I'm an eager consumer of pop culture, but our media does the US no favors. I've found that most people in other countries are no more sophisticated about US cultures than we are about other cultures. They honestly believe that The Wire, for example, which I love, is a near-documentary. They tend to be shocked to learn…

Exactly! Everyone is a little annoying in a country that is foreign to them. But if we show ourselves to be polite, locals tend to be welcoming. Trying matters a lot when traveling.

Me too. But I've been in the embarrassing situation where other American tourists fall all over themselves to tell people in say, France or Norway, how awful it is to be an American. Like, actually apologize for it. The natives of the country are inevitably appalled, because the groveling is neither asked for or…

Does the self-loathing American thing actually work? I never feel no shame as an American abroad. I exercise good manners, but feel no need to abase myself. That's not excessive patriotism. Just self esteem.

You raise good questions. To further your point: I've been surprised at how often women comment on here about how they hate working for other women.

At least they vaccinate .

Did you KNOW the uncle was guilty before he opened his mouth? I did!

Eddie, we hardly knew ye.

Some day I will binge watch The Good Wife.

I just watched it too and you are right. But the last picture is of a guy with squinty eyes and nice hair. He looked like him to me.

I don't know who he is, but wasn't he Rory's and Lila's boyfriend?

I'm no thin mint. I don't think they obsess over size at all. I am willing to shell out for handbags and makeup.

I really do enjoy it. I read it every month. No joke. They really have great beauty ideas.

I'm really confused as to why people think he isn't white. He's white. He is a fair skinned man from Venezuela. He is American born.

Shouts and Murmurs is almost always terrible. I never read it.

You're right. I mix them up. And I like California. Should I ever have grand kids, I'll pay for the trip, but I won't go to Disney.

Not being allowed in Disney is a reward. I have a number of goals in life. Among them: I want to die having never been to Florida, especially Disneyland. I also never want to take a cruise or travel in an RV. To me, all of these activities seem equally loathsome.

What do old people smell like? My parents smell like clean clothes and soap.

Absolutely. Which is why, as I wrote, I get the lowest possible dosage, only 30 pills per month:

Can't tolerate opiates. They made my skin crawl. Xanax works well for me. I get 30 .25 mg pills per month. Period. If I use them up, I don't even try to get more. It's really a good chronic pain manager for me. And I have pretty bad pain.