2012-03-16

I’m an advice column junkie. I love the genre—people trying to articulate the complex emotional dynamics of their lives briefly, but in a way that a person who doesn’t know them could understand. I love thinking about other people’s problems as a distraction from my own.

I love the classic Cary Tennis column wherein he's asked about asking for advice—to which Cary Tennis replies, “Some days I ask myself if I want to live and the answer is eight pelicans going north in a gray sky." I love the Ask A Dude where the dude answers a writer who’s wondering whether she should admit her feelings to the guy she loves (even though they’re both with other people whom they also love) by confessing his own feelings for an unattainable woman.

People who write into advice columns are people in bad situations who actually believe they can get better. Is there anything more life-affirming? This is also what I love in fanfic; all the wise, fascinating insights into what makes the pilots tick; all the obstacles and solutions. It's why I'm here, I think.

So, today: what advice would you give our dear Starbuck and Apollo if they wrote in (anonymously) for it? You can pick your moment or question you’re answering, or give advice generally. Feel free to give more advice than our emotionally defensive pilots would ever ask for.

The best advice columnists always do.

2012-03-16

DPP Friday: Dear Pilots

Colonial Day Re-Watch!

Colonial Day Re-Watch!: The Post