On In Fabrication Uproars, At Least Everyone Agrees David Sedaris Is a Liar
@hockeymom I read (probably in one of these articles linked above, but I'm now too lazy to look it up) that Sedaris has his family members read his essays before they are published, and if they object he changes things. So I think this is an important distinction: it's humor, it's getting to some essential truth, the stakes are low, etc. Wherease Daisey's piece rang false to the other people who were there, and the stakes are much higher.
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On How To Make Veggie And Chicken Stock
I am one of those people who makes her own baby food.
But I buy my veggie stock.
Because I put my trash in the compost.
So...I think I am the worst person ever? Or maybe just a hippy vegetarian who's also lazy about stock?
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On Babies Do Their Thing
Man, breastfeeding my 7-month old has never been as beautiful as that. It tends to involve a lot more squirming.
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On Christopher Hitchens, 1949-2011
The Best Time I Met Christopher Hitchens...
He and my father shared a love of alcohol and excoriation. One weekend Hitch and I were both visiting my father, I was probably about 14.
I had made the mistake of arriving with several copies of People magazine, and probably had expressed my love of Princess Di.
My father thought it would be hilarious to set me up. And so he prodded me--oh so gently--to ask his friend for "the british perspective" on the monarchy.
Needless to say, my eyes were opened to any number of human foibles after that incident.
He was always gracious, at least to me, the child of his occasional friend. To this day he's the only man I've ever seen match my father for alcohol consumption, which is no small thing.
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On The Silent Majority Stirs
@Setec Astrology True, but the point is that the sharing and commenting functions DON'T duplicate G+. I have a small group of people with whom I regularly share and comment on a carefully curated selection of articles every day. We have ongoing conversations. I didn't realize until this became a thing in the last couple days that this made me (well, us) weird. This does not duplicate G+, and I'm really irritated that I'm going to have to create a new circle for those people and then share and comment on things via G+ instead of Reader. I know this may seem a little out of scale, but this actually will have a major impact on my social and intellectual life!
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On How to Fucking Vote
@Mollycule I have an unhyphenated double last name that I just noticed (3 years after issue) is hyphenated on my social security card. AGH.
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On Six Area Codes In Which At Least One Collection Agency Is Located
Agreed, except for the zoo, six flags, the botanic gardens and Ravinia. Or, you know, them too.
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On Understudies! Don’t Cry For My Dad, Argentina
This is charming.
As a Chicago (nonprofit) theater person I feel professionally obligated to advocate for reaching beyond the marketing morass of Broadway in Chicago. The Goodman is doing Candide in the fall--that's still downtown! And Court is doing Porgy & Bess--totally re orchestrated and de-opera-ified (whether it's de-racist'd isn't yet known). Some of the storefront companies do musicals too! Porchlight is all musicals, and the hypocrites are totally doing Gilbert and Sullivan, which should be crazy.
Also, I'm the weirdo who hates the Last Five Years. But everyone else who likes musicals loves it.
FINALLY, you clearly need to spend more time at Showtunes night at Sidetrack. Sunday afternoons or Monday evenings it's showtunes at the video (gay)bar. Alternate lyrics abound but all appreciate the art form. First straight girl to go nuts at the video for Grease is solidly mocked.
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On My Conversation With A Wells Fargo Fraud Specialist
LOVE. And only partially because I hear Stacy Vanek Smith on the radio regularly. Mostly because, well, I totally identify with this. Like, completely. Ugh. Yeah, there's no need to explain to the fraud people, but...you gotta keep up appearances!