Cultural advantages of the U.K.

1. More castles.

2. Ricky Gervais (they tell me this has strong language, so be forewarned. I just remember that it's hilarious.):

3. A truly spectacular array of crisp flavors.

4. Better cheddar cheese than I have eaten anywhere else in my life. In fact, they take all of their dairy products very seriously here.



5. Art to go with the castles. However, they have a strange idea of what constitutes "art season" (all year round? I'm just suggesting).

6. The people, my darlings.

Better jobs than mine (part 39).

People, it was cold today, particularly during the part of the day when I was walking to my car, and thereafter. Cold, as in "cold." But it was all good, because after an extremely warm greeting from both Bruiser and the historian when I got home, the mail came, and there was a Sundance catalog. Good for browsing, good for venal envy, good for a good time before tossing it into the recycling bin.

Near the end of the catalog was an item: Paradox Pants. How, you may ask yourself, can mere trousers be paradoxical? Simple: they are "soft yet strong, fashionable yet functional."

Trendy yet timeless? Cute yet insufferable? Smart yet stupid? Maybe, cropped yet full-length? Come on, play along: ------- yet ---------. Dingy yet distinguished. Dorky yet delectable. Dopey yet Sleepy. Clearly my great powers of language manipulation are misplaced, misspent, misapplied, misused. Also: undercompensated. Undercompensated yet unappreciated. Wait, that's not a paradox.