This is the correct and realistic answer. Being married to a musician, we long ago agreed that if she got cast in something truly shitty like a national tour of Rock of Ages, it would be a no-brainer to take it. The exposure and sheer volume of work (not to mention the money you bank and the equity points you get)…

Elaine Swann sounds like the worst etiquette expert.

While I don’t believe in ghosts, I do have one story that I can’t really explain.

In Baltimore (as in many cities), many of the houses in the older neighborhoods have been occupied by a single family for generations. But eventually, the children move to the suburbs, and the house is rented out once the older…

When I was in college, I had two summer jobs in DC, so I took the commuter train from Martinsburg (where my parents lived) into DC every day for a summer. I banked all the money I made that summer minus the monthly pass, but I also had 2-4 hours of commuting each day while the other kids who lived in DC were broke,…

I did this same thing (accidentally overtip dramatically). On our honeymoon to Jamaica, we took a shuttle to our resort and the driver put our bags on the bus and off, so I went to tip him. I don’t remember what the exchange rate was at the time (I want to say like 68 Jamaican dollars per U.S. dollar?) but whatever it…

City as opposed to County, which are two very different places.

Also, never lived in Howard County. But OK.

Almost every anthem singer sings it too slowly. The key signature is 6/8, but people take it even slower than that and they run out of breathe. If a singer cannot read music or simply ignores time signatures, they’re sunk. Also, if a singer has shitty technique or breathe support, they’ll be asphyxiating by the dawn’s…

Baltimore City resident here: this is correct.

Interesting!

This is the correct answer.

These pranks are exactly why I don’t really believe the “I’m such a nice person!” schtick that Ellen has cultivated. These are things an asshole does. And if someone gets angry they just shrug and use the old, “What? can’t you take a joke?” line to excuse their assholery.

You’ll notice that she hasn’t pranked George…

FWIW, I really like the idea that Bond is a code name that is essentially used by various people over time. Star Wars has done something similar with a code name spy named Fulcrum. Fulcrum was originally Anakin Skywalker’s padowan (a female) and was eventually passed to an Imperial spy character in Star Wars Rebels…

Yes, I agree with this. I mean, it’s still odd that she didn’t have even a perfunctory and possibly made up answer (“reading”, “hanging with friends” etc.). But this definitely sounds like she’d lost interest by that point. While you’re not looking for a deep and soul-moving conversation on every first date, simply…

Preface: I work in finance and so the culture at my firm is less relaxed than in other firms or industries. YMMV. Also, this is a fairly western-focused topic, so obviously in cultures where even handshakes are frowned upon, this is all academic.

Almost without exception, in the office or a professional setting it’s a…

Agreed. I eventually had to split my dislike for his in-ring character (so cloyingly cheesy and earnest and gosh-darn-it-you-want-some-come-get-some annoying af) from all evidence that he seems like a perfectly nice, professional guy. Plus he’s a consistently good worker so it’s generally tough to complain about his…

I’d be tempted to do one of these videos but make the color green and end the video by turning to the camera and saying, “We’re having a Velociraptor. We spared no expense.”

And then the screen goes black with a loud raptor scream from Jurassic Park.

Not as good TV and not the easy, quick fix many people are looking for in losing weight. My wife lost >50 pounds through diet and exercise, although much more by changing her diet, as she’s 35 but has arthritis in both knees and had two surgeries to remove loose bodies in the joints while losing the weight (i.e.…

Man, if I got an e-mail with “Today is a good day to die!” at the bottom of it, that would rock.

I’d say this is broadly accurate. I know some of my neighbors, and will say hi or wave to them if I see them, but are we hanging out weekly in each others’ homes? No. I would hope our neighbors would say we are friendly, but keep to ourselves. That would be fine.

There’s a very erstwhile contingent of people in the…

His responses:
1. I’m too dumb to realize what I was doing. Therefore not my fault.
2. I’m sorry you were offended. That’s on you. Therefore, not my fault.
3. You’re dumb if this offends you. Therefore, not my fault.

Seems like he’s got the main tenets of Racism Justification and Obfuscation down pat already.

ALSO,…