The time I gave in and went out with the team after work, I didn't drink. Because I was leaving soon and driving. And people asked me if I wasn't drinking. I tried my best to give them the "don't ask me if I teetotal" and it seemed to work, but seriously?

They want to know the truth, that I'm a total lush, but I just don't play with drinking and driving, and oh, I'm leaving as soon as I can get away, and I WEIGH LESS THAN ALL OF YOU.

I tolerate garlic just fine, love it in most things that aren''t sweet. Onion on the other hand, while I love it as a flavoring and can and do eat half an onion cooked apart in a vat of soup, for example, attempting to consume onion solids either raw or cooked? Disaster upon me and on my house, for a day or two. Peppers are even worse, now with added sulphur burps and violent cramps. Sucks, because I *love* peppers, dammit.

SUPPORT GUY, STOP TRASH TALKING DEVELOPER 1. HE'S AN ANGEL.

t /defensive

Dude.

Okay, home now.

TAUNTY TAUNTER CANUCK!

The Baltimore map fascinates me.

Glad Perkins is home!

Bhutan had tigers!

I'm looking at Nathan right now! He's being adorable.

Zenkitty, my mom is just fine with garlic. It's the onions, shallots, bell peppers and peppers she can't take. OTOH, I just looked it up and garlic also has sulfur in it. Maybe the supermarket garlic is so wimpy that it's okay but my super-strong Cajun garlic that I'll be planting this fall is too much...

I've been known to say, "I don't drink beer, might you have hard cider?" not only because I like cider, but I don't want to be seen as "the judgy person who doesn't drink". I'll say this at establishments that serve alcohol and might actually have cider, not, you know, at someone's house where they probably don't.

For me, at bars and restaurants, or when deciding where to go to eat/drink, I can't imagine not expressing personal preferences. Totally different from being in someone's home.

Of course, I can't really imagine badgering someone who didn't want something either, so what do I know?

Plei has actually found wheat-free noms that I keep in the pantry now. She did have to wrest a cupcake from my grasp and nudge me toward the just-for-me wheatless cake on one occasion, but the cake was surprisingly delicious!

Oh my god -- friends cooked us dinner Saturday night, and K. (the wife and cook) asked the day before about whether I can have any gluten or not, and I told her my standard of "Some is generally fine, and if it's a very yummy gluten-y thing, I'll probably eat it and deal with the consequences, but I'm doing it fully aware that I'm eating gluten."

So we showed up and she had made shepherd's pie (potatoes, corn, meat -- no gluten there), string beans (ditto), and had bought gluten-free brownies. And not just a couple, but, like, 20 brownies (they came in individual servings).

I was REALLY touched by how thoughtful she was, and expressed it by eating as many brownies as I could fit in my mouth.

I had a houseguest (Carole Blymire, Nora!) in July who has Celiacs and it was actually kind of fun to figure out what to have on hand for her. We ended up eating really well (thanks to her doing all of the cooking - I got a little taste of what Jilli and Pete got when they had their friend the nutritionist living with them!) and I surprised her by having Bob's Red Mill gluten-free steelcut oatmeal AND some Mrs May's snacks.

Trader Joe's really has an impressive list of gluten-free foods (including new soft-baked snickerdoodles that are awesome).

e ended up eating really well (thanks to her doing all of the cooking - I got a little taste of what Jilli and Pete got when they had their friend the nutritionist living with them!)

I would so lower the rent to have a housemate who was a nutritionist, cooking for me. Or even just a yummy healthy cook.