I will give this a try! Maybe thin out the pesto with citrus or balsamic. Thanks for weighing in!

This is a possibility, although the descriptions I can find are pretty limited. One mentions that the protagonist is a mall-rat. Any guess on when the book is set?

Edit: This was written in 96, which would have been too late. Thanks for the suggestion, though!

Good questions! I think it was short by today’s YA standards - - maybe 200 pages. Definitely not a collection, just a short novel. It was more a historical fiction.

Thanks for the suggestion! Based upon the Wikipedia description I don’t think this is it, but I’ll read it to be sure.

I watched this over my Thanksgiving break and am so in love. There are so many themes and ideas to dissect. I wish I could find a viewing party or discussion group about it. That’s how I found your post.

I’m no great thinker, but I’d love to hear others thoughts on what I see this series positing. Are there always bigger predators? When can you trust your understanding? What does survival look like, and how do you know you have achieved it? What really drives us, biology or intelligence?

I work in with traumatized teens. There are times where they need to be isolated from their peers, but I agree that solitary is not therapeutic. Research and experience easily demonstrate that.

The reality is, though, that these systems are so underfunded and understaffed that these detrimental tactics are the only viable option.

I’m not defending the practice. I would never work in a system that uses solitary confinement with adolescents, but I have the luxury of choice.

Wish I was back in Texas. The ocean’s no place for a squirrel.

Has the nonprofit applied for the Google Ad grant? Worth looking into it, if not.

Texit?

The implication is that a vegetarian may have little or no basis for comparison, but OP can speak with some authority.

Thanks for teaching me. I can see that causing challenges down the road.

For example, I’m always on the lookout for all things quilting. If someone names their quilting community “Fabric Hordes” (not impossible, just look at phenomenon like r/animetitties) it wouldn’t come up in my explicit searches, and is very unlikely to be sought out or found by others in my instance.

Increasingly in my life, I’ve found this to manifest as an intolerance of frustration. Need a tool that’s not at hand? That project’s never getting finished. Anyone have methods for coping with this?

This is essentially why I’ve had such a hard time with this. Yeah, it was rude to ask for her to keep my dog for an hour and a half while I had a meal out. That said, if you can’t ask for what you need from family during hardship, who can you ask?!

At the end of the day, I was asking to put my dog in her backyard for 90 minutes so I could grieve with my immediate family. It’s just so hurtful that she couldn’t attend the funeral, nor could she be bothered to let my dog exist on her property.

My Dad and brother attended. We were in my Dad’s hometown for the week, staying with different family members. We live 6, 18, & 36 hours’ drive away from that town.

I literally wanted her to allow my dog to exist in her backyard for 90 minutes.

On grad stuff, I’ve always felt as you do. I even gave up my seat so she could go.