Southern Indiana. Coke. Although not to the extent (iirc) that some of you all are talking about.

who has a story to entertain me?

Unsweetened iced tea with lemon added for me, thanks. I never liked iced tea before my mom started making sun tea when I was in high school, because before then we just had instant powdered crap for "iced tea," and it was sweetened powdered crap. When I discovered unsweetened real iced tea, and added some lemon to see what it tasted like, I became a convert.

Same thing happened with Chinese food--I presumed "real" Chinese food was the chop suey crap my dad made (no Chinese restaurants in Joliet when I was growing up), and didn't discover actual Chinese food until college.

who has a story to entertain me?

msbelle, I could tell my Peep Jousting story... I don't know that it's a "story" per se, but my coworker sure enjoyed it when I was telling it a few minutes ago...

I think I need to hear about Peep Jousting.

I'm sorry about your cat, CaBil.

ION, the cute house across the street from me is for sale! I winder waht they're asking for it...

Skipped 45 posts. Have to get cracking on cleaning and cooking around here.

Hivemind question:

I like getting the german Lola dish brushes because they're made of natural bristle, wood and metal...all of which feels better to me environmentally. However, the design is such that the brush inevitable comes out of the wood handle housing after a couple months. Has anyone seen a natural bristle and wood handle brush that has the handle secured by wood glue or joints rather than just being a metal tab pushed into a hole?

THANK YOU to non-coffee-drinkers who have coffee making capacity at home, for guests. I am still traumatised by my friend's parents who felt that Folger's crystals were sufficient for this purpose.

Does a Quickie Mart half a block away with decent coffee count? I keep meaning to get a Pod machine, but I was worried that that was only welcoming the coffee monkey to leap onto my back again.

Peep Jousting is one of those bizarre things you get up to on inside sort of days, or in my case, silly sort of days. The concept is simple: Arm two Marshmallow Peeps with toothpick swords. Place them opposite each other on a plate and put them in the microwave. The first to expand and stab the other is the winner. This can literally be hours of fun. Plus they're edible afterwards.

My most memorable match was the time we had the white Peeps, and some of those edible markers that come in the "color a cookie" kits. Our combatants that day included mimes and TIE fighters (an entertaining pun that popped out after I drew two of them with neckwear).

The painter is (finally) finishing my apartment today!

I should get him something, I guess. I'm thinking a bottle of vodka, except that I don't know which Eastern European country he's from.