I don't know that's irrationally angry, Dana. I mean, unless you are really freaking out and breaking things and/or hurting people....

I had no idea their regular turkey flavor soda wasn't vegetarian. EW.

I had no idea they had a turkey flavour drink. EW.

it would be nice to know, rather than finding out from FACEBOOK and having to wonder

That is a horrible way to find out. I hope you can get some information more personally soon.

My sister and I found out via a Facebook friend request that a cousin was undergoing a FTM transition--my mother knew and hadn't said anything because it hadn't come up in conversation. Thanks, mother. I found it perfectly simple news to blurt out to my father over dinner. Pork chops, if memory serves.

I'm sorry, Dana, that sucks.

But you should have paypal shortly! I know it's a small thing, but I really love the Bible. It's got more study than Bible in some places! And it's better than the notes in my last Bible, which didn't believe in the Bible. While I appreciated its academia and snarky social commentary, I feel that possibly my Bible should believe in the Bible. Anyway, it's great. Only problem is that I spent a good bit of the sermon Sunday rabbit-trailing on the awesome cross references.

And Perkins! You should also have paypal coming. Hopefully it will work this time. Thanks so much for the clothes, especially the dress which is gorgeous!

It's awesome that you love the Bible, Liese. I'm glad it found a good home, and I don't have to worry about being smited for giving a Bible to Goodwill.

xkcd today: heh [link]

I don't have to worry about being smited for giving a Bible to Goodwill.

I would think that this would be considered an act of charity, and thus not smiteworthy. (Although I guess it is faith and not works that counts in smiting maybe?)

Okay, I have no strong feelings one way or another on this story, but I have to love this response from one of the students:

"I find it hard to believe that an English class that teachs Shakespear would have a problem with another graffic story such as the one the teacher handed out. Granted Taming of the Shrew didn't involve a carrot up the butt but still."

Okay, my mother called an apologized for posting something like that on FB without calling me first. Nothing life-threatening is going on. And hey, now she has my work number in her cellphone.

My impression is that Bridges of Madison County is reasonably faithful to the book.

In fact, NSM. My feeling on both (as a consumer of both) is that the movie (written, amusingly, by the screenwriter of The Ref) is deliberately, fiercely unfaithful to the book.

The book really has one character, the Handsome Stranger With The Magic Cock Who's Gotta Keep Moving On Because He's Free Like That, Baby, and You Wouldn't Love Him Any Other Way (who also has a sorrowful lost love that haunts him, a rich and astonishing childhood far in the misty past, twice the photographic talent of Stieglitz and Avedon put together, and such depth as a jazz and blues musician that Magical Negroes break down and weep talking about the blinding beauty of having gigged with him--my hand to God, I'm not making the last bit up).

It also contains one cipher, an Italian war bride with no discernible personality traits aside from being Italian and a war bride (traits which are told, not shown), and a bunch of cardboard cutouts roughly indicating the Dull Husband With A Cock That Doesn't Sparkle, The Kids, The Censorious Neighbor, and the Other Townspeople.

She loves him because he is the biggest, most brilliant, most erotic, most talented violet-eyedest Marty Stu in the history of lousy books, and he loves her because...uh. Because she's there to be loved, a nice Bella-like blank into which every reader can insert herself. It's an incredibly shitty book, and a faithful movie would have sucked rocks. But the unfaithful movie gave the war bride a backstory and an inner life, made her cardboard family more vivid and fleshy, and kicked Marty in the nuts over and over.

I definitely know a few people who hated the movie precisely because they'd loved the book (or loved the movie because they'd hated the book) and it was obvious to them that the movie stopped just short of openly saying, "Hey, Book? FUCK YOU, YOU FUCKING FUCK."

But JZ, what did you think of the book?

(sorry)