My relatives on facebook are so annoying. My aunt(you might remember her because my mother snarked that she died years ago and nobody told her body...I come by it honestly, anyway) posted this long, defensive update about Southern culture, etc. My aunt is not southern, but she is married to, say, a Lieutenant Colonel(sp?) or something like that. Somehow, it annoys me that she doesn't make the connection from that to the level of, you know, hospitality and whatnot she gets from the lovely people on the base in Tennessee. (Not that they are not polite people...I'm just thinking the officer's wife isn't going to get the usual newbie reception.) Seems like appropriation...and of the worse kind. If you're going to embrace the Ashley Wilkes, seems to me you have to make room in your head to deal with the Boyd Crowders too. But I don't know much more about the South then from reading, or from Southernistas, but I doubt there's just one "southern experience", even if we desert-dwellers point to Alabama statistics to make ourselves feel better. I don't know why this gets to me...phonebanking North Carolina does not give me a dog in this fight...

but I doubt there's just one "southern experience"

For whatever it's worth, I can assure you that my own Southern experience has fuckall to do with bullshit GWTW chivalry myths or any of the rest of what comes with that version.

Figure out the firmness you like. IKEA skews, IME, to the harder. And my Dad bought the one IKEA mattress I had so it was super firm and I loathed it. Which sucks given I slept on it for about 15 years. But they might have other options and the guy that would probably happily sleep on a slab of wood just chose something he liked. Or you might like Crazy Firm.

They've got some nice ones, but you need to stick to the foam ones. We've got a foam one, with a memory foam top, and it's lovely. Not as cloud-soft, though, as the one Lilly has in her bed.

Their natural latex ones are to die for.

I think she thinks it's a theme park. With chicken. (Even though I have done my share of...Dixie-bashing(?) in the past, somehow I don't know how much less insulting that is.) Living in post-1070 Arizona, and making friends with people around the country has taught me some lessons about regional generalizations...they serve a purpose, but you don't want to get too attached to them.

Being at yoga is probably warmer than home and doesn't have no water from frozen pipes.

Southern Discomfort.

After the Crimson Tide’s big win over Notre Dame on January 7th, a Web site called Real Southern Men explained the significance in terms of regional defiance: “Football matters here, because it is symbolic of the fight we all fight. Winning matters here, because it is symbolic of the victories we all seek. Trophies matter here, because they are symbolic of the respect we deserve but so rarely receive.” That defiance is a sure sign, like Governor Rick Perry’s loose talk of Texas seceding, that Southernization has run its course.

FTR, I'd go to a chicken-based theme park. I just wouldn't think it was a cultural exchange, I hope. One time I floated peanuts in my coke, after a discussion here...I don't quite grok. Maybe I did it wrong.

I'd go to a chicken-based theme park.

I totally would!

For those of you with dryer issues - I drape my clothes over a rack (or my ironing board) in front of a fan. Speeds up the drying time and, in my overheated apartment, keeps the temperature bearable.

well, it seems we aren't getting a Death Star. humph