Well, damn, that sucks. It beats the crap out of “cell-based”.

In Lois McMaster Bujold’s Vorkosigan book series (which everyone should read, by the way), the characters eat what they call “Vat Beef” or meat, to differentiate it from good ol’ animal meats, and certain characters, depending on what planet they are from, can’t abide the thought of eating food that was once an…

Is it? Must be regional, because I lived there for 5 years and never had any schnapps. In northern Germany, maybe?

Heidelberg, actually! Yeah, I figured it was a traditional thing, but it is still the only place I have experienced it. 

Years ago at my favorite Greek restaurant in Germany, the waiter would bring everyone a shot of Ouzo after the bill was paid. It was always a fun little ritual that sent everyone off into the night well fed and a little tipsy. I miss that place.

I’ll never forget reading that Buzzfeed article, it was absolutely horrifying and compelling in equal measure. Highly recommended if you enjoy long-form journalism.

Yeah, I love Gala, but I would buy Honeycrisp if they weren’t so goddamn expensive. 

This is one of my favorite movies. The emotional suppression that you see in every character except for Marianne, and the way that suppression keeps feelings and truths bottled up leads to some incredibly comic, and incredibly cathartic moments. Every time I watch it, I cry right along with Elinor at the end. The…

I have to agree with you, and also have to admit that I didn’t say anything about what I for sure see as gendered bashing because I didn’t feel like defending myself from sexist trolls. Also, any movie that is seen as “unserious” (which includes, unsurprisingly, most romantic comedies) is seen as less worthy of…

Ah, I see the “Shakespeare in Love is crap!” folks are out in the comments. I will defend that movie to my dying breath, evidently. I might just be a Tom Stoppard fangirl after R&GAD, but this movie is fun from beginning to end. Great cast (yes, even Gwyneth) and story. Not sure why it is always so lambasted.

I make this style of cheese sauce all the time, and it is a pain in the ass to wait for it to thicken. But it is tasty. A hint about lumps: If they do occur, hit that stuff with a stick blender and you’re good to go. Also if your cheese curdles, like cheddar will do sometimes. Smooth as silk after that. 

I had a dog like that! People would extend a treat to her, and she would sniff it and turn away with an annoyed sigh.

This is so cool! My mother-in-law lives near Pforzheim, and my husband and I have been to Maulbronn monastery many times (including our first date), so seeing it here is so exciting. I didn’t know there were cooking classes there! Maultaschen are fantastic, one of my favorite German dishes. I will have to give them a…

Parker Posey doesn’t tip. My brother parked her car multiple times when she visited the National Park hotel he worked at, and each time, she would do that “I’m looking for money in my purse, just a sec,” thing, and then would walk away. So she might be a fabulous person in all other respects, but man, that is cold. Ecc…

I get this, in an entirely different way. I’m not in a wheelchair, but I do play the double bass, and I hate when someone holds the door open for me from inside the door. Dude, you are standing directly in the way of a woman carrying an enormous wooden box with a pointy stick at the end, get the hell out the way. I…

OMG COMET PLEASE COME LIVE WITH ME SO I CAN BOOP YOUR BIG GOOFY NOSE!!!!1!!!!

Yeah, Halle Berry is just not a good enough actress to elevate mediocre material. She’s beautiful and has great presence, but that’s about all. Angela Bassett would have killed in this role. 

I have three children, and all three have said the same thing at various times. Youtubers are the new rock stars/movie stars, at least when it comes to kids. It is crazy.

I hope you guys find a good home, I can’t imagine facing this kind of uncertainty! Actually, now that I think about it, I can. My husband has been trying to finance a startup for almost two years. Let’s all go get drunk!

This is me as well! I worked with a whole bunch of people from the UK one summer, and accidentally absorbed the (many!) accents that I heard. It is completely unconscious. I now live in Canada, and that flat A and the long O are now my companions. This kind of accent stickiness is good if you learn a foreign language,…