Transitioning to some place new often gives you the perspective on something that has been the norm for others. As I settle in here I begin to notice the things that are a bit off, or at least strike me as odd.

Besides my aforementioned grocery incident, I have been having a bear of a time finding plan old fashioned lollipops. I have found Charms' Blow Pops, Jolly Rancher lollipops, Tootsie Pops, and Caramel Apple Pops, but no plain sack of cherry/apple/grape. While shopping at Target, surveying the options, a young mother was looking for the same and lamented along with me. Unfortunately, her burly NASCAR husband thought I was trying to make a move on his lady and just settled for the Jolly Rancher pops.

Speaking of NASCAR husbands, I typically am not a huge Howard Stern fan, but someone sent me this survey which Stern posted which lists the average IQ of the 50 states and which candidate won. It's interesting, but probably plays into the new criticism about how the Dems need to stop talking about how smart they are. The article is here.

We went on a little expedition recently comparing pizza. I have to say that it's easier to get a decent burrito here than a decent slice of pizza. The most frustrating part of the whole endeavor is that places call themselves "New York" pizza or have very authentic sounding names like "Rosaria's" but completely miss the mark. I believe there should be some sort of legislative process that will license these places and grant them the right to call themselves New York pizza much in the same way that California can't call their sparkling wine champagne. If this logic is good enough for the French, why can't we apply it to our more precious domestic products? We have some pics of the slices and some reviews which we'll post shortly.

Finally, the party was a lot of fun. It was excellent to see how people socialize when not under the blazing glare of managers or professors. It was a good time to sit around and chat about nothing and silly things that you might otherwise be a bit too shy to do around the watercooler. The only thing that was a bit tough about the night was because there were so many people, it was hard to feel as if I evenly distributed my time in a way so that I got a chance to talk with everyone. An excuse to have another gathering I suppose?

We wound up with a bunch more wine than we started. The port was a big hit, even though the kind I got, sandeman's, wasn't the kind we had really enjoyed at a friend's house. We also noticed that our friends had good taste in wine (or just really good luck in picking out bottles?). All in all it was a great night and I look forward to the next event!

Oh, there was one low point in the evening. I received sad news from a friend in Boston that the Dirty One, ODB, passed away. Shame ya'! Look for a retrospective or some sort of memorial album with all his extra material on Roc'a Fella this spring?