Yesterday someone wrote something really mean about me on the Internet - so super mean, that it made me feel as I used to when I was in 7th grade and got taunted on the school bus. I nearly cried, but then I went downstairs to see always-dependable neighbour J.

He pointed out that the threat against me - involving fashioning some kind of weapon out of a coathanger and a tampon - only came up on, like, the fifth page of a google search for my name, whereas the fourth entry when you google him is a terrifying racist essay about a case that he worked on (he’s a lawyer) and includes a photo of him. And yet he is totally cheerful about it! So now I am cheerful about the tampon-hanger threat, and I am cheerful because it is good to have a friend who is a real mensch.