I think it's just that my sort of weirdness - eclectic taste in music and literature, offbeat or morbib humor, specific and sort of strange interests - isn't as common out here as it is in Portland and California, where you can't throw a stick without hitting someone who knows someone who joined a cult, or taxidermies…

Oh I don't think it's the entire East Coast, it's just that the baseline level of weird on the West Coast is a lot higher. I feel like there, even fairly conventional people have experience with The Weird, even if it's just that hippie aunt who never came down and now believes that dolphins have a spaceship, whereas…

I don't think they dislike me at all, it's just that sometimes it seems to feel like they dismiss me out of hand because they think I'm weird. Admittedly, I do have pretty eclectic taste in music (I like everything from breakcore to gamelan, go figure) but even when I go for the most inoffensive music I can think of,…

You can do it! I was terrified the first time I grilled a whole fish, but seriously smoke + lemon + fresh herbs is pretty hard to screw up! Serve it with a green salad and roasted potatoes, or a veggie couscous, get a bottle of white wine and some dark chocolate for dessert, and I promise he'll feel special!

I think Alan Rickman is hot. Cue echoing silence.

Thanks for the pep talk :-) I think it's just getting to me because I work 40+ hours a week, commute an hour each way, and don't have a lot of friends here, so these girls are the majority of my social interactions. Keeping it in perspective helps a lot though, thanks!

And just to clarify I really hate it when people flaunt their "obscure" taste (oh Portland, you are awesome but that was annoying), but I just haven't heard of a lot of the things my coworkers take for granted, and the things I like get a "what the hell????" sort of reaction. I think part of why this is really getting…

Oh I feel you so much on the obscurity issue! I was dumbfounded the first time one of my coworkers called me pretentious, and when I asked why, I was told, "You always say you've never heard of any of these songs!!!" I was so confused, I just don't listen to the radio because I hate the ads :-\

You can go to a fishmonger, but grocery stores with good-quality fish will sell whole fish as well. Anyone working at the fish counter will be able to help you pick out the kind of fish, and how much you'll need, and it'll come cleaned. You get to leave the head and skin on so it looks really fancy, and I think crispy…

It's all things that I've never been singled out for before - listening to music that isn't indie rock or top 40 hits, preferring Murakami and Dostoevsky to whatever the current best sellers are, having an interest in medical history and the macabre, that sort of thing.

Roast or grill a whole fish! It's ridiculously easy, which means you will have time leftover to make dessert or appetizers, and it looks special. I like this recipe:

http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipe…

Stop in Portland, OR and eat all of the food! Seriously, that city is the greatest - even if your on a budget, you could do a mini foodcart tour, walk along the river, and hit up a park or some shops.
There are also beautiful scenic viewpoints and beaches all along the Oregon coast, so when I do that drive I like to…

Anyone have advice on how to keep my confidence up while feeling singled out or dismissed for being "weird"?

I moved from a pretty eccentric West Coast city to the East Coast, and even though I don't consider myself especially strange, I've started to feel very singled out for my perceived weirdness and it's wreaking…

Mr. Parade is the spitting image of that portrait of Jules Valles, do I win?

Also, I give you: Young Dali, and all of the weird sex I hope that would entail.

I'm planning mine right now and while we initially thought we wanted a small but sort of traditional wedding with a sit-down ceremony and a gown and decorations, I realized pretty quickly that the amount of work and money involved made it so not worth it. I've basically had to swear of magazines and pick and choose…

The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen is a great cookbook to have around, it's all really delicious simple things. I'm not even vegan anymore and I still use it. And the Veganomicon is just awesome. It was basically the cookbook that got me hooked on reading them for fun, because damn that is a good one.

cut your fingernails, use lube, and do it cautiously while giving him head so it's not so much of a "WELL HELLO THERE."

Music and being a picky eater. I don't care if you listen to top 40 pop, but please be open minded about other music! not all electronic music is "annoying, repetitive beeping," as one of my coworkers put it, and the day they made me turn off augustus pablos so we could listen to lifehouse made me want to jump out the…

Need a recommendation: what are you guys' favorite running/yoga shorts? I find picking out exercise clothes to be really fraught since there is so much branding and hype about performance this and cutting-edge that and all I really want is a pair of reasonably priced grey or black shorts in something stretchy that…

Honestly, I would be so okay with loincloths.