Recently rediscovered DaVinci to be exhibited at London's National Gallery November 9, 2011 through February 5, 2012.

And Antiques Road Show discovered a $250,000-$300,000 Frederic Remington in Minneapolis.

I was, and I've got it on my tivo...but am a few episodes behind. I've been trying to decide if I want to keep watching, I like the idea but it's fairly groan-worthy in concept (if only because...teenagers being teenagery can be annoying)

Yeah. It's the only show I can remember with multiple deaf characters who are all actually characters, but some of the teenage stuff can get irritating.

Knit or crochet wigs.

I find my kids are able to hold fairly complex views on God, like that some believe in one kind of God, some in another, some in no God at all, and Franny can articulate what God means to her. And yet despite that, I feel like I've been very remiss in conveying to them a conventional understanding of God.

It sounds like you're doing a good job to me. It's not as if they're going to have trouble finding anyone willing to talk about religion from a traditional believer's perspective should they grow curious about it later on.

Can we declare a moratorium on rape in popular media? I am especially tired of people's non-reaction to it. It's really depressing. Also creator's non-intent in what seems pretty clearly non-consensual sexual relations. In something that aired recently the showrunner called it "comeuppance" rather than call it rape. What? Never mind the continual Torchwood and Vampire Diaries noncon discussions. Also prison rape as rightful retribution and punchline.

In something that aired recently the showrunner called it "comeuppance" rather than call it rape.

Seriously? That's revolting.

ita, I second that emotion.

I agree, ita. I wish the writers/creators would stop non-ntentional using non-consensual things. Frankly, especially in shows with teen audiences, like Vampire Diaries. And even though I was the biggest Spike-redemptionista ever, I never really got over that bathroom scene.

At least Willow raping Tara got enough handling by the characters, I felt. Tara acknowledged it, reacted, and blamed Willow. Forgave her eventually, but reacted.

Still, yeah, I never digested Seeing Red either. I'm a canonista with the best of them, but I do replace that with an attempted vamping in my head canon.

Sophia, that's exactly what I flashed to the instant ita said that. And I remember wanting the moratorium way back then--I'm pretty sure I had a long discussion with Hec over it. In general I'm all for total artistic freedom and leaving everything in the universe totally up for grabs at the artist's discretion, but rape is just... it's not like anything else. It's a big toxic mess, sex and not sex and a shitty, selfish crime just like any other and completely unlike any other, and it's so fraught with ugly meanings and implications that it's just unusable as metaphor. It's radioactive; it mutates the entire story and all the characters and the creators and the consumers of whatever art attempted to use it to suggest anything but itself, and it has a half-life of approximately forever.