"chav" does seem very not-US-at-all, from what I've seen of it, Hil. But I"m sure we have groups that are very not-UK, I suppose.

I'm very pro-Halloween. It's my favorite holiday.

I'm not pro-V-Day, for many reasons, but had been hoping for a *tiny* bit of acknolwedgement of it (we weren't going out on "date" or anything). Of course, since I had given her the card, and we split up to grab our dinners, she ended up in the grocery story to get her dinner fixings...and bought me a grocery store rose and some chocolate-dipped strawberries. Way to go, last-minute guilt. Um. I was like "Yeah, OK"

Of course, then when we did go out, drama girl was there, and I had said the one thing I didn't want was to be around her, but I gave up on that, because all our friends were out at this same event and I didn't want to be all "NO, let's go find something else to do"....but of course, drama was caused. Sigh. I mean, it was still mostly fun. But ay.

And then I woke up with a migraine this morning, and am only just getting up, and my head still hurts a bit. GRR. Argh.

I will refrain from a long rant about Valentine's Day, except to say it perpetuates a concept of romance that would be difficult for any relationship to meet. Also, I do not want expensive jewelry. I think there should be a tradition of giving red computers and power tools.

My favorite holiday is the Fourth. The food is easy; no one expects you to be with your family; and there are fireworks.

I don't mind Valentine's Day, but then Wallybee idn't grow up with it, so we're both a bit take-it-or-leave-it. This Valentine's Day I got to tell my Chinese class (in Chinese), "My wife and I aren't celebrating Valentine's Day today, we have a new house and have matters to attend to."

Oh, that reminds me, we have our new house. We'll be moving in about a week or so.

"chav" does seem very not-US-at-all, from what I've seen of it, Hil. But I"m sure we have groups that are very not-UK, I suppose.

Yeah. I had fun a few years ago in a youth hostel in Ireland, talking to someone from Germany and someone from South Africa, trying to explain what "Yankee" meant in the US. (If you're from the South, it means someone from the North. If you're from the North, it means someone from New England. And if you're from New England, it means a specific stereotypical New Englander.) (I also recently found out that, in the 1800s, in jokes told in NY about people from New England, the New Englander in the joke was almost always named Jonathan.)

In that same conversation, I kind of gave up on trying to explain "Abercrombie" and "granola" as stereotypes of people.

Oh, that reminds me, we have our new house. We'll be moving in about a week or so.

Woo! Very exciting. How is Wallybee feeling? A new house should satisfy those nesting urges.

Language is confusing. Things that are chav, according to the internet: referring to the evening meal as "tea." (OK, I've got no idea of linguistic history of that one.) Referring to the sweet thing eaten after a meal as "dessert." (I thought that was just American.) Referring to the bathroom as the toilet rather than the loo. (Huh?) The names Kevin and Candice.

One year my brother, who always claimed brown m&ms were the best and would trade with us to get them and sometimes steal them, made me a heart of only brown m&ms glued on a piece of paper.

Sweet! (sucker for sibling love stories right now)

sj, I took pictures of the cupcakes so I'll share those later.

I love Halloween. I have many fond memories of it both growing up, in college, post-college, and post-parenthood. I've seen the Cramps on Halloween. I've gone to dress as the opposite sex parties on Halloween. In high school we had huge candy brokerage trade-fests after halloween. Best of all, was Emmett's year at Harpo Marx. That was cool.

I don't have a problem with the commercialization of any holiday. It's just what capitalism does. You can take or leave what you want from it. You can make it anything that pleases you.

I lost my virginity on Valentine's Day, and that set a lovely precedent for me. I've had Valentine's Day in New Orleans and did my coolest card ever for a Valentine. I've experimented with champagne and chambord cocktails. I've made meals and received them. I have worn red.

JZ doesn't like it, though, so it's just as well to switch over to cupcakes and kids.

Woo! Very exciting. How is Wallybee feeling? A new house should satisfy those nesting urges.

She's happy having the house, but the pregnancy is a more significant influence on her day-to-day moods. (She's been feeling a bit low the last day or two, nothing in particular, just a bit down.)

Language is confusing. Things that are chav, according to the internet: referring to the evening meal as "tea." (OK, I've got no idea of linguistic history of that one.) Referring to the sweet thing eaten after a meal as "dessert." (I thought that was just American.) Referring to the bathroom as the toilet rather than the loo. (Huh?) The names Kevin and Candice.

'Dessert' is the standard term in Austraila too. I don't think people here pay much regard to whether one calls it a toilet or a loo, and we'll also throw in 'dunny' for good measure.

Oh, Doctor Who's Rose got called a chav in one episode.

You know what sucks? Having a chocolate craving the day after Valentine's Day, but not being able to eat any, because everything still tastes weird from the allergic reaction to the antibiotic. Well, yeah, I *could* still eat it, but... Ghirardelli chocolate is tasting like Brach's with black pepper added to it.

So. Um. There's no polite way to tell a neighbor that she's being way too loud during sex, is there? Because I've turned my radio up pretty high, and can still hear her, and it's getting really annoying. This building has ridiculously thin walls.