I'll own that I'm not actually asking out of curiosity thought I present it that way. I only ask people who casually mention something along the lines of "I decided to go gluten-free recently!" If they said their doctor told them to go gluten-free, I would never ask. If that makes me a jackass, so be it. A few people…

That's nuts. It diminishes the experience of people who actually suffer from celiac or serious gluten sensitivity when everyone and their mother is suddenly gluten-free by choice. As I pointed out to some jackass who called me a jackass, calling the gluten-free diet a fad isn't insulting to people who have no choice…

Pardon me? I did not say that everyone is faking it. My good friend's husband has Celiacs. My brother suffered for years until they narrowed it down to extreme gluten sensitivity and he now avoids it at all costs. However, a lot of people have jumped on the bandwagon, and most people who have actual gluten sensitivity…

I'm tall and conventionally pretty, but with an average body that sometimes is slender and more often is slightly on the chubby side. A few years ago, before I met my husband, I was being pursued by this guy who was high profile in terms of his job, but was also 20 years older than me, short and beer-bellied. I liked…

My favorite is asking people following that fad to explain to me exactly what gluten is and why they can't eat it. So many can't.

My insurance doesn't cover it (I'm too old for the acne excuse, apparently) and it's a fraction of the cost in Canada. I got five tubes of generic retin-A for the price of one bought here, more or less. You do need a prescription, so my doc wrote me one with a ton of refills and I bought in bulk. There's a network of…

For a while, I was writing for a luxury magazine that had like 10 million ads for cosmetic procedures in a very cosmetically oriented town. I would get free treatments, mostly spa stuff, but one time I got a $6K Fraxel Re:Pair treatment and IT WAS WORTH EVERY PENNY (that I did not have to pay). It erased a lot of the…

As far as funerals go, that sounds magnificent.

I'm gonna ignore Lindy on this one because we had a friend read that fucking e.e. cummings poem at our wedding and it was lovely and meaningful (and didn't freak out any relatives like a couple of the other poems I pitched to my husband might have!). I believe I would sob uncontrollably if I heard it at a funeral. I'm…

It was the Maple Pass/Lake Ann loop hike, which is 7.5 spectacular miles just outside the North Cascades Nat'l Park. Highly recommend. The bear was grazing in a valley and it was HUGE. It was peak berry season and he had zero interest in humans.

There has been an increase in Washington's moose population and a decrease in Idaho, possibly due to an increase there of wolves? The Dept of Fish and Wildlife estimates that we have at least 1,000 moose, most in the northeast. Just curious: Where did you see it exactly? They are terrifying beasts. Elk, while large,…

I studied Italian as a minor in part because I loved Puccini so much (and I discovered Puccini after falling in love with Italy through the film "A Room with a View"). So I know the lyrics, and they are still magical in translation. But not nearly as lyrical.

Saw this concert at Dodger Stadium in '94. I'll never forget "Nessun Dorma." On the other hand, I never once thought about their sizes, just their voices, cause that's why we were there.

I did Pure Barre almost daily during the two months leading up to my wedding. Combined with regular running, I had awesome results. My arms, back and butt looked great, and it kept my leg bulk in check. I was not rather thin, just average, and got really strong and fit while taking those classes. You do need a bit of…

SD's firefighters are the best! My parents live on the border of the Pendleton base, where fires break out on the regular, and where a couple of big ones blazed last week. I knew they were in good hands. Even if the fire managed to reach my parents' home, these guys are so professional I'd never worry about their…

I freelance for the alumni magazine of my alma mater and they pay me way better than most of my clients.

My commencement speaker in 1997 was then President Bill Clinton. He spent much of his speech chiding California for the recent ban on affirmative action at state schools. My Republican parents were not thrilled, especially as Clinton's presence made security a HUGE deal. I still think it's cool that he spoke at my…

It's a lot of work if you're in the couple's social circle too. Suddenly you're crashing on your friends' couch and the woman goes to bed while her husband takes his cock out and asks you for a blow job. Or maybe that was just my personal experience with an open couple — one of so many that I learned were in my social…

When I worked at a hipster restaurant, someone wrote a Yelp review about how ugly my dress was. I remembered the customer too — she'd been wearing sweatpants with a slogan across her ass and was completely wasted. So, you know, I wasn't too offended.

It sounds like your dog is trying to be affectionate, which is totally acceptable to me. My dog and I would probably make her get tangled or confused! It's dogs that seem aggressive or really freaked out on busy sidewalks without a lot of wiggle room that bother me. My big golden is a total lover but it took me a…