The mom was trying to spare him the indignity of any possible affiliation with Michael Jackson.

Wow, by the 8th grade you would hope that one would have a better grasp of reality. I hope someone was gentle to him when they talked about the truth about Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy.

I don't know how Judy Blume is perceived by kids nowadays, but when I was growing up she got J.K. Rowlings-type of adoration at my school.  I think the only other authors that came close to being as popular would be C.S. Lewis, Shel Silverstein or Madeleine L'Engle (okay, Dr. Seuss trumps all but still).

That's a great story.  What book did she send you?

"Imitation of Life" was my ex-girlfriend's favorite movie.  I think it's because she's a black girl that wants to secretly pass as white.

Yeah, I listened to that TAL episode on a long night drive moving my friend from San Diego to Oakland.  We were mesmerized by the story, and kept looking at each other with our mouths open.  Incredible episode.

Where is your STAFF tag?

So true about San Diego being depressing.  I hate the begging they make the dancers do after they get off stage, going around the room asking "did you enjoy my dance?", expecting you to cough up a dollar bill.

I want to find out what server he's on, and occasionally whisper "Hodor" at him.

A.A. DOWNER!

Queue dwarf dancing.  RIP Joe C.

I was expecting a cover of the Coldplay song.  This had a nice Amy Winehouse-vibe.

A friend of mine's husband took a trip with a few of his buddies to Portland, on the pretense that "the strip clubs are better up there" (versus Los Angeles).  Is this true?  If so, what makes them better?

I hope you enjoy Before Midnight.  I really enjoyed the prior two films, but this one just blew me away.

Ice Pirates.  The first time I learned as a child not to trust a movie to be as good as the commercials for it.  Or maybe Dungeons and Dragons.  That was a friend's choice as a birthday gift, and he apologized profusely to everyone when we left the theater.

My friend's cat just recently brought a rat in and put it right at the head of the dining table.  Like it was contributing to the family meal.

More props to Elizabeth Moss here.  The look on her face when Pete's mother talked about the child that Pete and Peggy had together, I could almost feel her internal stomach-punch, as in "did Pete tell this old bat about the child I gave up for adoption?"

Queue Sally in her mid-thirties, dropping her keys while trying to open her front door, and suddenly having an unexplainable urge to vomit.

Did Kiernan Shipka sprout like three inches since we last saw her?  Her face seems to have gotten a little longer.  Our little girl is growing up!

Bob is not the gay we wanted, but he's the gay that we deserve.