Many sympathies, Liese and loved ones.

And an easy fast to Nilly.

In completely shallow news, I looked in the mirror before I put my dress on this morning, and a person could have gone somewhere in just what I was already wearing -- cami, short slip, boots, all black. Kind of hot! But not work-appropriate....

{{{Liese and Mary}}} I am so sorry. That's just heartbreaking.

I could never imagine you offending me but I love your Yom Kippur post. It makes me think and reflect on my actions for the past year.

Exactly this. Thanks, Nilly.

While I'd obviously heard of Yom Kippur, I have loved Nilly's posts over the years. I think they have done such a great job of teaching me about offense and forgiveness. Yom Kippur is not my religion, but I (and others here, I know) have worked to incorporate the idea into my life.

eta: meaning-of-Yom-Kippur x-post!

Re: twitchange auction

The auctions are sometimes for a 90-day follow, retweet, and a mention. Others are 3 auctions with each item separate. Some celebs have thrown in bonus items like a call, a set visit, autographs... It has been suggested that an organization or company could bid for the retweet or mention from a largely followed celeb in order to get publicity. I find it all very interesting.

limeades

voting again and will register another email to start voting from that.

Thoughts and prayers to Mary and her family and with you also. peace.

Nilly, you have not offended me in the last year. I miss your posts, but each time you are able to join us it brightens my day and makes me smile. You are in my thoughts often. G'mar chatimah tovah.

You've done nothing to offend me, Nilly. I wish you a meaningful Yom Kippur.

I'm not even sure I can process the idea of Nilly ever causing offense. As American Jews redundantly say, good Yom Tov to you.

Liese, I'm so sorry. How tragic.

I just found out a longtime employee from another department died yesterday. Not someone I worked with, and now it's bugging me that I can't quite remember who he was. I'm not even sure we ever met.

Kat, I didn't realize that one could donate directly to your project in addition to voting! I'm hella broke right now, but I'm sure I can spare at least a few bucks.

Children as young as four can understand irony

"Previous studies concluded that irony wasn't understood before the age of eight or ten. However, these studies were mostly done in a laboratory setting and mostly focused on sarcasm. We examined children at home and took into consideration four types of non-literal language: hyperbole, euphemism, sarcasm and rhetorical questions."

...

The relatively high understanding of hyperbole and sarcasm might have to do with when they tend to be used. The researchers discovered that those two are use most often in positive situations, while euphemisms and rhetorical questions are reserved for conflicts between parents and child. They also found that mothers favor rhetorical questions when dealing with children ironically, but fathers are fond of sarcasm. (Speaking purely from personal experience...that sounds about right.)