(LOL, just checked the stats, and yesterday was my 666th published post!)
I was busy all day with the contest. I received just under 300 entries and probably read each seven million times. Today I sent out a lot of emails, so most contestants have been notified. The plan is to finish this tomorrow, send out the payments to the winners, and then have the weekend to upload everything and make the electronic compilation.
Why did I do this? To cheer up my literary community, give people a fun contest to focus on, stir their creativity, during what were the first weeks of the quarantine for most. To me, it scratched the itch I’d had awhile of starting my own magazine, which I know is a terrible, time-wasting idea that will leave me bitter and drained, but it had been itching with some regularity… So the contest was perfect. I got it all out of my system.
OK, that was a long-winded way of saying I’ve got nothing new for you. But I have some oldies.
Here are the top three most read posts from 2016 and 2017.
2016
A Good Little Girl (the most widely read piece I have ever written)
Why Women-in-Science Panels Aren’t Very Useful
2017
Skyping Your Way Into (or Out of) A Faculty Job
xykademiqz 
Thank you for the links. Just read most of them…. I know I’m late to the party.
My husband is an immigrant and has struggled to connect with people in the US for a lot of the reasons you shared. I think it’s difficult even for native Americans who are a little different than the rest to connect with others, but the cultural difference just amplifies the problem. Makes me feel lucky to have found him. I think being a successful female is just fucking lonely, and you just have to get used to it. As I’ve gotten older I find I connect with people on some levels, but never all, and nothing like I did with the best friends of my childhood. I am so sorry you lost your friend.
I wish the women in science panels were allowed to give concrete solutions to how to respond to sexist behavior, but then someone would have to publicly say that sexism exists, and nobody wants to be that person. I feel fortunate that my current mentor will freely say that xyz is sexist, but *I* am not allowed to say it. Baby steps. I don’t go to these panels anymore if I can help it because I really don’t care about breastfeeding or finding a nanny or whatever.
Anyway, thank you for posting these.
Thank you for all of these great posts!