1. Star Wars
2. Reggie Miller
3. Party Politics (Republicans are crying)
4. Grades
5. Hillary Clinton

1. Religion: OK, so it provides some answers. But why are we asking questions in the first place? I've never figured that out, and religion hasn't helped.

2. Sex: Yeah, it's fun while you're doing it, but honestly, it's worse than chinese food satisfaction-wise. No matter how much you get, you just want more in a few hours.

3. Family: Just a bunch of imperfect copies of yourself -- what's so great about that? Unless you can't get enough you.

4. Politics: Take all the worst elements of family, without any of the vague familiarity that makes family tolerable, and you've got politics at its best. It's all downhill from there.

5. Business: It's "competitive," like the games we played when we were kids -- except it never ends, and it's not fun! Yay!

1. The OC. I'd name television in general, but it sometimes seems like my friends in grad school talk about little else besides their work and this one show.

2. Socialized healthcare. They're nuts about that, too. And they think I'm a troglodyte for not finding forced redistribution a perfectly moral solution.

3. Sports. If I had to reinvent the world, I don't think I would bother creating them. Recreational fitness is great, but I've never liked competitive sports.

4. Smoking. French people smoke all the time, and putting up with it it is by far the most unpleasant part of doing my research.

5. Blog memes. Never did get into those.

I've only got 2 - c'est la vie.

1) The Postal Service (the band, not the USPS): I really tried to get into them, but the CD either puts me to sleep or irritates me, depending on my mood.

2) Upland Brewpub: I've been there twice, and both times the food I god was awful and overpriced. I paid $8.25 for a scorched cinder they called a "burger"? Thanks, but no.

Nick--the solution is going with the reuben.

1. Post-Social Security Talking Points Memo.

2. Power Line Blog.

3. The Velvet Underground.

4. Traditional Himalayan art. (It just doesn't do anything for me.)

5. This will get me beaten up: Tolkien.

I'm sure I'll end up trying Upland again - everyone else but me likes them - so I'll give the reuben a shot.

The Velvet Underground

I'm not a huge fan, either. Lou Reed's solo stuff was a lot cooler, and even then, it's not something I'd listen to often.

Tolkien

Really? I'd think someone who immersed hisself in minutiae the way you do would love Tolkien - if not the LotR trilogy itself, then the Simarillion and all the attendant "historical" literature.

I don't do fantasy. Star Wars has enough science fiction for me to pretend it isn't fantasy, so I can accept it. Also, its driving motif is technological, whereas LOTR is medieval/pastoral, which are two of my least favorite settings.

Oh, crud--I've already used Tolkien. How about "The beach."

1. GenX actresses
2. Starbucks (emphasis on "bucks")
3. Jalapenos
4. Wonkette
5. The Usual Suspects (I'm still trying to figure out the plot)

1. Tolkien
2. Nintendo/Sega-Genesis/computer video games
3. Desperate Housewives
4. Alternative Rock
5. beer

merlot
coffee/Starbucks
smoking
vibrators
dessert

1: American Idol
2: The vocal dislike of Enterprise
3: Kilroys
4: The Cure
5: Relaxing Vacations

Jessica Alba
Public Smoking Bans
commencement speeches
Spoon
Staph infections as evidence of steroid use

Spoon? (Googling) Ah, another music act I've never heard of.

I guess that goes for the Kilroys, too. (Googling) Uh, apparently not.

Not even gonna try to guess Jessica Alba's claim to fame.

Commencement speeches! Good one.

Kilroys is about a couple of bars in Bloomington.

And Kelly, clearly you arent using them correctly.