I was just about to say this and you said it so I don't have to! :) I've encountered a lot of people IRL (and just read a HuffPo article *BY A DOCTOR* saying the same thing) who don't believe that lactose intolerance is real and are very dismissive of or even smirky about it as a fad. I'm just like, "congratulations.…

Another alternative milk: fermented mare's milk, or kumyss. It's not easy to get a hold of (I've only been able to have it in Mr. Chortcake's country in Central Asia). And it's definitely an acquired taste (think carbonated fermented dairy...product that is very pungent and will make you feel strong and a little…

"...work is always going to be there, but our youth is not." Truer words never said!

Yes. It seems to me that the target demographic of the "summer job" reminiscences is one that could afford not to have a job the rest of the year. Which is also why I can't relate to the "a summer job teaches you so many things! Like how the other half lives! Summer jobs should be mandatory!" idea. I WAS the other…

I also worked since I was 12, though in my case my family was lower-middle-class and dysfunctional/abusive and it was more a punitive thing, like, "well, you're 12, and you're practically an adult now, and you're evil and YOU SUCK, and are really selfish, so you can't charge more than $3 per hour to babysit, but if…

This really resonates with me! These days I feel like a barely-functioning womanchild whose entire life is happening by accident, LOL. I hate doing admin with the fury of ten thousand suns. I'm so bad at it by nature that the only way I could do a baseline adequate job was by concentrating so hard that I had a…

If my mother was to be believed, Jeff Goldblum is actually at least 66. She went to high school with him, and he was a grade or two ahead of her, and every time his age would be listed in the media when I was growing up, she would blow a gasket. "38??!!! *I'M* 42, he can't be 38?!!" Etc. Not that it really matters—I…

Thanks! I was a fancypants analyst type with specializations in a couple of world regions. There's not that much work like that in Canada (there's some but you have to be a citizen, and that won't be happening for me for another year at least). I've been told I'm overqualified for everything I've come across, and my…

Ugh, here in Canada this new study came out that claims a correlation at least between Tylenol use during pregnancy and ADD in children. There was a cute little national news story about it that showed a (responsible, virtuous, RIGHT KIND OF) pregnant woman doing deep breathing and meditation exercises on an exercise…

I'm not sure what you mean, but yes—always Finland in my opinion! (Lived there, loved it, and if not for the fact that I'm not Finnish and would always be an outsider and also my visibly nonwhite husband was treated very badly, I'd still be there.) At least you'd get one of those awesome boxes when you give birth, and…

Yeah. We had mini-chortcake #1 a year ago and want to try for #2 and then maybe #3, and—despite a pretty unpleasant pregnancy/birth experience here in Canada—I'd MUCH rather try for them here than in my home country of the U.S. and A. because I don't want us to be freaking bankrupt. For one thing, I have large…

I love your answer! Also, I love "horrible world travel superiority complex" and the description! It's immediately clear what kind of person you're talking about.

Thanks! :) I'll try, once we go there again in a few months. Last time, the few times Mr. Chortcake and I escaped to an internet cafe in the city center, my MIL was all, "what exactly is this Internet and WHY do you feel the need to do it now?? You're a married woman!" But since they now have an internet connection…

Thank you! To be fair, there's some other stuff about (southern) Kazakh culture that feels wonderfully feminist to me—nobody pitches a fit if you breastfeed obviously in public, even if as a married woman in this region you don't go around bareheaded in an at-home context. Nobody expects you to shave your legs, even…

Oh, absolutely! I loved the girl's retort, and wished there would be a book about that. I was ranting about that on another thread somewhere and someone suggested that I write it. Maybe someday I should put my money where my mouth is....

Badly, in a word. One thing that Mr. Chortcake did that I consider a small victory: MIL was instructing me in the art of proper home maintenance and domestic goddess-hood according to their culture, and she was adamant about there being two large communal platters of meat + rice, or meat + noodles. The two men (Mr.…

Me too! I was early-developing (not as much as the early-developing girl in the book who is seen by Margaret and others as this sort of weird Other, but still early enough that it was not totally typical for twenty-five years ago), and I hated this book. I was getting crap about my early development from all angles—my…

It's southern Kazakhstan, the most conservative and traditional part. What did you guess? Now I'm curious!

Thanks! :D You're right—it was actually cold, but being anything but really really accommodating to a guest there is akin to, I don't know, burning the flag. It's the biggest no-no ever. So I would have given myself social etiquette second-degree burns at least!

Oh, I wish he were that involved/invested in the cultural structure, but his peers all say he is generally just a nasty jerk, who was kind of just treating me like furniture or bride-bot or something. It's sad, because by all accounts he didn't used to be, and it seems to be the effect of alcohol.