I don’t often write about the differences I’ve noticed in culture between California and Texas, but last week was our three-year Texaversary, and in exactly one month, we’ll have our third anniversary in this house, so to comment on some things seems appropriate.

California has better drivers. Sort of. They’re more inclined to use turn signals, and you don’t often see them driving across the median because there’s too much traffic in the exit lane, especially when said median is also a 20-foot deep ditch.

California has better produce. Some of the vegetables I’ve seen here look pretty, but there’s no flavor. Also, produce prices are much higher here.

California, overall, has better weather, little humidity, and almost no mosquitoes. Or water bugs.

But…

Texas has fewer people who sue each other at the drop of a hat. Not every broken item is greeted with shouted pleas for a product liability attorney, or the question, “Who can I sue?”

Texans, generally, are more polite. Yes, the pace of life is a little slower (excruciatingly so when it comes to real estate), but the trade off is this Southern graciousness in which strangers wave and smile, and clerks in stores meet your eye and ask “How y’all doin’?” Even in Target. Even in Big Lots.

While the weather here can suck sometimes – ice storms in winter, tornadoes in spring, outer bands of hurricanes in summer and fall – we have amazing lightning storms that are so much art and passion arcing across the sky that you don’t mind the rain.

You’ll notice I don’t compare politics. That’s because we live in a metropolitan area, and like most such places, there is cultural and political diversity. Anyway, I haven’t had any political issues. I haven’t had people shoving their religion or politics in my face. I know how to find people I’m comfortable with, and tune out the people who drive me crazy.

Also, I’ve learned that, at least in Texas, the phrase “Bless your heart,” carries an infinite number of meanings.

Appetizer
When was the last time you visited a hospital?
I had a CT scan about two years ago. Otherwise…I don’t really know anyone who’s required visiting, and we’re rarely seriously ill.

Soup
On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being highest, how ambitious are you?
It depends on the day and the subject. Right now, with my book – very. With vacuuming the rug or folding the pile of laundry? Not so much. Overall…about a six.

Salad
Make a sentence using the letters of a body part. (Example: (mouth) My other ukelele tings healthily.)
Five intrepid newts gather, eating really slowly. (Fingers)

Main Course
If you were to start a club, what would the subject matter be, and what would you name it?
Fabulous! It would be a weekly gathering of creative types with a different theme to discuss or explore each time. Meetings would involve copious amounts of chocolate and froufrou cocktails.

Dessert
What color is the carpet/flooring in your home?
In the dining room, master bedroom, upstairs hallway, guest room, and on the stairs, the carpeting is the color of beach sand. In the library, it is blue. The upstairs bath has beige linoleum. The hearth and hall powder room have white ceramic tile. The master bath has warm beige ceramic tile. The foyer and entry are dusty blue ceramic tile that looks like painted brick, and our two offices and the living room are warm cherry wood laminate, while the laundry room is painted, poured concrete.

Want to play? Go to Friday’s Feast.

With premier season about to start, it is inevitable that we all start looking at our schedules and deciding which shows to check out, and which to avoid. While the CW isn’t the same without Gilmore Girls, a series I loved from the first, I have to admit that I’m intrigued by one of their offerings for the 2007-08 season: Gossip Girl.

Gossip Girl which was created by the same team responsible for The O.C. is, on the surface, a standard teen drama. It involves the lives of several Upper East Side teenagers, and their romance, angst, and explorations into sex, drugs and higher education. What makes it different, and what makes it worthy of my interest, as a blogger and follower of froufrou, is that the series is narrated by the Gossip Girl, and bookended by her blog entries talking about the lives of the people around her.

While we know that Kristen Bell provides the voiceover for Gossip Girl, she does not, apparently, appear in the series, or at least, we don’t know who the Gossip Girl really is.

I’m not sure if I like the thought of gossip as a motivating factor in storytelling. While I don’t really gossip on my blog (unless talk about the folks in my Starbucks counts), I’m no stranger to it, having worked in enough offices to know that where there is a group of people – male or female – gossip will ensue. Still the show looks interesting enough for me to want to take a look at it when it premiers on the 19th.

The rescue rooter guy came on time, and even though he managed to fix the tub stopper – it was just a matter of screwing the handle back to the disc correctly, he cursed at the poor design of the tub. “It seems unfair,” he said, “even though it’s in working order, to leave you with something not designed to drain the tub correctly.”

Our tub is a deep soaking tub, no jets, just lovely hot water and a window to view the stars through…

I so want to clone this plumber.

Also…he liked my use of a butter knife to drain the tub, then apologized for using the same knife.

How cool is that?

Once upon a time the hostess with the most-ess went digital. She founded a blog, and created an online persona who is both warm and welcoming, and a little irreverent but always with a twinkle in her virtual eye, and became the center of a vast online community of bloggers who may not all share the same world view, but do share an addiction to her games, questions, and weekend meet-n-greets.

She is Michele, and last week she issued a challenge to her readers: Write a 50-word fairy tale, and then vote on her top three picks. The winner will be featured as her Site of the Day – a feature in which she invites her readership to check out someone else’s blog. If you’ve seen comments that say “Michele sent me” on this or other blogs, you’ve run into her readers.

I’ve been honored. My story is among the three chosen for the vote. Please go here to check out all three, and vote on your favorite.

And tell Michele that MissMeliss sent you :)

…to all my Jewish friends who began celebrating Rosh Hashana at sundown last night.

(Video is work-safe content-wise, but requires sound.)

Scroll down for Thursday 13.

Thirteen Things about MissMeliss, brought to you by the letter R Rabbits – I’ve always wanted one as a pet, but Fuzzy keeps reminding me that Miss Cleo would view such a creature as lunch. I enjoy watching wild rabbits on the lawn, when I have the opportunity, generally when we visit his family in South Dakota. Raccoons – Three of them the size of Ewoks raced across our lawn a few weeks ago as we were coming home from CSz. I like raccoons, they’re adorable, and dangerously clever. Radiators – Central heat is great, and I like my bathroom space heaters, and the baseboard heaters I’ve had, but there’s something really cozy about one of those radiators under the window – you could warm your socks on them, or dry out wet shoes beneath them. Railroads – We’ve been playing Ticket to Ride a lot, which I enjoy because I’m a railroad buff, thanks to my grandfather who got me hooked on model railroads. I like full-scale railroads, too, however, and have fond memories of my friends and I sitting in the top of the Georgetown Loop caboose. Rain – No other sort of weather inspires me as much as rain does. I like sunshine in reasonable doses, but rain is my absolute favorite, whether it’s a light, cooling mist, or a heavy downpour, or a whole day of on-and-off rain and clouds, so that I can make soup and turn on the table lamps before evening. Rattan – I like the texture of rattan rugs, and the casual artiness of rattan furniture. I was once treated to a lesson on the difference between rattan and wicker, but I don’t remember the fine points any more. Reading – I’ve been a bookworm since dirt, really. I read in the bathroom, the tub, bed, the couch, the car, planes, the back yard, the kitchen table, wherever I happen to be. I also read a very quickly. Right now, I’m reading Bright Lights, Big Ass Recipes – The first time through, I do exactly what they say. After that, recipes become just a guideline for me. Right now, I’m looking for the perfect butter cookie recipe, one that can be infused with lemon and still be sweet enough as a tea biscuit. Anyone have something that might work? Rhubarb – Fuzzy’s favorite pie is strawberry rhubarb. I’m allergic to strawberries, but I like the rhubarb part. His sister-in-law makes an amazing rhubarb cobbler. Ribbons – I’ve had long-ish hair most of my life, so I have a special attachment to hair ribbons, but I also like package ribbons, and decorative ribbons, and I even thread lengths of ribbon through my Christmas tree each year, as filler. Riddles – brain-teasers, puzzles, guessing games, I love riddles. There’s a dark, quirky movie called Nemesis Game that wasn’t particularly good, but had riddle solving as an important part of the plot, and that, and the fact that it starred Adrian Paul were enough to give me a reason to watch it. I’ve seen worse films. Oh, and riddle me this: The poor have it. The rich want it. God fears it. It is more evil than demons. If you eat it, you will die. What is it? Roadsters – Nothing appeals to me more than a vintage roadster with the top down, tunes cranked, and the ocean outside the car window. Think Eric Carmen’s “Make Me Lose Control” for cheesy mood music. Rockets – I love rockets. It doesn’t matter if they’re a NASA project or a back yard model, there’s something just seriously cool about counting down to blast-off.

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

We all have them – those drawers in the kitchen that don’t hold knives or wooden spoons, or even potato chip bag clips, but instead provide a home for all those odds and ends we keep thinking we might use some day, and never do.

Mine is the drawer in the wet bar, under the counter where I have the coffee maker set up. I have no use for a wet bar, but I’ve often fantasized about installing a restaurant-quality espresso machine in the space. For now, my regular coffee maker will have to do.

Within our drawer, the “junk” drawer, we have expired coupons for products we don’t use, boxes of flea and heartworm medicine for the dogs, stray and possibly stale batteries, a spare garage door opener, an assortment of less-than-pristine rubber bands (I think the wide purple one might have once adorned broccoli), a package of birthday candles, and four – FOUR! – unopened boxes of peppermint altoids.

How do I know this? Because today I had cause to rifle through said drawer while hunting for the one item I expected to be there, that was not: the scotch tape.

What’s in YOUR junk drawer?

The air conditioner does not cool, even when the thermostat is set to 60, if the power part of the controls are set to “off” instead of “cool.”