You seemed a little dismissive of the parents' claim that banning Barbie would make it more appealing. My daughter got Barbies from the get go, but I told her no Bratz dolls (too much makeup, not enough clothes, and, of course, you're right about the familiarity thing). Within days of the Bratz ban, my then four-year old began to equate anything pretty with Bratz. "Mommy, I love this dress! I look so Bratz-ish!" Banning toys makes them exotic and more appealing. I dropped the Bratz ban, and now my daughter is uninterested in them. This is may be the flimisiest of anecdotal evidence, but I tell ya, I think it's true.

Has anyone brought up this quote from Annie Hall yet:

"You know, I was having lunch with some guys from NBC, so I said, 'Did you eat yet or what?' And Tom Christie said, 'No, JEW?' Not 'Did you?'...JEW eat? JEW? You get it? JEW eat?"

Sounds like Broadsheet has a slight case of the Alvy's...

I'm not sure I buy the analogy of not joining a club that wouldn't allow blacks or Jews. Marriage, after all, is only a two-person club. That said, one of my favorite things about being married is that when I rent a car, my husband can legally drive it without presenting ID to the guy at Enterprise - the myriad little conveniences that come along with that piece of paper. And it's NOT fair that gay couples don't get to enjoy those same little perks. Someone above said that it's probably time for the government to get out of the marriage business all together and into the civil unions business exclusively. That just seems so sensible... I guess it'll never happen

Well, I certainly don't think Michael Scherer sucks at all. And maybe this is off-topic, but journalism only became democratized after it failed us so badly. This is the result of obsessive reporting on Monica Lewinsky, skewed reporting on Al Gore, and tragic kowtowing to the Bush Administration in the years after 9/11 which culminated in the tragic debacle in Iraq.

I watched the first four seasons of Gilmore Girls DVDs in between trips to Russia when I adopted my daughter. I watched most of season one on DVD the day after Bush won his second term. Such quick, smart escapism, and with so much heart! I'm going to miss the hell out of that show.

And, golly, Joy, I loved Lorelei's karaoke moment! In the hands of a lesser actress, it could have been really cheesy. But Lauren Graham brought it! For me, that was right around the time the show jumped back over the evil Christophery shark back to the light side.

Shit. I'm gonna miss those girls.

Grab your Cheesehead and root for the Colts. It may be silly, but it's not stupid. Even when we're rooting for different teams, sports bring us together in a way that little else can in these fragmented, splintered, On-Demand-but-still-relentlessly-glum times. For a few hours tomorrow, most of us will be doing the same thing. And that's kind of cool.

Embrace the Superbowl, my friend! Enjoy the game. Have a friendly argument with a Bear fan about whether Yogi Berra was right when he said a good offense will always beat a good defense; or if Yogi Berra was right when he said "And vice versa." Keep your heart light, enjoy a little smashmouth defense and a completely devastated passing game (have I betrayed my allegiance?). And, above all else, ditch the soul searching and have a good time! And, for God's sake, GO BEARS!!!!

If my cheeks are red it's only because of all the wine I downed while microwaving little Rebekka's mac and cheese.

It would be a lot easier to take this column seriously if the writer weren't just so dripping with derision and moral superiority. Honestly: "Refueling Gabriel, Rebekka, Isaac and Yazmin after a grueling toddler networking session? The well-stocked mom breaks out the Annie's. Three-course dinner with (mucho) wine for the grown-ups?"

Jesus, what an asshole.

I read HH's columns every week mainly because she kills me I think she's so funny. After this one, though, I find myself more irritated than usual by the vitriolic letters about how soulless and vapid television is. Here's a theory I'm working: these are people who ditched their TVs back in the 80s and have grown so attached to this particular manifestation of their intellectual (moral?) superiority, that they haven't noticed (a) there's a lot of really compelling, smart TV out there which (b) is available at your own schedule for the watching. In other words, no one posting letters here rushed through dinner to catch this week's Very Special "Who's The Boss."

For example, I come home from work, make dinner, play with my daughter, bathe her, read to her, etc. Then, after her bedtime, I can catch up with whatever work I didn't finish to get home to do these things. Tidy the house a little, read the editorials. And then I can sit down and watch Battlestar Galactica or Ugly Betty or some other TV show that manages to be way better than anything I've seen on the big screen in the past year.

And I love that! Then again, I watch TV, so what the hell do I know?

Quote:

"I think the part you're missing is that culturally, socially, economically, and philosophically, the South is, and always has been, an embarassment to the United States."

You know, I was going to run down a partial list of the great writers, statesmen, musicians, and artists to come out of the embarrassing South. But, for God's sake, I don't want to play this game with you. If you think the entire geographical region is an embarrassment, that's your baggage and your loss.

Heh. You must of missed the part where I said I lived in Chicago now. You want to talk about cronyism? Dude, cronyism was invented here!