In lighter news (which would be anything after a conversation about root canals and tooth extractions), Mattel is going to release a Stevie Nicks Barbie.

So the two teenage sisters (Malia and Nickie, a junior and soph respectively) were very nice and a bit shell shocked.

I made them BEC sandwiches for breakfast, and sandwiches for lunch and sent them off to school. They'll be back here tonight and we'll see what shakes out. Hopefully their situation gets resolved. But I can roll with them for a few days.

Very kind and caring of both you and Matilda, Hec. Completely unsurprisingly.

I was pretty hesitant to take on an extra responsibility right now but they're low maintenance and very nice.

They're not even friends of Matilda. She just saw one of them crying in the class where she's a TA.

Amid all the news about bad things happening and nasty people, it's good to know that good people still exist and are doing good things. Yay David.

it's good to know that good people still exist and are doing good things.

As unfair as it is that Jacqueline doesn't get to see the second season of Our Flag Means Death, it's almost more unfair that she's not here for this.

Because she'd been itching to rescue teenagers ever since Ricky got kicked out of his house in My So Called Life. The gay teachers who take Ricky in were definitely one of her life goals.

The way some kids daydream about hitting a grand slam in the World Series? That's how JZ dreamed about saving teenagers.

When we were struggling with her diagnosis early on, we both acknowledged that we always assumed I'd die first. (Not just because I'm older but because she was always very healthy and never had any life-harming habits.)

I asked her what she had planned for the 20 years of her life after I was gone.

She said, "I'd probably get lots of cats and some dogs, and write a lot of fic, and I'd convert the attic into a dorm space for trans teens who had been kicked out of their homes."

I am, fully, not that nice. I try to help, which people are mainly blown away by, in my estimation, not because I make some enormous sacrifice, but because I strike people as a congenital help-ee, not a helper. But if I had been a young person having that thought, it might have been "Once my book becomes a movie," or some overblown shit like that, then I would. And I apologize for ever thinking that Matilda needed to toughen up--although I still think, if she doesn't manage to, it will be a tough road.(Maybe it always is anyway...don't know) But I am blown away by such a young person's inability to ignore the pain of somebody she knows so distantly...not sure even in my most delicate days if I quite pulled that off, and I really could not, to this day, share that thought with my father."I wanted to help," is not something he understands. ETA: Hec, when I thought that, it wasn't a critique of you as a parent...I don't know much about that side of life...a little from watching. I guess I'm not so sure that being very sensitive set me up well for anything. But it let M. be there for kids she doesn't know very well.

We rode on the ski lift to check out the glorious colors from the mountain top. Super beautiful. I talked myself into actually riding the thing. I kept my eyes open maybe half the time going up, mostly looking to the side rather than up or down. On the way down I kept them open most of the time. This is huge because I have serious height issues, but it was so pretty that I forced myself. I remember sharing this fear with Ed (DxM) and talking about hugging the back wall of the World Trade Center and not getting anywhere near the windows. So yeah, proud of myself.

She said, "I'd probably get lots of cats and some dogs, and write a lot of fic, and I'd convert the attic into a dorm space for trans teens who had been kicked out of their homes."

Yeah, I can see that. It sounds like Matilda inherited that gene.

I kept my eyes open maybe half the time going up, mostly looking to the side rather than up or down. On the way down I kept them open most of the time. This is huge because I have serious height issues, but it was so pretty that I forced myself. I remember sharing this fear with Ed (DxM) and talking about hugging the back wall of the World Trade Center and not getting anywhere near the windows. So yeah, proud of myself.

I'm proud of you too! So is Ed!

Yeah, I can see that. It sounds like Matilda inherited that gene.

Definitely, but with the added bonus of being much more outgoing and gregarious as a teen.