There are things a lot of people do which I don't. For example, I have never ridden on a snowmobile or a jetski. I don't watch TV. I never listen willingly to commercial radio anymore (used to a long time ago), and I have never used Q-tips. I shave with shampoo or soap, not shaving cream. I don't wear a ring or a watch. I never got married. I don't drink coffee. I don't eat pizza. I have never read a book by Danielle Steele or Robert Ludlum.

Given all that, I think it's believable that I have not seen a Buffy the Vampire Slayer show...

You're not alone, LH. I do watch television, but I don't seem to stray over to the networks much (except PBS), I stick with the cable channels with uninterrupted films, and some of the specialized programs on history, natural history, and of course, murder mysteries. . .

I never watched Friends or Seinfeld or NYPD Blue or so many of those series that people chat about over the water cooler. I haven't watched Desperate Housewives (I HATE the name of that show, for starters) or any of the popular things on now. I'm a public radio listener, and classical music radio, and my own music (lots of it, especially after Dad died and I ended up with tons of disks and a whole bunch of LPs on top of my own). I don't ride motorcycles or jet skis, I don't walk around with a phone permanently plugged into my ear or have a blueberry or an MPe player or iPod or whatever (yeah, I know, this is getting into Mudcat territory for listening to music). You have to make your choices as to what you're willing to take the time to learn or bother to invest your money in. I am a whiz at the computer stuff, and I have plenty of gadgets around here, but I draw the line at some of these expensive little trifles. I'd rather listen to music throughout the room rather than plug something into my ears and hear nothing else around me.

I haven't checked out the LOTR spoof because BillD didn't come back and tell me what it did to his computer. I'll probably take a look anyway when I get settled in to work later this evening.

Oh--I've had people insist on occasion that I should read this novel or that novel. People I respect but wish they had a little higher standards in their choice of light fiction. I read a Danielle Steel novel once. Gagged on the damned thing. I started reading Ludlum's the Bourne Identity but put it down about half-way through because it was so boring.

Carbonated beverages -- are you including BEER?

Oh, I hope you haven't added beer to that carbonated beverage hit list!

SRS