That's Geoff Vader, that is.

Happy Holidays isn't necessarily about not acknowledging Christmas, you know. Some of us say it because Christmas (being December 25th, and a federal holiday in the USA) is only one week away from New Year's Day (another federal holiday). Little known fact: many people celebrate the arrival of the new year in some…

There's a great story I heard about something like that. It may be apocryphal, but it's hilarious nonetheless.

You can't have a "de facto 'official'" anything; it's either official (de jure) or de facto, not both. Since you believe that English should be our official language, you should be extraordinarily concerned about preserving proper usage within the English language.

#1. English is not the official language of the United States. The USA has no official language.

Not necessarily. Most suicides are preceded by half-hearted attempts, warnings, and other outward signs of suicidal ideation. There are lots of warnings, because a depressed person's ability to fight suicidal thoughts doesn't vanish overnight. Suicidal depression is the unraveling of the human mind's instinct for…

By the way, it's "bearing," not "baring." You only use "baring" in the context of removing layers, as in a tortured poet baring his soul, or a woman baring her breasts.

On the other hand, he clearly has a taste for unintended irony, given his professed dislike for "horribly written rants."

I don't read it that way, Mr. McPickleshitter. I can relate Mr. Williams's experience to my own battles with depression. There were multiple suicide attempts and a lot of dark days. I've beaten it — mostly — but the dark shadows still lurk in the background. I can keep them back, but that's because of a lot of…

Is that really a thing? I've heard that before, but I'm not sure I believe it.

Only if you're in Arkansas, and then only if you're related.

Another good filter: "Which is worse, starving children or abused animals?" I like animals, but someone who puts animals before people is likely to wind up being one of the more irrational sort of pet owners.

If ever we needed The Archmage of the Aether, it is surely now.

I remember it well enough. Your 11-year-old self was being generous. The premise was iffy, there were tacky bits everywhere (remember C3PO singing Han Solo's praises to a pop tune?), and the villains were cartoonish in their wickedness (I particularly remember one witch telling Han Solo to double the count of bones in…

Producers might balk at an aging villain, but it wouldn't be a bad fit. It takes some experience to become a Grand Admiral, after all, and Thrawn was already an experienced military officer when he was recruited by Palpatine. That was at least twenty years before Episode IV, and the Thrawn trilogy was set nine years…

And it featured in America: The Carter Years, when it was called the Renault Le Car, which has to be the laziest name ever.

Ralph Fiennes springs to mind. You need that mix of refinement, calm, and ruthlessness.

In the TV show. But this quote from "A Game of Thrones" suggests a strong resemblance: "Jon was never out of sight, and as he grew, he looked more like Ned than any of the trueborn sons she bore him." Those are the musings of Catelyn Stark. I just started reading the book, which is why it sprang to mind.

I really wish you'd refrain from using umlauts with such wild abandon.

I follow a strict rule when using "all right" and "alright," but I think the rule only comes from inside my head: