And Eliza, If you ever have the chance to shop at an ALDI grocery store (oh, that everyone would be so lucky), try their Frosted Flakes. They’re not the same as Kellogg’s, but you won’t be dissapointed.

Should I be embarrassed that this is my only area of expertise??

Also – Julianne has spent about 15 years being angry/envious of the “Coffee Society” that has so cruely left her out.

Braden: “any discipline or endeavor probably has distinctions that are almost meaningless in real, practical terms and terribly important to practitioners.” Exactly. That’s the essence of what I was trying to say. And I know what you mean about ginger ale; I prefer my root beer to be opened, then chilled for a day, rather than opened immediately. Take a little of the carbonation out, but not too much.

Kook: We’ll have to have a blow pops tasting next time we’re in Utah. And yes, Mug is the best grocery store brand. By far. I actually prefer Mug to any microbrew I’ve had.

Eliza: I, too, can easily distinguish between brand name and generic cereals (although Marshmallow Mateys sometimes throw me).

Rebecca: Why have you been holding out on us all these years? We’ll have to have a cookie tasting right after the blow pop tasting.

Troy: You’re right. Your funny root beer hypothetical shows how insane the wine thing has gotten. Please keep us apprised of how your wine-drinking dinner companion reacts to your exposing them as frauds.

Tyler: Christian would certainly dispute your wife’s claims to the throne of pancake connoisseur. We may need to have a blind tasting to compete for that title.

Craig: Go on . . .

Wade: I appreciate your appreciation of Jerry Sloan’s offenses and drivers. I love thinking of you knowing what Jerry thinks of a particular possession.

One area of my expertise is logical flow in blog posts. Many bloggers try to write like they’re Holden Caulfield, but they never really arrive at a point. Even if they do, it’s unrelated to all that precedes it. I can tell a good blog post just by reading it, for it feels tight somehow, though there may be a sense that a hole remains somewhere, which can be found if I reread it.

The rare great blog post is crafted to be so tight that you could cup water in it for as long as you please without it dripping out, and after one read I say to myself “Self, get back to work. Also, that was a lusciously balanced conclusion boldly supported by gorgeously precise arguments.”

On ceremony with regard to wine-tasting, I will say this: the French do appear to be incredibly persistent in their experimentation to find the best way to do a thing. See wine-tasting, French cooking, French music (I found Debussy bizarre at first, but he is wonderful once you understand just what it is he’s doing), and the Constitution of France.

and Other People’s Driving – I sit and mentally rate other drivers on the road the whole time I’m driving. Cheering on a good lane change as a car goes whizzing by me, scoffing at a delayed response to the left turn arrow, giving a “proud papa” frown/smile to the old man still holding it together on the roads, spotting the teenage texting drivers from distance. Just keeping it real out there.

Sorry.