I could have written pretty much this entire essay myself.

I went through a secondary pink sparkly Barbie ostracism when I had my daughter. Other suburban mommies didn't play Civilization on the computer for hours while the baby was sleeping, or mourn the loss of the ability to play D&D until 3:00am, or read C.J. Cherryh and Neil Gaiman rather than the latest literary bestsellers and childcare books.

LJ has really made my life so much better - now I have female friends who like the things I like.