And then Matt Lewis posting: "@stephenfry: I couldn't have put it better myself, sir."

That is adorable.

I'm always terribly disarmed by Americans using "sir" and "ma'am" at people, but I can tell you it's a hell of a rarity in the UK.

I never used "sir" or "ma'am" when I was growing up, but after moving to New Orleans for college, I very quickly learned that I needed to use them in the South. I was also frequently startled by people calling eighteen-year-old me "ma'am." Like, people my own age, not just kids. (The kids I tutored, who would have just called me "Hillary" up north, called me "Miss Hillary" there. Which was kind of cute. I think that, in the NYC area anyway, we stopped the "Miss Firstname" stuff after nursery school. Everyone after that was either Mr./Ms./Miss/Mrs. Lastname or just Firstname.)

I am disappointed. I just found out that the veggie hot dogs sold at the stands in Freeport, Maine, are not vegan. There is, as far as I know, only one non-vegan brand, and they use that one.

y'all are not helping to convince me to get a pet. Yup. Happy my apartment doesn't allow them. Sleep is a very valuable thing. Speaking of, that headache yesterday, that finally went away around 1am, ya, it woke me up around 6 am. However the Tylenol seems to have worked this time. Thankfully. Now, off to work. Maybe I'll leave early today. Ha. As if.

A few of DH's basketball kids call me Ma'am, others call me Mrs. Holt, or Mrs. Coach. Some of the neighborhood kids call me Miss Laura. I think it is a southern thing because I haven't encountered it other places, but it could be because I got old in the south.

Not much to do with age, I think. Frankly, if I think that the person is older than me, I use "ma'am". I like the "Miss Firstname" thing. It shows some respect for the elder, while still having some familiarity beyond a stranger on the street.

Barb, you are definitely foamy. The girls do so like to come out to play, and that is a lovely color in which to showcase them.

I like the "Miss Firstname" thing. It shows some respect for the elder, while still having some familiarity beyond a stranger on the street.

Yep.

Vortex, I posted something for you today in my blog, btw.

Also, I need motivation to go to the grocery store.

Fay - I was wandering through uni today, and came across some lads watching a big screen that had the Ashes scorecard up. They told me the boys had won (I now find that I cannot confirm this), and I got all excited and we had a little chat about cricket. It's lovely how these things bring people together.

Must e-mail amorphia from the Bronze, who is the world's biggest cricket fan (quite possibly literally), and who is responsible for my middling-level interest in cricket. Given that when we started sharing a flat, I knew nothing of it and cared even less, she really has done well.

ETA: And now I've confirmed the win. How adorable does Flintoff look in the photos? [link]

Lone picture of me from Saturday night. (At least that I'm letting out into the world.)

Daaamn. Lookin' good! Nice dress.

Beautiful color for you, Barb.

I have a serious question, thanks to my overwhelming dislike of conflict/displeasing people:

Among our group of friends, being touchy-feely is the norm, including hugging people in greeting and farewell. What other people do with each other doesn't bug me, but I'm moving more and more towards wanting fairly solid boundaries, and that's come to include I-Like-You-And-Consider-You-A-Friend-But-Please-Don't-Hug-Me.

So how do I express that without coming across as a total dick? These are people who, given the predilection for hugging, I have in fact hugged in the past (or let hug me), and now changing the game is going to seem really weird and bitchy.

But I feel really strongly about this. My boundaries. Mine. My physical self. Mine. Look, I've even decreased the size of my personal bubble from 25 feet to 20, so there's some improvement...

(The last sentence was a joke.)

(My personal bubble is actually 50 feet.)