#amy dickinson

[kristsune]

There was some excellent silliness during the G.O.B.L.I.N.S launch stream which I have included here: Imogen is Refreshed, waiting for a bus, Imogen attempts to leave the call, Bypass, Tim attempts to spell Goblins, A Meredith cannot be held hostage, Rule of Two, slap those thighs!, pentollpentollpentoll, Too Real, tazing doesn't leave marks, goblin kink, laying pipe, cthulu prick, so much piss, martyn doesn't stir the pot at all, the sharpest teat, and the endless wink. (screenshot of one of the few moments everyone was actually in shot).

[askamydaily]

FINALLY ...

I don't have to care about gender reveal parties.

(The following column runs in newspapers across the country on May 24th, 2024)

Dear Readers: After 21 years writing the “Ask Amy” column, I’m announcing that I’m leaving this space. My final column will run at the end of June.

I’m healthy, happy, and 64-years-old. This is a decision I’ve been wrestling with for over a year.

When I was first hired by the Chicago Tribune to write an advice column after Ann Landers’ death, I was a middle-aged single mother. My daughter Emily and I moved from our long-time home in Washington DC and relocated to Chicago. 

[Emily and Amy, Freeville, NY. Photo by Chris Walker for the Chicago Tribune]

My welcome to Chicago was to deliver a solo performance of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” in front of 35,000 baseball fans during the 7th inning stretch of a Cubs game at Wrigley Field.

This turned out to be a metaphor for my experience writing this column, which has been an exuberant and sometimes nerve-wracking effort of trying to hit the right notes before a huge audience. 

After several great years in Chicago, Emily left for college and I moved back to my tiny hometown of Freeville, NY (pop. 505), to spend time with my sisters, aunts and cousins, and to be with my mother at the end of her life. 

My experiences have mirrored those of many of my readers. For me, these last two decades have been about the intensity and consequences of both love and loss. 

After returning home, I promptly tumbled into a Hallmark Channel plotline, when I fell in love with and quickly married a man I’ve known since childhood (we grew up on neighboring dairy farms). My husband Bruno and I then blundered into the oftentimes awkward blending of our family of five daughters. 

[2008, Freeville, NY]

I became a stepmother, and then a grandmother, all before I believed I was ready. 

My mother and her three wonderful sisters are gone, now. A niece and nephew died, tragically, while in their teens. Much of my recent life has been absorbed by caregiving, mourning, and recovery.

Day in, day out -- over the last two decades – readers have generously shared their own vulnerabilities about many of our common experiences. I’m grateful that we’ve been able to help each other.

I’ve burned through eight laptops, opened bushels of postal mail, written columns in the car, on board planes, in hospital waiting rooms, on my honeymoon, and at my mother’s bedside. During this time, I’ve also written two books, a screenplay, and scores of essays. 

Doing this work has sent me into therapy. It has inspired me to explore the teachings of world religions, and to seek the insight of thinkers like Joseph Campbell and Carl Jung. I’ve quoted the wisdom of Maya Angelou, Joni Mitchell and Fred Rogers -- as well as dozens of poets, social scientists and psychologists. 

I’ve made my share of mistakes, been well-pranked – at least twice (that I know of), and learned how to apologize, ask for forgiveness, and to forgive other people for their own mistakes. Inspired by readers’ dilemmas, I’ve also worked hard to mend fractured family relationships and to be a better friend.

My personal experiences are a reminder that we humans can’t really control what happened before or what happens next. Joy, like grief, comes at you in such unexpected ways. That’s why it is so important to pay attention. I’ve learned to do that.

Being an advice-giver has challenged me to be aware of cultural, social, and relationship trends -- and to appreciate the quirks of human behavior.

When readers get frustrated by my lengthy answers to sometimes petty problems, they will often suggest that I should just tell people to “get a life!,” but I think that wrestling with our questions – from the quotidian to the profound – is living.

For the next month, I’ll continue to publish fresh columns and rerun some favorites. After that, my fantasy is to drive an RV across the country, visiting people I’ve met through this work who have challenged me and tantalized readers with their anonymous requests for advice.

In my hometown, I’m opening a little lending library. You can find me on social media, through my Asking Amy newsletter, at amydickinson.com, or at the Freeville Literary Society on Main Street – talking books with kids and offering advice to anyone who asks.

Love,

Amy

[goodold-fashionedlovergirl]

The pilot for the Goblins Pod has launched! And with that the Crowdfunding.

Honestly the people behind this podcast are so wo nderful, kind and funny. It would be so amazing if you would listen to the Pilot and chuck some coins their way!

There is also a Crowdfunding stream on 6.30 BST here. I know it would mean the world to them if you'd say Hi! (Chat there is also very nice)

[waiting-eyez]

You cannot tie your fiance to the railroad track of self-reflection and personal improvement.

(Amy Dickinson)

[the-magnus-scrotocol]

*not Magnus Related*

Finished backing the G.O.B.L.I.N.S series 1 Podcast!

Oh boy! My backing reward is…. wait what?

[catmint1]

Being a parent, it turns out, isn't about deadlines. It's about the space in between. Parenting is not a process of control, but of surrender.

—Amy Dickinson, The Mighty Queens of Freeville: A Mother, a Daughter, and the People Who Raised Them

[the-black-dragons-den]

These pop up in my article feed all the time, and I usually really like Amy's advice, but also every time I see her face it feels like I'm looking at my future self. Like, I think that's exactly what I'm going to look like at her age.

And idk, there's something very comforting about that? Like, she's successful, she looks happy, if that's future me, I've got a good shot?

[loveboatinsanity]

[dog-botherer]

THE G.O.B.L.I.N.S. PODCAST HAS BEEN FULLY FUNDED Y'ALL THIS IS AMAZING

[freevillelitsociety]

I have been eager to share my own love of reading and books, and so I decided to open my own little lending library on Main Street in my small hometown.

[kristsune]

There was some excellent silliness and plenty of piss for the Uncharted stream, including fun bits like: goldilocks camera, a big ask, so many pixels, 3 years of nonsense, the prick bin, table pants, very rude, hi I’m Nate, big boy bath, parkour, Tim perfect, Jonny and Tim locked in eternal struggle (bigstreams beef??), massive raccoons, mud lads, who’s the toilet?, no notes, Say Yes To Piss, immediate u-turn, warden’s dungeon, absolutely turgid fool, all four hours, holy sexy christ batman, Tim’s opinion on homestuck, penitent man will pass, big naturals, title sequence song, its the boy, and the raid that we missed due to lag.

art by erebusodora, screenshot by me (had to keep those captions)

[askamydaily]

Great news: I've left my syndicated "Ask Amy" advice column and have started a new venture -- a lending library in my hometown.

[newsreports-online]

Ask Amy: Where I grew up, this would be considered alarming

Dear Amy: My husband and I live near his parents. They are very nice people, but they have a terrible habit of showing up at our house uninvited. Like they’re out doing errands and then they just stop in. Honestly, I do not like this at all. I grew up in a small town with lots of family around, but we would never do this. We might call when we were on the way and ask if we could pop by, but I…

[cousinshelley]

I'm a week behind on this. Just finding out today. Go, GOBLINS, Go! Tagging RQ/TMA because Stellar Firma and other RQ podcast fans may be interested.

G.O.B.L.I.N.S

I still don't understand Tumblr yet, so here's some links:

Link to the pilot episode of G.O.B.L.I.N.S: https://shows.acast.com/goblin/episodes/6690515f5d66becbc600ef11

Link to the Crowdfunder

Link to the Crowdfunder video

Link to Apple podcasts

Link to Spotify

[sweeetnothingss]

these dating apps are stupid. where is my academic rival who 3 years later of meeting me, confesses in a love letter, that I'm the fond object of all their desires and the keeper of the key to their heart? where is the lover who builts a fire just to keep me warm? where is the person who secretly reads my favourite books and gets so invested in them just because they observed my bright enthusiasm about them? where is the person who lays in the grass with me to discuss an impromptu script while also talking about our general interests and knows that in the end we're gonna end up with each other? where is the person who gives up the opportunity to have an iPod in exchange of a teapot that contains lil inside jokes we've had going on since years? where is the person who runs to the station just to take me to the place which captures the most enchanting sunrise before i leave the city forever? where is the person who sings their favourite songs with me in a train with a shared earphone? where is the person who saves their dirtiest jokes for me while i save a seat on every table for them? where is the person who after knowing my flaws and fears, says yes to running away with me? where is the person who would come out of Eden to open the door for me if they knew i were there? where is the person who makes me realise that our joy is so bright I cannot see anything beyond it? where's the person who'd choose to hang out with me in every universe? who's going to take me to the lakes where all the poets went to die? where is the bestfriend who looks at me in the eyes and says "this thing we're doing here, me, you- i just want you to know I'm in. I'm all in." and means it!?

[lizzieblopaz24]

Emily and Amy manip, I have a scene like this planned for my fic