I've always loved "incandescent with rage," both because I think incandescent is a great word, and I also love the image of being SO ANGRY that one literally begins to glow.

We were both walked down the aisle by both parents (which is pretty standard for a Jewish wedding, as ours was), removed all gendered terms from the ceremony text itself, and didn't announce ourselves as Mr. and Mrs. Dances at any point, although that last was more about his family throwing a hissy fit because he took my last name. We also had mixed gender attendants (each of us ended up with 2 men and 1 woman on our side), and didn't do garter/bouquet toss. We gifted my bouquet to the couple that won the Anniversary Dance (i.e., had been married the longest).

My parents never forbid me from reading anything, but my 7th grade English teacher once refused to let me write a book report on a Piers Anthony book, because of the adult content. My mom likened the book to Clan of the Cave Bear, which I'd never read, and I somehow thought the comparison would change my teacher's mind. It did not.

I feel like that's what the "a degree is a degree" line is trying to hit back at, which is kind of aggressively defensive? Like, "ok so we're terrible but HEY YOU GOT A DEGREE DIDN'T YOU and that's ALL THAT MATTERS so stop being such a whiner about it already YEESH."

I too was a figure skater in that era, and I have A LOT of thoughts about Tonya Harding, here goes.

She gets a bad rep, some of it deserved. But what people never really seem to realize is SHE WAS ACTUALLY REALLY GOOD. Like, she bombed at the Olympics after the whole Nancy Kerrigan thing happened, so people think "Ohhh, see, she actually sucked, no wonder she went on the attack," NO. She is one of only seven (SEVEN!) women in the entire history of figure skating to have landed a triple axel in competition. For years, she was one of only two (the other being Midori Ito, who was Olympic silver medalist in 1992 and arguably was a trailblazer for technical innovation in women's figure skating, also being the first woman to EVER land a triple-triple combination at the age of GODDAMN 12), the next woman after her not achieving it until 2002, an entire decade later. In 1991, Tonya Harding took the silver medal at the world championships, and barely missed the podium at the 1992 Olympics, coming in 4th. She was seriously really effing good!

She had a messed up childhood, abusive family, and never finished high school (got her GED so she could focus on her skating). And I'm not saying it excuses whatever role she may have played in the Kerrigan incident, because it doesn't, but I for sure have seen the sport and that kind of success seriously fuck with people who had a shitty background and that much talent. It's easy to see where bad decisions were made that she either didn't know about, or was coerced into by her abusive husband she'd married at 19, and I just can't help but feel really bad for her. She was an amazing athlete, and had a really rough deal in life, and all that anyone remembers her for is as a bad joke.

Personally, I'm a little more of a "I need to own my own space because I don't want to hear tiny yappy dogs, people who like to scream at and also maybe hit each other all the time, large bouncy poorly-trained dog and its beleaguered owners, or poorly-sung Adele at all hours of the day and night," but I guess I've just had worse apartment neighbors than you.

(All of those were neighbors of ours in our last apartment, and I had to sleep with earplugs in 90% of the time. It did Bad Things to my sanity.)

According to Mallory's talk, other acceptable categories include:
- Female weightlifters
- Outdoorsy archivists
- Stay-at-home medievalists

So, you've got options.

Indeed they are!

Toasties! We have (foster) cats! Please welcome Chester:


and Sunshine:


They moved in on Sunday, and went from cowering under the bed to sleeping with us in said bed in ~8 hours. Their likes include sleeping on either side of my legs, lying on our stomachs for scritches, and sitting in the window. Dislikes include the sound of the front door opening and...? That's about it? They are maybe the two most chill cats I've ever met!

I'm so sad looking at reviews of the sunscreen powder, since it seems like it's too dark for us truly pale folks. Who thought this through? Why deny those of us most in need of your succor, e.l.f.? Whyyyyyyyyyy??