Ha! Back in the 1990s neighbors would play salsa full blast at all hours. Blasting salsa at 3:00 a.m. does not make for a restful night. One night, when all this started, my roommate grabbed his boombox and cranked some PJ Harvey up to 11. It only took about three tracks before they glommed on and salsa generally…

In before "but but but First Amendment!":

From about 1985 to 2000, people would say to me, "you know who you look like?" and the answer was always Demi Moore. I never saw it, but people seemed to think so. I haven't gotten that in almost 15 years, probably because I've never had any of the plastic surgery she's had. I guess I'm the aging portrait she has…

Yes, because a child will openly discuss whether he or she is experiencing abuse in front of the parent (who might be abusing the child). I'm pretty sure that is what these five minute conversations are for, not for delivering Whore Lessons.

I never understood the expression "fuck like an animal" connoting anything pleasurable. You mean twice a year when I'm in estrus? I cannibalize you to provide nourishment for my eggs afterwards? We exhaust ourselves returning to our birthplace, mate and die?

I have to keep reminding people that they should never confuse enthusiasm for competence nor competence for passion. There are several intellectual/athletic areas about which I am extremely enthusiastic (running, beer brewing) but not actually very skilled and several things I am really good at, but get bored with…

A lot of these tricks seem like PUA "negging." They assume that their targets aren't aware of the maneuver and they are just as creepy and off-putting.

Wow! I always offer people water/coffee/tea when they come in because I'm trying to be gracious and also I think they might be nervous and/or thirsty and this little civil exchange might help them relax a bit.

So true. I LOVED chemistry and hated math, but chemistry (at the high school level anyway) is literally just math, but with a cast of recurring characters.

The thing about patriarchy is that we're all culpable within it—female and male alike. Until those structures are completely smashed, getting up every day and going to work, raising a family, owning property, etc. is supportive of those values whether we agree with them or not. Not unlike racism. Just because an…

Wiley's ability to convey vulnerability without weakness is amazing.

Uzo was amazing this season. You can practically see the demons she lives with in every scene. Overall, I was really taken with the range this season allowed for each of the actresses. I'd say my favorite is Danielle Brooks, who plays Taystee. Her performance was so subtle and her face so incredibly expressive—it…

I think it should be mentioned every time her name is brought up. We do ourselves no favor by ignoring it.

After Luna Lounge got torn down and Max Fish got priced out I'm not surprised. Much sadness at the loss of the street that defined my youth.

Truth be told, I've only ever been around wine that expensive when my rich uncle was visiting the city.

I went to college in Pennsylvania, but am from New York. I always thought it was weird that you had to go to package stores for beer and the ABC for liquor. Then I went to Virginia and discovered that you can buy wine in the supermarket and now I feel like I'm living in a theocracy in New York.

No park drinking in NYC. When my brother got married in a state park, the boozing had to wait until the afterparty at his house.

One of the very last vestiges of blue laws in New York is you can't buy alcoholic beverages in a closed container before noon on Sunday.

I'm not sure if it is still the case (I recall some discussion a while back about changing the law), but you couldn't take any leftover wine with you from a restaurant in NYC. So, you order an $80 bottle of wine and you MUST scarf it all down in one sitting rather than enjoy it over the next day or so.

The Hat has closed? How did I not know that!!! Ugh, there go my 1980s through '90s.