Letters to the Editor
Allie_
Published Letters: 1242 Editor's Choice: 109
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dream
[Read the article: L'Engle's last wrinkle ]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I dreamed about her after her death. She was sitting at a grand table, wearing a blue velvet robe, drinking from a golden goblet that was passed from hand to hand. I didn't recognize everyone at the table but I did see C.S. Lewis. Maybe Bunyan and George MacDonald as well.
I did actually meet her once; she lectured at our church. She was mild-mannered and not imposing. I had expected a giant, an inspirational speaker, but she was more inspiring (to me, at least) on paper than in person. I doubt that I was able to convey my very great debt to her in the few words that passed between us.
During my freshman year in college, when I was suffering from very poor health, unsympathetic professors (one refused to allow me to make up a test during which I had been in the hospital), and the loss of a best friend, I think she probably kept me alive. The book I was reading then was "The Irrational Season." I remember one occasion in particular. I had just read an essay in which she describes coming upon an icon she had set up in the woods as a private place to pray, and finding someone has used it for target practice. On my door, someone had anonymously stuck a note: "How come you spend so long in the shower? Are you really dirty?" (Actually, I was suffering from an inflamed circulatory system, which made every part of my body hurt, and warm water was one of the few things that helped briefly.) The casual cruelty of someone I didn't even know took my breath away. L'Engle's essay helped me find a perspective to understand it.
When I was about eight years old, with mouse-brown hair, brainy, tall, and awkward, she gave me a heroine much like myself to believe in.
I can still recite the poem from "Swiftly Tilting Planet" by heart.
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title put me off
[Read the article: The scruffy charms of an insecure president]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The idea of anything about Bush being charming makes me retch.
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flush your toilet twice
[Read the article: Are clean shirts and energy efficiency only for the rich?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Because those damn water-saving toilets don't do the job.
I haven't done the math, is a water-saving toilet flushed twice, sometimes three times, really more efficient than a real, old-fashioned, functioning toilet?
No matter how stupid people are without government interference, government interference is almost guaranteed to make everything stupider.
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mammogram squish
[Read the article: Bouncy breasts seek better bras]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Yes, thank you very much to the previous poster. "Support" doesn't mean "crush everything flat". I'm willing to try some of the bras recommended here, but I have to wonder how many people who say there are great exercise bras really work out hard.
36E at the moment, I'm a 34D when I'm bone-thin. All natural. And I have never, ever, had a decent bra. I used to ride horses a lot and my boobs would ache at the end of every day.
Re: doppleganger. You have something wrong with your knees. I have nothing wrong with my boobs. The idea that I ought to give up sports as if I had an injury just because I have big boobs is absurd.
As for "if there's demand, there will be production": EXCUSE ME? When has America ever worked that way? More than half of Americans are overweight; try buying decent-looking clothes in plus sizes. Decent-looking clothes for women, I mean. Men have no problem; the same clothes are available in all men's sizes, from tiny to gigantic. But large women are SOL.
By the way, I was recently researching statistics on height and weight, and I noticed something interesting: the percentage of men who are overweight or obese is higher than the percentage of women who are overweight and obese. Just a little something to throw back in the face of people like our old friend Ben Dover who are always on about "fat chicks".
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I feel good about myself
[Read the article: Hit her, baby, one more time]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I feel good about myself for not knowing this happened until I saw this article. Yay me!
I had to look up Sarah Silverman to figure out who she was... oh yeah, she's the one who said Paris Hilton's jail cell would be decorated with penises to make her feel more comfortable.
Took me a minute to find the video and watch it... (hint: it's on the official MTV site and nowhere else, apparently youtube beats you to death with an ax handle if they catch you trying to post it there) and now I just feel sad. I'm sad that Britney is a mess. Far better women than Britney have destroyed themselves like this. Anyone remember Judy Garland and her puffy alcoholic eyes?
I'm sad that Sarah Silverman is walking around in public masquerading as a human being.
It strikes me that Brit may need the money. I know, it seems impossible. But people like her can run through unimaginably large fortunes very quickly.
The thing that struck me most about her performance - well, actually, two things struck me. First, the way her dancers helped her up and down, as if she might collapse. Second, the moment (it's towards the end of the song, an instrumental bit) when she wakes up and just for a heartbeat, maybe two seconds, you see the old Britney. In the old days she was a Robot Zombie Virgin, but she sure could dance.
The whole thing is just a damn shame. I'd like to see her win this one, but she seems determined to run from anyone who might help her.