7. Your parents don't want what is best for you. They want what is good for you, which isn't always the same thing. There is a natural instinct to protect our children from risk and discomfort, and therefore to urge safe choices. Theodore Roosevelt—soldier, explorer, president—once remarked, "It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed." Great quote, but I am willing to bet that Teddy's mother wanted him to be a doctor or a lawyer.

'The amazing thing about being a comedian is that no one can tell us to stop even if we should. Delusion is necessary to do this. Some of you aren't that great. Some of you may get better. Some of you are great…now. Some of you may get opportunities even when you stink. Some of you will get them and they will go nowhere and then you have to figure out how to buffer that disappointment and because of that get funnier or fade away. Some of you may be perfectly happy with mediocrity. Some of you will get nothing but heartbreak. Some of you will he heralded as geniuses and become huge. Of course all of you think that one describes you…hence the delusion necessary to push on.'

Why I DO like Coke Talk.

'I had a biopsy to see if a lump inside one of my breasts continues to be benign. I told my boyfriend I had a rough day and wanted his support but didn’t tell him why. His response was that he was unavailable — he had a rough day at work and already made plans to meet up with a friend. He asked what was wrong. I told him but downplayed it. He responded with a few kind words. This was all done via text. (He’s not much of a phone person.) I then proceeded to get mad at him for not being there for me, but then again, I should have been more clear about the type of support I needed instead of making it seem like it wasn’t a big deal. My question is the following: I’m still slightly upset with the way he handled the situation, but then again, I didn’t do such a great job either. Also, we’ve only been dating for about three months, and I believe it might have been too early in the game to request this kind of support and reassurance from him. I’m thinking of just brushing this fight off and blaming it on my period, but I would still like to read your thoughts on this.

I think you’re a manipulative little twit who likes to test her boyfriend out of a shallow need for attention. You didn’t really need support from him. By downplaying and holding back information instead of being up front about your feelings, you were able to squeeze a few more hours of self-pity out of the afternoon.

You deliberately set your boyfriend up to fail, and that’s not being emotionally honest. Deep down, you know this. That’s why you wrote to me. You wanted justification for this kind of behavior, but I’m not gonna give it to you.'