First Bravo, Stephen.

Isn't that just part of the definition of "theme park"?

Oh, AMEN, sister.

No, you're not alone. Come sit here next to me.

I am oldish and demographically undesirable, but I do shop there - I can't say it's my favorite place, but it's decent, and I've made more of an effort since their awesome gay-inclusive advertising.

...and the fact that I was also finger-pointing instead of looking to my own biases further proves your point, so apologies all around.

Isn't it a little patronizing to expect her to be treated otherwise? I can promise you that if a prominent Republican celeb was considering a Senate run, especially one with a record of sounding a little whacky in public statements, I would be all ears. And if that person responded to a policy question about the…

I feel like such a buzzkill that I keep saying this, but girlfriend is straight-up unelectable, so in that sense, yes, she is like Todd Akin. Aside from her opinions, which (agree or disagree) are not politically helpful in a conservative state, she has an unfortunate way of talking down to people. Not to mention…

Amen and amen. She may see herself as being all empowered and YOU GO GIRL, but I think she's getting played like Bill Monroe's mandolin. Even if her politics didn't render her unelectable in Kentucky (my former home state, and still next door), her super patronizing tone would do the trick, and the result is that…

I feel your pain. My house (1902) has a few feet sliced off the bedroom to make a long (non-walk-in) closet. I had to go to a smaller bed - double, although I could have crammed a queen in there - but it's worth it. Up side: Hoarding tendencies totally curtailed.

RIGHT ON. I was a server for a few months, at a little restaurant that was at approximately the same level of ambience and culinary excellence as a Denny's. I can say two things about it: One, outside of farmwork it was the hardest work I've ever done. Two, I was terrible at it. On a really good day I ascended into…

Not watching here either. I would like to claim some moral high ground alongside you, but the sad truth is that I'm moving and not yet hooked up to cable/internet. HOW DID THIS HAPPEN? WHY, GOD, WHY?

I adore Jack Handy. Thanks for reminding me of this one. (My fave: "As the light changed from red to green to yellow and back to red again, I sat there thinking about life. Was it nothing more than a bunch of honking and yelling? Sometimes it seems that way.")

I agree - even in liberal denominations, we have this tendency to treat huge amounts of doctrine as something fixed rather than the big messy variable human undertaking it was, and is.

Earl Scruggs, Levon Helm, Doc Watson. So much wonderful music in those hands and voices.

Thanks, and that's OK. I find a lot to love there but it's definitely not everybody's cup of tea, and I hate that you found so many of the wrong people there. I hope you're feeling better soon - under the weather and homesick is a miserable combination.

Most of my family is from eastern Kentucky, the rural part, and there are some of the best people there you would ever want to know. Yeah, it's a red state, and provincial, and we have our share of problem folks same as everywhere else, but nothing to justify your response.

Wild applause. "You probably can't even afford to get drunk."

Thanks for that. I do understand what you're saying - most religions, including the one I ascribe to, have some dark stuff in their history, and sometimes in misguided current practice. It's hard enough for believers to sort it out, even sober. With this at least we're on the same team: Wherever it originates, any…