And in New Orleans, you drink all the alcohol and have all the shared nudity with strangers. It's pretty fun.

First thing at work this morning, I get a big ol nosebleed and get blood all over my shirt and hands. Not a good start to the day.

My flatmate, who is religious, gives up meat for Lent every year. She forgot or miscounted, and realized Sunday that she would have to go meat-free as of tomorrow. She has half a freezer full of meat.

Her version of Fat Tuesday this year was making a meatloaf last night and stuffing herself with it today.

On the up side, she is also giving up soda, and has 2 liters of Pepsi in the fridge. I knew there was a reason to be a godless heathen.

Is today a hot cross buns day? (N.b. I have never had these buns actually be hot when I ate them; and they seem to come with little bits of dried fruit like fruitcakes.)

Which sums up the diff between Britain and New Orleans; they have jazz, whisky, nudity and (probably, if James Lee Burke's any guide) po-boy sandwiches and crawfish. We have pancakes with some lemon and sugar. Which your dad tries to to toss and sticks to the ceiling/drops on the floor/ breaks his nose with the frying pan.

Is today a hot cross buns day? (N.b. I have never had these buns actually be hot when I ate them; and they seem to come with little bits of dried fruit like fruitcakes.)

Nah, hot crossbuns are on Easter Day, IIRC. Cos of the crosses.

I make really good pancakes.

Gud, I hope it means you wasted all the bad luck of the month on this morning, and that things will be better from now on.

Thanks for all the explanations, guys. But - in what way is Lent a fast? I thought it was a period of "giving up" on things (like alcohol, meat, chocolate, the like). Again, I could Google, but you answer so much nicer than the (as my brother likes to call the computer) "golem" (even if I actually get your answers through it).

I thought Hot Cross Buns were one of the allowed sweeties during Lent, but I'm a ritual-lite brand of Protestant, so I don't know.

Which your dad tries to to toss and sticks to the ceiling/drops on the floor/ breaks his nose with the frying pan.

Every year? Y'all have some brutal traditions.

I knew there was a reason to be a godless heathen.

One of my work friends is Chinese-American and is also Catholic, so she's having a hell of a time trying to plan her eating tomorrow (tomorrow is both Ash Wednesay, a day of fasting, and Chinese New Year, a day of feasting).