Well, it was a fun childhood. Plenty of other stories.

My mother was a professional hot air balloon pilot, and I was her ground crew chief. We had a bunch of regular crew members, and I was shocked by one guy who confessed that he had fallen in love with our hot air balloon. He asked permission to spend a day in our garage, and explicitly told us he wanted to unpack the envelope (the balloon part) and fuck it. He also said he had been having dreams of fucking the suede and padding that lined the top of the rattan gondola.

He was never called to crew again.

Well, I am not sure…

No way to toast a bowl effectively in an oven that I can figure out. Not without destroying the integrity of the bowl.

Then you introduce melted cheese, and depending on the cheese, it might disintegrate right into the soup…

Plus, remember that toasted and dried bread absorbs a lot more moisture than fresh, so by toasting the bread you’re running the risk of it soaking up the soup. You would end up with a spongy mass tasting of tomato soup, which would just leak out all over your plate and be rather unappetizing.

Best to stick to the traditional sammich, I think. It’s a classic for a reason.

You might be able to mix some cheeses and serve a tomato soup with a topping similar to French Onion soups… Then toast up some breadsticks, and serve the soup in a crock. That way, you have the fun of dipping the breadsticks into the cheese/soup for a little added fun. Might be a good way to use stale breadsticks, especially if you cut some texture into the crust and really let the interior soak up the cheese and soup.

I thought the same, but you can replace the cauliflower with broccoli if cauli isn’t your thing. The heavy gets too heavy. Give the beer cheese soup a shot on its own first (if you want, leave out the veggies and sop it with sourdough–super delicious).

It’s one of those things that many people had to approach me with first, each with the rather suspicious “just trust me…”

But, my friend, give it a shot I did, and all I can say is, uhh, just trust me.

One thing I’ve noticed, after making a few batches, is that you should use a medium to sharp cheddar. The mild stuff gets lost in the flavor mix.

And the sourdough sop, can’t reccomend that enough.

Been on a warm brie with apples and prosciutto kick lately.

I usually can’t stand beer, and yet moving to Wisconsin introduced me to beer Cheddar cauliflower soup.

Seek it out this winter, it’s delicious and warms better than a good whiskey.

Ahh, yes. The refined taste of feet, but in a good way, somehow.

Loved Ferguson. His books are worth a read, too.

I’ll give you two, one living, one passed.

Randy Feltface is great with crowd work.

Mitch Hedberg was a genius with delivery, and even though I’ve seen most of his recorded work multiple times, I still laugh out loud.

Because no one would treasure a truly eternal life.

60 miles away from the broadcast center, but luckily in a very flat area. I still have an old-school antenna set up on a tower and rotor, and can pull in between 25-30 stations if you include the digital substations.

I got this set up from Radio Shack in the early 80s. Cable made me regret it for a long time, but let’s hear it for laziness allowing me to get good use out of it since I clipped all but internet service.

Bonus: you can split out the signal and hook the antenna up to home stereos, and get TONS of FM stations that even my car won’t pick up.

Old stuff gets useful again! Yay!

Indiana and Wisconsin USA here. Approaching 50, and learned back in high school, as well as driving old tractors. My first car, a classic even when I got it, was a 63 Chevy Bel Aire manual. Drove manuals all through college and didn’t buy an automatic until 2013, when the type of vehicle I needed didn’t come in a manual.

I really miss driving stick, especially in snowy Wisconsin winters.

You lose the ability to differentiate between a fart and a poo.

At random times whenever you are traveling in any vehicle, you simultaneously feel a sneeze coming on, and yet have to pee a little bit too. However, you can neither sneeze nor pee until you are out of the vehicle.

Inconvenient on a bus/train or as a passenger, deadly if you’re driving. Bicycles are right out, I suppose.

Ah. Yes. Helps to read things.

I am so confused. It’s been in the PS store for a while…

Get to know a taxi driver. Ask locals where to go and what to see. Stop by a visitors bureau or welcome center. Hit up a local colleges student center.

When I traveled a lot, I used to start with the local phone book. Not only did it have business information, but government info, and a section devoted to local arts and museums. These days I (gasp) talk to people at pubs or bars or coffee shops. Obviously, if they are annoyed, I let them be, but you’d be surprised how many people are happy to brag about their community.

Oregon Trail, on cassette, on a RadioShack TRS-80 in the school library.

Gaming heaven.

Started with the 8" bastards on a dedicated word processor (with a 12" CRT, green phospher glow, and typwriter style printer built right into the top of the unit!) that my dad had for medical filekeeping at his office.

It’s been amazing watching storage tech from those to zip drives, and now, floppies of any kind are dying.

Alright, that’s it. We are taking this outside.

I have no idea what we will do with it when we get there, but I’m pretty sure it involves fireworks and fingerprinting…