she knows my background and that I am looking for a job. I have a networking meeting with her scheduled in a couple of weeks.

Sounds like a solid plan. If you want, in a week or so you can email/call her and express your sympathies and reiterate your networking meeting plans.

it it because I'm older?

I am laughing hysterically here. Yes, it's one of the many gifts of getting older. I've driven to the 250 miles to Nashville four or five times a year for 30 years. I've gone from feeling fine the morning after I got home to taking three days to recover.

There are a few candlesticks and a nice carving set around here somewhere from wedding presents, and the KitchenAid from my in-laws is still going strong. What I needed more was a divorce shower, since the ex got the television, the computer, the stereo and more than his share of the bookcases.

That's both convenient and awkward, flea. You hardly want to stand at the door tomorrow with his obit in your hand, but at the same time....

Oooh, a KitchenAid is definitely on my wish list!

And the comments section is full of nice guys warning women that their looks will fade and then they will be lonely old hags neener neener.

That is nice. They're so concerned! Who knew having standards was on a biological clock? Nice guys, that's who!

Taibbi has privilege, sure. That's all true.

However, she doesn't (and I don't have to) write apologetically, or try and reason with fuckers who are never going to get it. You can write like you have privilege.

It's difficult. I've gone through stuff I've written and removed the bulk of apologies I've made just for having the audacity to write what I think.

I was just going to apologize for making this all about me, for example.

Oooh, a KitchenAid is definitely on my wish list!

It is GOD. My mom and stepdad gave us a $100 gift card to Best Buy when my stepdad cashed out his credit card reward points, and then we also had Xmas money from other family. So Tim kept agitating for the KitchenAid, and I kept pooh-poohing him. Finally he asked me what else did I want to spend the $$ on, and I couldn't come up with anything, so we got the KitchenAid.

IT IS GOD.

Although he has *never* used it, and I realized he only wanted "us" to get it so that I would make him baked goods more often. Sneaky bastard.

(And I am, in fact, using it tonight to make baked goods. He wins this round.)

I got a KitchenAid from my in-law's for Xmas last year, and it is awesome.

I love my KitchenAid so very, very much. Even moreso since I've managed to finagle both the meat grinder and pasta maker attachments as birthday gifts. (There is really nothing that makes one feel quite so badass in the kitchen as grinding one's own meat.)

I adore my 4.5 quart KitchenAid, but I'm still making eyes at the 7-quart Commercial model: [link]

Taibbi has privilege, sure. That's all true.

However, she doesn't (and I don't have to) write apologetically, or try and reason with fuckers who are never going to get it. You can write like you have privilege.

Right. She didn't have to insulate her point with all the details about how awesome her life is in order to justify saying single is okay, and I had a similar reaction of "okay, but I haven't had a fifteen year string of satisfying monogamous relationships and fascinating travel yadda yadda, so where does that leave me?"

(I should caveat that I read the article a while ago, so I'm going off remembered impressions.)

So I didn't mean to derail. Just to make the point that Taibbi et al are even a further step removed than you noted.