Thank you, but please no brackets for me. It feels disingenuous given what others lost.

Oh, god, Pix, I'm so sorry. It's all so awful.

I went climbing last night, then watched a couple of episodes of Fringe (am I supposed to care about Peter? I really don't). Now I'm going to walk the dog and do some cleaning, and then take my mother out for some Christmas shopping. And then maybe take her & my dad to lunch at Trader Vic's.

I had the jeweler fix up one of her old rings: it was missing an amethyst and a bunch of seed pearls. Turns out it was her grandmother's, a woman who all we know about her is her married name. And that she and her husband died young, leaving her daughter to be raised by her sister. It's cool to have a physical connection going that far back.

{{{{{Pix}}}}} You were one of the first people I thought about when I heard the news. Love and thoughts headed to your friend's friend. I'm so sorry. I am also disgusted by many of the reactions I saw on my FB list yesterday.

ETA: I posted before I saw you say no hugs, but I honestly want to hug all the teachers, parents, and kids I know right now.

Oh, Pix, I'm so sorry. My heart goes out to your friend and her colleagues. I can't even imagine the terrible impact of this on such a small, close-knit community. And, ugh, ND's niece and possibly the most ill-timed and ill-directed comment ever.

My niece just parrots all the right wing talking points. More than a little frustrating. Also she's afraid the "foreigner in the whitehouse" (Obama) will take aay her toys (guns).

Ugh. Pix and ND how aggravating.

I think the psychological harm of making schools have prison-like security is far more harmful that the possibility of the rare crazy person. We see every one of these incidents on a continuous loop for days, making it feel like there are far more such incidents than there really are. Such precautions are not even likely to be effective; any security expert will tell you there's no defense against a person who plans to die in an attack.

The only way arming the teachers could possibly help is if the teachers were required to have been in the military in an active fire zone. Without training and experience, few people can react correctly and fast enough. You might as well say that we need heavily armed kindergarteners.

Pix and ND, I'm so sorry.

Stephanie, I'm so frustrated on your behalf.

Exactly, Ginger.

I have a friend whose husband, who was a very well paid physics rockstar, went to court to reduce the amount he paid, claiming he couldn't afford it. He didn't think he could possibly reduce the $2,000+ a month he spent on expensive restaurants. The judge did laugh.