@boobookitteh: for some reason as a kid I thought it was "walking in the rain...." Perhaps I was young enough to have not heard of LA, but in any case the song always bothered me since I then and still do love to walk in the rain.

I've lived in Central Appalachia (both Kentucky and West Virginia) for almost 10 years now and have noticed an even stranger behavior. I was surprised when I first moved here by a small number of college-age women who didn't even have driver's licenses. It was simply expected that a man would drive them where ever…

@Cam/ron: That Mike Watt album was "Ball Hog or Tugboat" It had a lot of great guest artists on it, including the Pearl Jam. I think I still own a copy, somewhere.

Well, since this thread has mostly been taken over by us snow snobs, may I: I've got no particular claim to cold, nothing lower than -20 fareheit, which is just a trifle to you midwesterners. But I am from Syracuse which is routinely one of the snowiest cities in the US. 110-140 inches a year, sometimes more. I have…

@msmoneypenny: Hah... My mother broke the wooden spoons on us! It was when she put her fist through the wall that I think both she and my father figured out that things were getting out of hand, and I'm proud to say both of my parents are capable of recognizing their own faults and working to fix them. My wife as a…

@LutherNipperkin: We had a similarly crappy gas stove at out last apartment. You need a flame tamer. I think I've also heard them called simmer rings. They're cheap and you'll love it. They go under the pot and help diffuse the flame/heat over then entire surface area of the pot. No more hot spots, and much easier…

Mmm... Curry Pizza. I think I know what I'm doing for dinner tomorrow.

@whynotshesaid: With a few exceptions, the chores I most disliked as a child are the ons that give me the most pleasure as an adult. Washing dishes, mowing the lawn, raking and shoveling all were dreaded as a teenager, but now I would never even contemplate owning a leaf blower, despite my two giant sycamores. I'm…

Love the andirons.

@clevernamehere: I went to high school on the SE side of Cleveland where there is an especially large Jewish population (better than 20% of my graduating class). While I wouldn't call it a fetish, growing up in that environment certainly has affected what I find attractive in other people. I now live in very very…

Read that as "Somebody to Shove" at first glance, and was intrigued to think of JLo covering Soul Asylum. It probably would have been infinitely more interesting than this.

@LucilleMcGillicuddy: And Clay County KY isn't a place you go for some photo op. For one thing, it's a dry county. It's also one of the poorest counties in the country. I think that something close to 50% of all children are living below the federal poverty level. I'm not sure about Clay County specifically, but in…

@mama_t: I don't know. My wife believes in doing the dishes daily, whereas I'm content to wait a day or maybe two. On the other hand, I do wipe down the table, counters, stove and microwave, something neither my wife nor my three sisters do.

@smazzle: I did tomato past one year, using our homegrown tomatoes. It took 14 hours, a 1/3 bushel of tomatoes and only yielded a pint or so. But, it was spicy hot, almost as if I had added red pepper, as if the ripest tomato ever had been cranked from 1 to eleven. We jealously guarded that stuff, using it a spoonful…

@girlyQ: Your absolutely right. I never had any problem politely declining a polite advance, in fact, I've met a lot of good friends that way. But I'm a fairly small guy and a little shy, so having perfect strangers plant whiskery kisses on you without even saying hello, while somewhat flattering, is a little much.

@Trulymadlyme: I was a theatre major in college, so the local gay bar was a safe and popular hang out for my cohort, both gay and straight. I eventually had to quit going. I tend to set off false alarms with most people's gay-dar (even my wife thought so on our first date). Unfortunately, after more than a few…

@FourInchHeels: I frequently see people on craigslist selling "chester drawers."

I've got to defend her too. For one thing, they are both teen models or stars. Despite the age difference, they are essentially coworkers, or at least, if you will peers in their field. I thinking dating our coworkers (while maybe unwise for other reasons) is pretty common. A ten year stretch might be a bit much, but…

@MarissaExplainsItAll: I was surprised by this, but according to the article European Beavers don't build dams. I say time for some beaver study abroad classes.

I work for a non-profit and am frequently assigned community-service volunteers. If you show up not knowing how to mop, you will be doing something even worse. But I won't give you a job that is "important" unless you demonstrate enough intellect to actually handle it. And yes, I've made surly 16 year olds sweep the…