Strap yourself in for the attacks by the Yoko defenders. I predict they'll start with how you just don't understand Yoko, then will move on to your inadequacy to appreciate avant garde art.

The way to spread good habits is joyfully, not on a shame basis. I have spent the past few years getting much healthier, and my friends are starting to get healthier, too. Not because I have ever mentioned to them that they need to change, but because if they express interest in anything I'm doing, I ask them if they…

You don't understand someone who is free from self-loathing?

I wonder why there's not more discussion of diet and exercise obsession as unhealthful in itself. I mean, everyone has to have a hobby, but exercise obsession is an addiction just like drinking or overeating - it keeps you from dealing with other parts of life because you're so focused on developing your abs. I know…

It probably means he's attracted to some woman who has a bunch of stamps in her passport.

Sometimes you have friends in common who drop info on the ex. It's not obsessed. It's overlapping lives.

Expectations and traditions vary so much that they're bound to clash at this time of year. Coupla examples: I have a friend who grew up rich and whose husband grew up poor. Now they're both middle management. The "rich" guy is used to spending tens of thousands of dollars at Christmas and feels he has to keep up with…

It's like the Light of the World came and landed in a cruise ship casino occupied by the Addams Family. So touching.

I am sitting on tenterhooks. We had a meeting Fri morning with the big boss and we have to cut a huuuuuuuuge amount from our budget for next year, which usually means layoffs. And my job is by no means essential. If I can get thru December, I think I will be ok. But I am definitely worried and not handling it at all…

I think most people who have preemies get a touch of PTSD. It's such a scary, confusing thing. I'm glad the kiddos are well!

I would be patient with her, because if she does manage to leave, she'll probably be on a roller-coaster for a while.

Ugh. I really hate being in a situation where other people try to foist their religion off on me, especially if they know I don't share theirs. It just seems rude.

I sometimes say that trust is more important than love. You don't have to feel all lovey about someone, but if you're going to stick together, you damned well had better be able to count on them.

My real most embarrassing story is this: I worked at a company with about 300 people. The deal was we either had to wear hideous turquoise polo shirts every day, or a hideous turquoise apron over our clothing. One day I wore a nice outfit with a silk shirt and thought "Damn it, I'm not wearing the apron over this." I…

Does every woman have a story like this? It happened to me in junior high (God! Junior High!) I left a puddle of blood on one of our plastic classroom chairs and was too embarrassed to clean it up, and because we had neglectful janitors, it stayed there all year, the red badge of shame.

I'm chemical-sensitive, so many perfumes and colognes make me sick. Chypre scents are the damned worst. 3-hour headache.

I wouldn't say she was "forced." I would say she made a heroic choice.

Some of these brutalist things sound awful, too.

Yeah, I did it for a weekend trip and the place I got was great. The owners even stocked the fridge with breakfast stuff and snacks (I was staying at a granny flat). The owners left the key on the door in one of those realtor box things with a combination lock, but they also stopped in to say hi when we got there,…

Any one of those things is enough to put one in a funk. Your mom dying suddenly is such a big thing. I'd just try to be as kind to yourself as possible. Breathe, try to feel your feelings, and don't worry about the weight right now - unless working out furiously would help you, which it might, just to sweat and suffer…