Letters to the Editor
HesterEastman
Published Letters: 210 Editor's Choice: 21
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Parents sshouldn't and can't be the first and last line of defense
[Read the article: Has Judith Warner gone too far?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]There are all kinds of bad things in the world. As parents, we should be the first and last line of defense against those forces. If we don't, or cannot do that, then there is more wrong with our culture and our society than one psycho mother.
So you set up parental controls on your computer, have a talk with your kid about on-line predators, put the computer in a common area (no laptops to sneak off to your room with!) and then what? Stand over your child's shoulder every time he/she gets online? Never let them in their own house if mom and dad aren't present? Make sure you never go to be before them?
Face it, you can't be the first and last line of defense in your kids life. A teenager has to be afforded the freedoms to learn and do on his own. You can set them up to make good decisions, but you can't be there to make sure they always do. Making bad decisions is part of learning and growing up. You just hope the bad decisions are the really important ones!
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But,
[Read the article: Quote of the day]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Who is Janice Dickinson?
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My 2 cents
[Read the article: Salon Book Awards 2007]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I completely agree with Then We Came to the End, I couldn't get into Oscar Wao and I'd like to add to the lists of overlooked women - check out Lionel Shriver (yes, she's a she and a brilliant writer).
PS Eat Pray Love came out in hardcover last year.
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No brainer
[Read the article: I left an abusive marriage, and now I'm in love with a thief]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]If you need to buy a safe in order to move in with the man, that's what we call a giant red flag telling you not to move in with him.
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More ideas
[Read the article: Salon Book Awards 2007]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Ditto Laura Lippman's What the Dead Know, but not for the new mom.
This year's other good read:
A Three Dog Life by Abigail Thomas - memoir
Forgetfulness by Ward Just - fiction
The Post-Birthday World by Lionel Shriver - fiction
The Keep by Jennifer Egan (or her Look at Me) - mystery
The Water's Lovely by Ruth Rendell - mystery
A Strange Piece of Paradise - memoir, outstanding
Cooking with Fernet Branca
Almost Moon by Alice Sebold (very good, not great)) - fiction
Something light for the new mom:
Little Heathens Mildred Kalish -memoir
Not That You Asked by Steve Almond -funny essays
A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon -fiction
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Trust
[Read the article: I left an abusive marriage, and now I'm in love with a thief]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]So many posters are advising the LW that she can't trust this man. They may be right (although they don't know him), but they may be missing the point. The real problem is that the LW doesn't trust him now. If you have to think about buying a safe to be around this man, something is seriously amiss already. Whether he can be reformed or not is unknown. But the fact that she doesn't feel safe with him right now is a big problem. And as she's been in abusive relationships before, I think she should take these feelings of mistrust very seriously.
I am curious what the LW's therapist says, too.
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Oscar Wao
[Read the article: Salon Book Awards 2007]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I think Diaz is very talented but I couldn't get into Oscar Wao. The narrator has this style that is hipper-than-hip, oh so Now and Cool that I got immediately annoyed. But I know people who got past that and really liked it. Diaz certainly can write.
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It's very Glamour
[Read the article: Who says Glamour and politics don't mix? ]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I checked it out - kind of light, very short essays. I'm not sure I was enlightened in any way. It seems appropriate for Glamour. But I am reminded once again that I am not the Glamour demographic.
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Don't create obstacles
[Read the article: Go away, can't you see I'm writing?!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I won't even let someone stand over my shoulder and watch me write an email. Or a letter to Salon. That is seriously annoying. But that really shouldn't be an obstacle. Tell your wife & kids (nicely) what Daddy's writing time rules are - no interruptions, no helpful advice. If they can't respect that, you've got other issues to attend to.
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Lord help us
[Read the article: Ask the pilot]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Is airline travel not enough of a hellish experience already? If we add idiots with their incessant cell phone drivel to the mix, I might blow.
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Is it really as efficient?
[Read the article: Breast milk minus the breast]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]A couple of things I remember being told during my breastfeeding days were 1- pumping did not extract as much milk as a baby would and that EP over time would decrease your milk supply and 2- the quality of breast milk is not consistent during a single nursing. In other words, different types of breastmilk come out at the beginning of a nursing than at the end, for nutritional reasons. I also wonder about the statement "a breast-feeding expert... suggests that breast milk in a bottle is superior to formula". I need something to back that up. My info may be outdated, however.
Of course, no judging! I admire women who pump for months when they can't nurse for whatever reason (I'm not sure I wouldn't have thrown in the towel myself). But I wonder if it's really just as good for the baby as nursing.
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Blue Jeans perfume
[Read the article: Eeuw! of the day]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Agree shampoo, Lipsmackers, Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific. What a walk down memory lane!
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The Salon letters - home of the bitter and frustrated
[Read the article: Indie box office: "Juno" slammo!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]It means that most people who go see movies are annoying wannabe-hipster types with $50 to drop
How bitter must you be to need to malign all people who see movies? That's like coming down on people who go to grocery stores or something. Going to the movies isn't especially hip or terribly expensive, but I guess if you don't have $10 to go to one, you might get nasty after a while.