Yeah, ours was a lab full of American shlubs in ill-fitting jeans and free oversized t-shirts from the chemical supply vendors.

I loved Life After Life. The beginning is definitely choppy but it settles down a bit.

Tough to beat Seattle or Portland. Asheville is a funky little town. Bar Harbor is neat in non-tourist season. Both are great if you're hikers or backpackers since they're so close to a national park.

Saganaw - Pavement
Happy Birthday Girl - Sondre Lerche
I Was There - The War on Drugs
In the Morning - Built to Spill
What the Snowman Learned About Love - Stars

I'm super sensitive to scientist tropes, to the point where I can barely watch a film with "scientists" doing "science"-y things without critiquing every little thing they do and say — and, in the case of Cosima on Orphan Black, what they wear. Seriously, her clothes are amazing but I've never seen a scientist in a…

No, never heard of it but that sounds great. I'll check it out. Thanks!

It's good but the sriracha isn't as prominent as I expected. But it's light and refreshing — perfect for a summer beer.

"Motor Away" and "My Valuable Hunting Knife" vie equally for second place.

I love this.

Awesome. I'll try to pick it up this weekend. Funny, The Gone-Away World is one of my favorite books ever, while Angelmaker didn't leave much of an impression. In any case, thanks so much for the heads up on this.

Ha! Your mom sounds awesome.

Wait, Nick Harkaway has a new one? Great news! What did you think of it?

I loved The Book Thief. It's one of the few books I can recommend to anyone, whether a reader of trash or more serious stuff, and they'll like it.

Just finished "The Sense of an Ending" by Julian Barnes. I love Barnes, but this didn't grab me at all.

"Home" is one of the best album closers ever.

I just watched The Sons of Katie Elder a few nights ago. I don't remember a thing about it. I'm sure she was lovely.

Yep. Probably the only school where my biochemistry major was considered weird.

One of my college roommates majored in the paranormal. I never thought I'd see the day when her degree could actually come in handy on a job application.

"Slanted and Enchanted" is my favorite Pavement record and probably in my top 10 of all time. But I'm not sure it's the best place to start with them. It's mostly weird lo-fi slacker songs. Maybe give 'em another try, this time with "Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain" or "Brighten the Corners"?

I actively hated — HATED — The National for a long time. Then one day I was forced to listen to "Terrible Love" (I think it was that one) because I couldn't get to the radio to turn it off. And it just randomly clicked. The drums, the lyrics, the build — I sat there sort of stunned. And then bought their entire…