Only in Minnesota do you seem to get the fascination with weather across the board from every type of person you might ever meet. Of course, there aren't many places in the world that have temperatures that vary so widely between about 110 degrees and 50 below zero (not in the same month, IF YOU'RE LUCKY).

Apropos of nothing at all, the name of the Men's Swim Team for my High School was - the Seamen. Their 'mascot' was a little teardrop-shaped thing that was supposedly a drop of water, but all the guys called it "Spermy". The two slogans I remember seeing on posters before big matches were: "The Seamen - always coming…

Do what I do: stick to small talk. TV shows & movies, sports (if you're into that), weather if there's nothing else. You're having kids soon, so that'll be enough right there to fuel practically unlimited conversations.

So... you're saying that you can't use literal to mean figurative, but you can use literal in a figurative way? Sorry, I guess I don't see the difference. It just seems like semantics to me.

I suppose literally can be used figuratively in much the same way that wet can be used to mean dry; which is to say, incorrectly.

Literally and figuratively are antonyms. So no, it really shouldn't be used that way. Unless you are *intentionally* going for doublethink? Meh, I went and overthought it now.

Time and a place, dude. Time and a place.

Just curious, how do you know if something is about to taken down from Netflix? Do they send you a notice if it appears in your queue?

Speaking as the parent of twins plus another kid of a different age, I actually find it easier to deal with multiple kids who are all the same age, as opposed to kids of different ages. The twins go through potty training together, get the same kinds of foods prepared, enjoy the same sorts of toys, wear clothes of the…

Ugh, what a sticky situation. This guy clearly had bad intentions toward you from the outset, and just used the Atari as an excuse. So, he was a deranged creeper from the very beginning. As gross as that is, I'd say that he didn't truly cross the line until he laid his hands on you. That is enough that he needs to be…

Hey, dude, these pearls are not gonna clutch themselves.

I used to live about 6 blocks down from the Cha Cha Cha on Haight, and I went there all the time. The plantains are TO DIE FOR.

I never saw Firefly when it ran on TV (because there were apparently only like 4 people who actually did) so of course I saw it on DVD. After watching the first ep, I was like "HOOOLY shit that was awesome! Let's watch the whole disc right away!" but my wife wouldn't let me. She made the excellent point that if I…

I am not so insecure that I feel "threatened" by a woman who is taller than me. I'm only average height - 5'10" on a good day. My wife is 6' tall (or at least she was before having three kids - did you know that can shorten your spine permanently and knock a few inches off your height?) and I dated a chick in high…

Please. There are plenty of bigoted assholes who live on the coasts, and plenty of decent people who live in between. Sweeping generalizations are dehumanizing, whether it applies race, gender, political affiliation, or location.

Is there a way to put a particular person on ignore? I'm not terribly familiar with how this silly new commenting system works yet.

Is there a way to put a particular person on ignore? I'm not terribly familiar with how this silly new commenting system works yet.

As it turns out, we can work on settling more than one issue at a time. I agree there are other issues that are probably more important than guns, but that doesn't mean that gun legislation isn't also important or that it should be ignored.

Interesting you should mention this. Just the other day, completely out of nowhere (haven't seen this film in literally decades) I thought about it and wondered if it could be found on NetFlix. This answers that question, but not in the way I had hoped.

The show is fun. It's not going to win any awards or change anyone's life, but the characters are just as amusing as they were in the movie, and it serves as a decent placeholder until the proper sequel is released in theaters in 2014.