If this is satire, it's not working. No, I won't miss Oprah on network TV. I don't watch her show and haven't for years. In the 1980's, yes I watched and admired her. But come on. It's been the same thing year after year. How could that not get boring? My own mother grew older and wiser and more loving, then died. My friends got sick or chubby or crazy or finally wised-up; and some had children, some divorced, some married, they lost loved ones to disease and they got sweeter and better in spite and because of the wear and tear of life. But not so Oprah, who is too much the same person she was in 1986. So, though I don't begrudge her a good living and I wish her well (not that she needs my good wishes or yours), I am hoping she uses some of her time and money to get smarter, wiser, and happier. That would be a compelling next chapter for Oprah and make me a fan again.

"In this telling of the tragedy, our hero's tragic flaw is a mixture of incurable optimism and stubbornness."

These are some very funny letters, folks, and I enjoyed them immensely. I especially like suggestions that the mower and his wife keep the stick upright year round in their yard to support holiday lights, perhaps a scarecrow, or a flag.

Dropping off a tupper of cookies also has appeal, especially if the cookies are nor really very good, but look like they are delicious.

Now for a quick visit into the mind of the neighbor four doors down: She looks out and thinks - that guy always mows other people's bit of median strip and what does he do for me? Zip! Just puts this stick on my curb as if to say - take care of your own stick lady and what have you ever done for me anyway? Did you ever mow anyone's median strip, no you did not, so here take care of your stick.

Why I feel incensed just thinking of it. And who asked the mower to fuss so with other people's property anyway. So there mower's wife. Keep your perfectly formed but tasteless cookies made with Crisco instead of butter. And don't burden me ever again with your passive aggressive lawn care and overscrubbed tupperware!

I was given two Barbies in 1963. One had shiny black hair in a ponytail. The other had a black bouffant do - like the Barbie that Sally threw out the window. So, yes, I can attest to the fact that some Barbies had that black bouffant hair style.

As to the meaning of Barbie in this show - take a another look at Joan.

I get it that Sally was not in the mood for a mock present from baby brother Gene, nor for her mother's selfish attempt to buy Sally's quiet acceptance of baby Gene.

But in Sally's rejection of Barbie, I also read a nice and self-preserving proto-feminism. And so I am hopeful for Sally. For whatever reasons, she threw Barbie out the window. Bravo. And waking later that night to see Barbie back in her room, she screamed.

I have no quarrel with either Barbie, or the magnificent Joan. What is wrong is to be invisible, if you aren't Barbie and don't want to be Barbie. Ask Peggy about it.

Paula tries to be gentle and kind with the contestants. Even at her most incoherent, she communicates concern for the feelings and aspirations of the spotlighted hopefuls. That's a nice quality in a mean world. And a nice counterpoint on Idol - a show essentially about entertainers and wannabes using each other, while the rest of us watch agog.

Too bad this article is an unreadable mess. Why did I think Salon favored good writing over this kind of incoherent rehash?

Good for you! Now you have an opinion on American Idol, just like most of the rest of us. I enjoyed reading it.

Hospitals, colleges, and universities, like churches in the US, are almost always exempt from real estate property taxes. This is often a concern when non-profits propose to expand their territory in urban environments, that need increased real estate tax revenue. See, e.g., http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/26/us/26tax.html?pagewanted=print

Interesting review of a book which I would recommend to anyone who is new to the notion that Biblical text was written, edited, and selected by lots of people over hundreds of years.

Granted, any person over fifteen years of age, who has given the Bible a moment of honest thought, knows that men (and perhaps a few women) took turns writing and assembling its verses.

As a grown up, what interested me most was Ehrman's personal faith journey from belief to mature belief to doubt to disbelief. Where he stands in ten or twenty years will be of interest as well.

As a Unitarian Universalist, I take religion seriously and am always honored when someone tells me the authentic story of their faith, whatever its sources, sustenance and obstacles - be it faith in God or faith in us.

Just for balance I would like to add that I had periods for 40 years or so and rarely thought about them. It just wasn't that big a deal.

Is this fiction or non-fiction? Beautifully written and I want to know. A short story? An interview? Which?

But who knows, I may change my mind.

I may have to quote you on that.