I'm not Jennifer Weiner, but I'd say that her first book, Good in Bed, is an excellent place to start. Great story, and does not suffer at all in comparison to her later works, which isn't true of all debuts.

Have you spoken with or do you know of any male writers who understand what you mean when you talk about how your work is dismissed because you're a female writer whose audience is comprised primarily of women?

I believe that the person who laughs the loudest at Donald Trump is Donald Trump. The man has gone bankrupt a gazillion times, and keeps getting people to front him enough money to build another empire. He positioned himself as the Birthers' political candidate of choice (at one point in 2011 he led Mitt Romney as the…

I would co-sign that theory.

Not in my estimation, because I believe that you have to be self-aware to be an asshole. If what you're doing is terrible and you're unaware, maybe you're not an asshole. If, once you've been informed about the awfulness of your actions (possibly from multiple, reliable sources), you still don't care and behave the…

Yup! When I was in France, people assumed that I was from anywhere but the US. I got Senegal, the UK, and even Germany. They could not wrap their brains around an American who wasn't white (and who also spoke French - I wonder sometimes whether it was the language thing that threw them). I had a great time there, but…

I went to R-MWC (when it was still R-MWC, I guess), and the name Lynchburg never really bothered me. My parents were worried about sending me to a school in the South anyway, since they'd left there thirty years prior to escape segregation, but I never had any experiences that made me worry that the 'Burgers were…

Sadly enough, that works on so many levels.

I still wince whenever I think of how hard I crushed on Ethan Hawke circa Reality Bites. Jeez. I know that I was a teenager, but still...no excuse.

True. I was definitely anti-abortion in high school, and it was while doing an article for my college's newspaper that I came to change my mind. Even when I was pro-life, it more of the "I'd never have an abortion" mindset (which I still have), instead of "All abortions are wrong." Abortion would never be the right…

That was pretty awesome. A slightly chagrined expression before contact is made, but afterward a tiny wince and then a smile. What are you gonna do?

Is it possible that these two athletes are incredibly bitter because, even though they're better than Lolo Jones, they've been passed over for not looking the way brands want their champions to look? It seems unnecessarily simplistic to assume that the attitudes predated being passed over for sponsorship opportunities.

The article states that she's Dutch.

Agreed. Anybody, male or female, who harasses another should be kicked out of the convention and dealt with in the way stated in the con's policies. No harasser should be dealt with more leniently because of fame, name recognition, or their sex. Zero tolerance has to be the policy across the board, or else things like…

What. The. Actual. Fuck. Indeed! People: even if you wonder stupid things like this, please keep your idiocy to yourself.

I did my eyes today (kind of low-key, but since I don't usually wear makeup to work, definitely noticeable) and felt good about myself. Clearly I need to step up my game, in a big way! What a great project.

Nobody had to die, but being in possession of a dictionary and a functioning pair of eyes will tell you that "not 100% white" doesn't automatically equal exotic.

Their son is pretty goodlooking, too. I tried to find a nice, casual picture of him, but he's always wearing some sort of douchey-looking hat.

Making it worse is that I bought a few pairs of socks from that Urban Outfitters location last month. Of all the places to be near when I remembered that I needed socks for bowling...

Whoa. I love everything about this picture.