As someone who moved here from the south, I will say Cincinnati is NOT Southern in its street vibe and hospitality level.

Coming from the northeast (though spending four years in New Orleans), the "Midwest Nice" thing definitely does seem to be true. Like, when I first moved here, everybody know found out I was new to the area would tell me "Welcome!" and start listing stuff that I should go see and do. People do seem to go out of their way to help other people, more so than I've seen in other places. (In New Orleans, there seemed to be a bit more of an expectation of how you'd react -- like, people would get upset if they held a door for me and I just said "Thanks" rather than "Thank you, ma'am." In Cincinnati, "Thanks" seems to be sufficient. I'm a New Jerseyan -- "ma'am" just does not come naturally to me.) I'd say that Cincinnati seems fairly mellow, compared to other places I've lived, and I like that.

I cannot find my motivation anywhere. Maybe I left it in bed.

Nora, would you consider the mid-Atlantic? You wouldn't know it looking at the thermometer right now (or pictures from our snow storm a few weeks ago) but Baltimore's winters aren't crazy bad, certainly they are way more mild than New England. Also, housing prices are reasonable. We have a ton of great beer and jobs for software engineers plus a diverse population! Go Baltimore, Choose Baltimore!

I do love Baltimore. (I actually love some of residential pockets of DC, as well.) And I know a lot of (non-Buffista) people in the Baltimore area too. What's the neighborhood where Atomic Books is in? That was super funky, I loved it when I was there last year.

Seattle sounds better than PDX, but, yeah, 'spensive. Will keep researching!!

Burrell, I have a great easy oreo cheesecake recipe I got from Sunset Magazine many years ago. If you want it, I can type it up. But... it does require several hours of chilling, so maybe it won't do for today.

I'm making a lemon pudding pie, although maybe I should do a lemon meringue: the meringue would hide the horrible way my pie crust shrank in the oven. I was in a rush and didn't rest the pastry dough before I rolled it out. Bollocks.

Conversation between me and Tom:

me: the board has also advanced Baltimore as an option...

Tom: (immediately) No.

me: why, the weather?

Tom: I don't know. (pause) maybe after it's been a little longer since I read the book Homicide ? I know, it's not fair.

Thanks Consuela, but he really wants just a plain cheesecake. I think I might try the Settlement Cookbook, it has what looks like a good basic recipe. Making it today because his birthday is tomorrow.

Chicago is diverse, with public transit and good beer. We do have real winters though.

Yeah, Chicago is off the list for that reason. Sadly. (I love Chicago)

Many of our grocery stores have British Foods sections!

And it's $$$, but the pay tends to reflect that, especially for a software engineer.

AND WE DO NOT HAVE WINTERS.