My mom and I have a new tradition for xmas eve -we make a super complex dessert for xmas day. Last year (the first year) we made a Charlotte Royale:

In the horribleness of this week, Ntozake Shange’s passing will likely not be mourned in the way it should. This is a huge loss and I wanted to make sure to remember her here.

This past week has been exhausting - today after I watch Joy Reid, I plan to collapse and bingewatch something. Here’s what’s on my list of potentials:

Talk about anything related to politics here - your anxieties, your anger, your worries, etc.

I got off the train and in the stairwell leading up the the train platform a man was screaming at and threatening a woman. I stood at the top of the stairs and thought for a minute about going down the other stairs because it felt unsafe. But I felt I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t make sure she was okay.…

I got suckered in by advertising and decided to try both Daily harvest and Hungryroot. Currently I use Sunbasket - but have tried multiple others (plated and blue plate and then a local one). I will give brief preliminary reviews below.

I am recruiting for my study and wanted to use facebook ads. My ad was flagged as being political. I submitted my ID to prove I’m not a Russian bot - it was rejected. I submitted my passport - rejected, my passport card - rejected. I just submitted an appeal which should take 48 hours.

Hey everyone - I am livid and need help thinking of POSITIVE and PROSOCIAL ways of responding.

According to The Rachel Maddow Show a woman who was separated from her children at the border was detained in Arizona whereas her three children were put in foster care in NYC. An NYC woman organized a campaign to pay the woman’s bond so she could be reunited with her three children. They raised more than 10 times the…

I have things I want to share, so am making this an OT in case there are others with similar desires to share things with no clear threads in which to do so:

I burned my left hand pretty badly last night when I picked up a pan and the handle was super hot (it’s a pan my mom gave me for xmas - and it was over $100, shouldn’t it have a perpetually cool handle for that cost?)! I put it under water immediately, iced it till my roommate got home and then used some aloe she had.…

1. Eric Holder admitted on Chris Hayes (MSNBC) that he is considering running for president.

I just got home from Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Part 1, part 2 is tomorrow)* - and OMG! It was amazing! The audience was so into it - people were gasping and oohing and aaahing - it was so much fun! And the magic! And the sets! The only issue was where we were sitting - balcony behind a wall/railing thing…

I have a degree in X field. That field, as is true of some STEMM (second M is for medicine) or STEM-ish fields is female-dominated at the undergrad level, female-dominated at the grad level, (white)male-dominated at the faculty level (although female dominated at the assistant prof level or at the adjunct level), and…

My aunt is turning 50 and is having a party. I don’t know her at all - have never been to her house, so have no idea what her taste/style is like. I was just stalking her on FB to see if I could learn anything - and all I can glean is that she likes to drink (and drink a lot) and likes dogs. Oh, I also know she…

I had a dream last night that I got a job in the Hillary White House. I was so happy. I got to invite friends and family to come visit, and they were so happy too. Why can’t we live in that reality?

I just got home from a social outing that I organized, and I am sad, super sad. The outing was with 2 other postdocs, and they basically talked to each other the whole time - asking each other questions, showing each other photos, etc. The couple times I chimed in, I either got corrected* or no one seemed interested…

This week has been a big mix of highs and lows for me (sorry, the low part is long and whiny).