"The job where the office had mice.

The job where the office had flying ants.

The job where a rat died in the walls.

The job where I knew it was a rat because there were more rats."

Did you work with me at the Professional Theatre Company From Hell? Where the artistic director had a dead mouse in a trap on her desk for weeks?

YES THE HERO AND THE CROWN. This book is legitimately one of the most important in my life. I discovered it when I was in 6th grade, and struggling with depression and anxiety so bad I can't believe I thought it was normal, and that I was able to act normal enough that nobody noticed I was a walking disaster of a human being. I'm comfortable saying this book saved my life.

Robin McKinley is one of those authors I will buy a new book on the first day in hardback at full price without even knowing what it's about. She is a treasure. Her husband of 23 passed away recently, and her blog have just been heartbreaking since then.

ALSO, as someone who was 6' by the time she was 12, I take huge exception to this: "This person is physically unattractive in this world because she is tall and has milky skin, and flowing hair and piercing eyes,” so like, they are basically a model." No, sorry. Being an extremely tall gurk at a young age does not make you a model; it makes you gangly, awkward, and very very hungry all the time, as well as a prime target for bullying because it's impossible to blend into a crowd. I've grown into my limbs, but I'm still pretty clumsy and feel awkward when surrounded by shorter people.

THANK YOU. As someone who has recently struggled through both sides of this issue, the advice to LW1 really seemed off and unhelpful to me. Over the last few years both my husband and I have been unemployed for longish stretches. Neither of us took is particularly well, because what exactly is easy about being involuntarily unemployed? I in particular was pretty badly depressed throughout my most recent period of unemployment, and often found it difficult to clean myself, let alone the apartment.

Was it extra pressure on mr. biscuit? Yes.
Was I doing it on purpose? No.
Is depression a moral failure? No.
For fuck's sake.

WELL there are a coujple.

My first email address was Ikki14@yahoo.com ("Icky" was a nickname in elementary and middle school, since it rhymes with my my first name. I spelled it differently because it looked cooler to my 14 year old eye).

My first screenname was Leggs384 on AIM ("Legs" was my nickname in high school, independently bestowed by two different groups, and I added the extra "g" because it looked cooler to my 15 year old eye)

And through all this I used "stone biscuit" as my handle on forums and whatnot. And I still do. Obviously.