I wish it had unveiled some of its pretty from the overcast and drizzle and fog banks while I was there. Though San Jose was nicely sunny and panoramic.

Got my rental car today, and it's the same model and color as my own. It's as if someone repaired and washed my car and then took the electronic door locks as payment!

Matt, I've skipped and skimmed on account of illness. What happened to your car (if I read it, I've forgotten)? You weren't hurt, I trust?

New York isn't fake. Just half the people who live there.

The northeastern US, in general, is not without its problems, but fakery is usually not at the top of the list. There can be snobbery, but that's not always equal to fakery.

I'm fine Cindy, my car got a little banged up in a slide off an icy highway last Friday. I've been driving it in town all week, but wanted a rental so I could be confident on the highway (and escape to sweet, sweet FREEDOM away from my parents' house).

The bad thing about living in Olympia, Washington is that it is not too small to prevent many residents believing it is the center of the Universe

That's the problem with being the state cap, you know?

Man, nobody ever complains about the fakeness of New York. Everybody wants to move there or just got back from visiting.

Mmm-hmm. I've heard other, from SF peeps, mistah. So I'm not buyin' what you're selling.

On the other hand, it really is just that pretty.

You've got us beat on houses, but our landscape's hotter. Take away the makeup, and who'd you rather wake up next to, eh?

PS, Seattle's Main Flaw? We are passive aggressive crankyheads, thank you kindly. And don't you forget it.

I'm glad you're okay, Matt. The ice is ringing a bell, now that I've read the above. Fly and be free, little bird.

Yeah, Ellen's eye makeup was amazing.

I got someone good at makeup to give me smokey eyes and it just looked silly. Curse of the half-epicanthic foldness gotten from my mother, I think. I mostly stick to a standard shades of beige/gold/brown thing for going out, and nothing more than tidied and darkened brows for daytime. If that. Mostly not even that.

I feel like I need to go to cosmetics university. I can do myself up, but I never have any confidence, and can't be bothered most of the time. Also, I look better fresh faced. The smouldering look, which I love on other people, always looks more sort of tawdry and pathetic on me (to me, anyhow).

I'm actually half convinced that half the negative perceptions of regions come simply from different communication styles and the misunderstandings that ensue. Once you figure out the modes, people are pretty much just people.

After living in NC for a couple years, I drove back home to the southwest. At first, I though people were getting unfriendlier as I got further west. But then I realized, nope. Just very different small-talk/communication patterns. Being friendly in NC was chatting incessently cheerfully about impersonal minutae (or sharing harmless details about yourself.) Further west, being friendly was keeping words to a minimum and going about your business with a minimum of impact and fuss. That stoic independent thing. It was funny.

B'more is very southern in that respect.