that can’t lose weight), and while I have no interest in a stationary bike, I am *slightly* curious about the Peloton treadmill.

Right now I’m running about 16-18 miles/week, most of it off a treadmill; I’ve come to…

This is so absurdly not true for a lot of people. It’s great that you’ve never experienced an “emotional vampire”, but they absolutely exist, and will take advantage of dumping emotional stuff within reciprocation. 

If you haven’t run into her yet, check out Captain Awkward. She’s been such a great resource for these sorts of difficult talk/boundary setting scripts. 

Well and sometimes WE are that friend (I was!) and scripts that explain the concept of emotional labor and how someone doesn’t have “spoons” can be a great way to puncture our own entitlement. A friend of mine wanted to maintain my friendship, but didn’t know how to communicate when I was being “extra” without…

That’s what I do, but my friends and I share the same vocabulary like “spoons.” If you’re not a group of friends who get what that means, it can be really hard to come up with “just the right response” to explain why you can’t properly respond. 

I get the impression that she’s young, and this is an area where having only young writers really hurts a perspective. I, too, believed that establishing boundaries and coming up with scripts made me a “bad friend” or “bad girlfriend” when I was younger. Took a few years of being taken advantage of to finally knock…

I’ve seen folks on Twitter insist on “emotional work”, but the difference between “work” and “labor” is so academically wonky that it’s pretty useless in colloquial, every day use. Also, when I’ve tried to explain the experience to more clueless/entitled individuals, “work” is somehow easier to brush off than “labor.”

“ In the past few years, the concept of emotional labor has gone mainstream on social media and in articles that revive and expand the idea, with the term moving out of the workplace and insidiously into our homes.”

Yes, that sometimes happens with words in a language. A word that started with a particular definition…

The weirdest thing was a whole lot of responses to Omar that assumed she was *agreeing* with Gabbard, and this response was somehow in reaction to Clinton, and people begging Omar to stand up for Gabbard against “the establishment.”
Do these folks not remember that Gabbard went pretty hard on the whole “radical Islam”…

The real frustrating bit is that fat-shaming and weight is also a matter of perspective. I’m 5'1" and have been above 130 pounds for the majority of my adult life. According to an article on this very site a few years ago, that wasn’t “big” enough to “shed my thin privilege”... except I’ve had multiple boyfriends,…