I have been scratching my head wondering if I was the only one who is not "outraged" at Polanski's recapture. He admittedly raped a 13 year old and then fled when he thought the punishment might be too harsh. I don't feel sorry for him at all. If he felt that there was prosecutorial or judicial misconduct, he should have availed himself of the remedies within the legal system. Instead, he fled.

On another note, Americans seem more forgiving than usual. Happy to hear that if one is able to evade capture for a certain period of time and doesn't repeat his/her crime(s), then all will be forgiven.

- It kind of sounds like there may be some cultural influences at play. I just wondered about family origin since LW used nouns like "studies."

- Assuming that LW's family immigrated to the U.S./whatever country LW currently resides in, it would be helpful for the LW to understand where her mother is coming from in terms of views about sex, education, etc.

- Regardless of where LW's family is from, it may be that the LW's mother is scared that LW will make the wrong choices, as perhaps mom did. Mom may be incapable of accepting that daughter is sexually active, but it might be helpful for daughter to approach mom in matur-ish fashion and let her know: (1) bf treats her well; (2) she and bf use birth control; and (3) she intends to pursue her studies to completion/ the relationship has not affected her goal to finish university.

Finally to LW: If you are going to leave your mom's house (I would seriously reconsider your plan to leave your mother's house), DON'T MOVE IN WITH YOUR BOYFRIEND!

FYI -- Trump owns the Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants. It appeared that the Miss California USA organization wanted to replace Prejean as Miss California, but was overridden by Trump. Compare to Miss Nevada a couple of years back who was fired for late-discovered racy pics: backhttp://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,237897,00.html

Just another plug for the school. I am a California (minority) Girl, as well. I went to Stanford for undergraduate and to the Northeast for grad school ... and I was lost my freshman year (and my first year of grad school). In both situations, I needed time to adjust to new school, new city, and/or new friends.

Although I am plugging Stanford, I agree with the other posters (and Cary) here: give yourself a break. A lot of overachievers are going through the same thing. You might be happier at Stanford (where at least your family will only be, at most, an hour away by plane), or you might really find your niche at your current school, but know YOU ARE NOT THE ONLY ONE GOING THROUGH THIS. Try and let go of the expectations you put on yourself. You are still a very smart, very accomplished person even if you are not following the path you thought you would follow.

Does your school have a policy where you can "stop out" and come back? Some time off might really give you some perspective and time to recover.

Finally, if happy people bug you, Stanford may not be the place for you ... It may just be nostalgia, but Stanford is like those "real California cheese" commercials: Great cheese comes from happy cows; Happy cows come from California.

WHO CHOOSES THE EDITORS' CHOICE LETTERS??? "Stop your whining"?!? Why do I-had-it-worse-than-you-so-you-should-be-grateful stories warrant an Editors' Choice? Isn't this a book about all the things they don't tell/what you don't know about being a new mom? You know, the kind of thing that other new moms feel but can't express because of how wonderful they are supposed to be feeling about motherhood and how capable they are supposed to be as mothers. Unfortunately, you can't share how miserable and frightening those first few weeks are because you would be "whining"; plus, look how much worse it is for other new moms, like those who had preemies or sick children. Way to marginalize the feelings of those new moms who had "normal" deliveries.

The ladies of The View, save Elisabeth, of course, voted for Hillary in the NY primary. Whoopi, Joy, and Sherri were on the fence and said so on the show (apparently -- I didn't see this episode). Sometime after the primary, they all discussed that the same afternoon of discussing their ambivalence, they all got calls from Chelsea Clinton. They all then voted for Hillary and said so on their show. I think that counts as an endorsement, useless, pointless, immaterial, or otherwise.

Among the ridiculous points in the ABC "news" article is the concept of "legally drunk" (a pet peeve of mine in many of these articles and news stories). "Legally drunk" to do what? Drive? Well, yes, .08% BAC in most states means that you are "legally drunk" and should not drive. It does not mean, however, that you are "legally drunk" as to walking down the street, partying, or otherwise. Perhaps the researchers are more precise in their journal article -- one should hope so -- but I am tired of journalists failing to get this concept down. How about just "drunk" or "intoxicated" and leaving the "legal" part out of it unless the subjects in question are driving or boating?

See episode where McDreamy and Addison split their assets. Of course, if Addison sold the house in the Hamptons or the Manhattan brownstone (Derrick "only wanted Seattle"), she could also make a sizable down payment on the Southern California house by the beach, if not buy it outright.

I am really, really sorry that I know this tidbit. I made the mistake of watching the catch-up-so-you-know-what's-happening-on-the-Grey's-Anatomy-spinoff show. I wanted to turn away, but could not.