When I was in junior high school a group of friends (soberly) tried to order a penguin as a prank on a friend of ours. “Well, zoos have them,” we thought, reasonably enough. “They must get them from somewhere.” Oh, the hangup-click-dial tones we got. It was then that we learned that suburban pet stores found in the…

Mine was “macabre.” I can’t even remember why the word was introduced to school-age me, probably an Edgar Allan Poe English class segment. I argued with my English teacher that it was pronounced “mac-a-bray.”

There you are, Jerry! I/we have missed you!

I love TNC’s writing. Aren’t you in the book world somehow? You heard about how Penguin Random House shuttered Spiegel & Grau? They were his publisher, among many other now-famous and highly acclaimed authors. Somehow they can keep 300 other imprints (or however many) afloat but S&G, with a staff of like 10, was just…

I’m surprised she didn’t pick something by Jonathan Franzen.

I remember seeing it when it was cold, I had to check my coat (for free, and the attendants refused tips, which I suppose is Downton-esque) so I guess it was the run-up to Christmas. Actually it must have been, they had Christmas ornaments for sale, and my friend/companion said, “I have a horrible secret to confess. I…

I’ve never been to the Caribbean (well, I’ve been to the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica, but I don’t think that counts) but it reminds me of yet another travel story, this is a two-parter. And I swear this will be the last one.

I’ll give you another excerpt, if you aren’t sick of me already.

I should write a memoir/guidebook entitled “Eating Your Way Around Europe’s Major Attractions.”

I had heard the same thing, that a local chef came up with it, and “Tropez” doesn’t have another meaning in French, Provençal, or Niçois, as far as I know.

There’s a commenter here who emigrated to New Zealand with her husband. I can’t remember her name off the top of my head and I don’t think she’s been around much but maybe she can weigh in. 

Patagonia is the southern tip of South America and the western part is in Chile! 

Since it’s SNS can I bore you with a story about tarte tropezienne?

Late for a reply but I’ll do you one better:

I saw it too, in New York. The holograms in the beginning were a little creep-inducing. Did you buy anything in the well-stocked and overpriced gift shop, each item of more questionable taste than the last? 

Have you ever seen “Upstairs, Downstairs”? DA is more than a little ripoff of it, and I’m surprised Julian Fellowes wasn’t sued into insolvency for intellectual property infringement, or whatever the crime might be called. To the point where the family, can’t remember their name, employed a gay butler, and UD was shot…

I was going to say, that sounds like a bargain price, even if it’s £150 per person (not per couple) for dinner and a room. Highclere is not actually in somewhat remote Yorkshire, it’s in Hampshire, which is a lovely part of the country and easily accessible from London. It’s not too far from Bath and the Cotswolds,…

Part of the reason I enjoy attending weddings so much (and I’ve been to almost 100, I’m in my 50s and I’m the gay “extra man” so this happens) is to see what people wear. In my vast experience the men tend to wear some kind of suit, although I was at one where a whole frat contingent showed up in Hawaiian shirts and…

I don’t doubt it. These statues didn’t go up right at the end of the Civil War. I googled that Jackson one. That was put up in 1921, around the time that the Klan was at its most powerful. The whole period from about 1880 to 1930 saw an incredible production and placement of public statuary.

I can’t remember, and even if I could I don’t think you’d recognize the name. It was very era-specific. Whoever he was (I remember it was a he) was kind of a prodigy in the 80s, died very young (so no more paintings from him), and had a very messy romantic life, according to my art world friend. That’s probably why…