You Might Be A Minnesotan If…

You measure distance in minutes.

Weather is 80% of your conversation.

Down south to you means Iowa.

You call highways "freeways."

Snow tires came standard on your car.

You have no concept of public transportation.

75% of your graduating high school class went to the Univ. of Minnesota.

You know more than 1 person that has hit a deer.

People from other states love to hear you say words with "o"s in them.

You know what and where "Dinkytown" is.

"Perkins" was a popular hangout option in high school.

You have no problem saying or spelling "Minneapolis."

You can list all the "Dales."

You hate "Fargo" but realize that a lot of your family has that accent.

You get mad at people who think Fargo is in Minnesota.

Your school classes have been canceled because of snow or cold.

You know what Mille Lacs is and how to spell it.

You assume when you say "The Cities" people know where you are referring to.

You know what the numbers 694, 494, I-94, 394 mean.

You have tried boiled fish in lye at Christmas.

You know the 2 sports-related reasons why we hate Dallas.

Nothing gets you madder than seeing a Green Bay sticker on a MN car.

You know what "uff-da" means and how to use it properly.

You can pinpoint exactly where each scene in "Untamed Heart" was filmed.

You can spot the three-second cameo appearance by "The Artist formerly Known as Prince" in "Fargo."

You’re a loyal Target shopper.

You’ve licked frozen metal.

The only reason you go to Wisconsin is to get fireworks or to fish.

You own an ice house, a snowmobile, and a 4-wheel drive vehicle.

You wear shorts when it’s 50 degrees outside in March, but bundle up and complain in August when it goes below 60.

You know people that have more fishing poles than teeth.

You remember WLOL.

It feels like the Mississippi is everywhere you go.

When you talk about "opener" you are not talking about cans.

You have gone Trick-or-Treating in 3 feet of snow.

You know that when it comes to AM, there is only WCCO, besides, what else do you need?

You know what the word SPAM stands for (in more ways than one)

You carry jumper cables in your car.

You drink "POP," not "SODA"

There was a time when you were SO proud that Soul Asylum is from MN

In a conversation you heard someone say "yah, sure, you betcha" and you didn’t laugh.

Everyone you know has a cabin.

You get sick of people asking you where Paisley Park is.

You know that Lake Wobegon isn’t real and you know who made it up, where they live, and exactly what to do about it.

Continue ReadingYou Might Be A Minnesotan If…

You Know You’ve Already Grown Up When…

1. Your potted plants stay alive.

2. You keep more food than beer in your fridge.

3. 6 AM is when you get up, not when you go to sleep.

4. You hear your favorite song on the elevator.

5. You carry an umbrella and watch the Weather Channel.

6. You don’t remember when Taco Bell closes.

7. A $4 bottle of wine is no longer "pretty good stuff."

8. Sleeping on the couch makes your back hurt.

9. You’re the one calling the cops because the kids next door don’t know how to turn their stereo down.

10. Your friends marry and divorce instead of hooking up and breaking up.

Continue ReadingYou Know You’ve Already Grown Up When…

You Might Be A Goth If …

You pay 6 bucks for cigarettes that match your outfit

You like to play dead in public

You wake up still drunk at 3 in the afternoon with anonymous black lipstick on your face

The shade of powder you wear is called "Sheet Of Paper"

The Count was your favorite Sesame Street character as a child

You wear long, velvet coats in the middle of summer

You go to Denny’s at 5 in the morning and think, "These are my people"

You think dead flowers are prettier than live ones

You refer to your age in mortal years

You buy $15 fishnets and rip them on purpose

Your combat boots cost more than it takes to feed a third world child for two years

You’ve willingly undergone cosmetic dental surgery

You own 16 or more Cleopatra c.d.’s

You own even 1 Projekt c.d.

You can’t decide whether Morticia Addams or Lily Munster is prettier, then decide Wednesday blows them both away

You were disappointed to find out that "American Gothic" is a portrait of two farmers

You think of the hearse as a "family car"

You own a glow-in-the-dark rosary that alternates between your neck and the rearview mirror in your car

You fashion your eyeliner after a culture that’s been dead over 2000 years

You have seen "Nightmare before Christmas" more than seven times

Your purse is large, square and metal

You argue on whether Poppy Z. Brite or Anne Rice has the more realistic view on vampires

You and your friends take lengthy drives to visit non-local graveyards

You spell Vampire either Vampyre or Vamphyre

Your boyfriend complains that his ribs just don’t stick out the way they used to

Your girlfriend complains that you look better in her black, velvet skirt than she does

You refer to others as "The Normals"

You are happy when no one has ever heard of your favorite band

Christians accost you with pamphlets on the street frequently

You accost Christians with pamphlets on the street

You and your boyfriend fight over who gets to wear the fangs

This list made you depressed

Continue ReadingYou Might Be A Goth If …

You Know You’re Stuck in The 80’s If…

Your fondest childhood memory is when Skippy got his head stuck in the banister

You relax by putting on your legwarmers and dancing to the “Footloose” soundtrack

You think the Two Coreys are “totally awesome”

You’re still bitter that Wham! broke up

Punky Brewster is your hero

You type all of your term papers on a Commodore 64

You still resent your parents for not installing a dumbwaiter in your house like Webster’s

The only video games you play are Frogger, 텐텐벳, and Pac Man

You’re building your own Clockwork Smurf

Your summer attire is Jellies and Jams

A-Ha’s “Take on Me” is still your favorite video

You consider yourself truly, truly, truly outrageous, much like Jem and the Holograms

You wonder why more people don’t wear high heels, Jordache jeans, and lacy ankle socks

You call all motorcycle cops “Ponch”

Every time you go to the beach you look for Snorks

You’re still upset Madonna and Sean broke up

You know who Stinky Sullivan is

You work out with “Get in Shape Girl”

You want to be Molly Ringwald when you grow up

You enjoy dancing on the ceiling and wearing your sunglasses at night

You know who Loverboy is

You think there should be a Kids Incorporated original cast reunion

You think of Janet Jackson as “that girl who used to date Willis”

You can sing the theme song to Small Wonder

Every time you see a fountain you want to dance around it and yell “Fame!”

You still have a shoebox full of Garbage Pail Kid cards

You write your congressman asking him to introduce a bill to make “Born in the USA” the national anthem

You still use your Snoopy Sno-Cone machine

You know it’s not “comma, comma, comma” it’s karma

You stay up nights wondering what Bastian’s mother’s name was in “The Neverending Story”

You have nightmares about the Peculiar Purple Pieman of Porcupine Peak

You still practice your Care Bear Stare

You know that girls just wanna have fuh-un

You can name all The Wuzzles

You harbor a secret dream of being slimed by Alistair

You can do the Safety Dance

In your spare time you are writing “The Breakfast Club 2”

You like to “connect the dots, la la la la!”

Someone mentions Jennifer Beals and you don’t say “Who?”

Your prized possession is a collection of “Return of the Jedi” Shrinky Dinks

You know whose number is 867-5309

You get depressed thinking about Anthony Michael Hall’s career

You’re starting a write-in campaign to MTV to bring back Remote Control

You drink Diet Coke because Max Headroom told you to

You consider Jo vs. Blair the major philosophical conflict of the 20th century

You have a duck phone and ride around your house on a little train

You want to be one of the Solid Gold Dancers

You still watch things on Beta

You want to change your name to Rio and dance on the sand

You know that “Weird Science” was a movie before a tv show

Your favorite proverb is “some like it hot and some sweat when the heat is on”

You always waited for the Sweet Pickles Bus to visit your house

Your favorite party game is Hungry Hungry Hippos

You saw the New Kids on the Block when they were Tiffany’s opening act

You liked Tom Hanks better when he was a crossdresser

You know which Hollywood Square Jim J Bullock was in

You practice getting in and out of your car through the windows

You have the tendency to turn up the collar of your polo shirts

You’re still wondering who really was the boss

You know what the “P” in “Alex P. Keaton” stands for

You keep asking your teachers if instead of the quiz you can take the physical challenge

You organize weekend tournaments of TV tag

You still drink New Coke

When you watch “Terminator 2” you wonder where Vincent is

You know ALF’s real name

You never go out for a night on the town without frosted blue eyeshadow and feathered bangs

You can name all of the Thundercats

You hanker for a hunk of cheese

Everything in your wardrobe is either pastel or fluorescent

Your musical inspiration is Sonny Mann

Sometimes you just want to shout, shout, let it all out

You’re planning a dream vacation to Mepos

You use your Speak and Spell to phone home

You know the original members of Menudo

Sometimes out of the blue you just got to shake your love

When you’re stuck in traffic you tell your car to engage Turbo Boost and are surprised when it doesn’t talk back

You remember when Vanessa sang Kareoke to “Locomotion”

You know that Mr. Steele functions best in an advisory capacity.

People are constantly gagging you with spoons

Your idea of appreciating ancient cultures is “Walk Like an Egyptian”

The only thing you know about the Nazis is that they threw Indy to the snakes

You still use your hair crimper before going out on a hot date

You hatch plots to break Murdock out of VA hospital

You know which five people Serpentor’s DNA came from.

You have “We Are the World” on 45

You’re still sending death threats to Mr. Rubik

You can feel St. Elmo’s fire burnin’ in you

You watch NYPD Blue thinking, “Well, they’re no Crockett and Tubbs, that’s for sure”

You know what a “burnout” is.

You know what “Sike” means.

You know the profound meaning of “Wax on, Wax off”.

You know that another name for a keyboard is a”Synthesizer”.

You wanted to be a Goonie.

You know who Max Headroom is.

You ever wore flourescent clothing.

You could breakdance, or wish you could.

You wanted to be The Hulk for Halloween.

Partying “like it’s 1999” seemed SO far away.

You wanted to be on StarSearch.

You can remember what Michael Jackson looked like before his nose fell off.

You wore a banana clip at some point during your youth, or knew someone who did.

You knew what Willis was “talkin’ ’bout”.

You HAD to have your MTV

You hold a special place in your heart for “Back to the Future”.

You thought Molly Ringwald was REALLY cool.

You actually thought “Dirty Dancing” was a REALLY good movie.

You heard of Garbage Pail Kids.

You knew “The Artist” when he was humbly called “Prince”.

You remember when ATARI was a state of the art video game system.

You own any cassettes.

You were led to believe that in the year 2000 we’d all be living on the moon.

You remember And/or own any of the CareBear Glass collection from Pizza Hut.

Or any other stupid collection they came out with.

Poltergeist freaked you out.

You carried your lunch to school in a Gremlins or an ET lunchbox.

You have ever pondered why Smurfette was the ONLY female smurf.

You know what a Doozer is.

You wore biker shorts underneath a short skirt and felt stylish, or knew someone who did.

You ever had a Swatch Watch.

You can name 1/2 the members of Duran Duran

You remember when Saturday Night Live was funny.

You had WonderWoman or Superman underoos.

You know what a “Whammee” is.

You had a crush on Jon Bon Jovi, or knew someone who did.

Continue ReadingYou Know You’re Stuck in The 80’s If…

You Know That You Are Too Drunk When…

1. You lose arguments with inanimate objects.

2. You have to hold onto the lawn to keep from falling off the earth.

3. Job interfering with your drinking.

4. Your doctor finds traces of blood in your alcohol stream.

5. Career won’t progress beyond Senator from Massachusetts.

6. The back of your head keeps getting hit by the toilet seat.

7. Sincerely believe alcohol to be the elusive 5th food group.

8. 24 hours in a day, 24 beers in a case – coincidence?? – I think not!

9. Two hands and just one mouth… – now THAT’S a drinking problem!

10. You can focus better with one eye closed.

11. The parking lot seems to have moved while you were in the bar.

12. You fall off the floor…

13. Your twin sons are named Barley and Hops.

14. Hey, 5 beers has just as many calories as a burger, screw dinner!

15. Mosquitoes catch a buzz after attacking you

16. At AA meetings you begin: “Hi,my name is… uh…”

17. Your idea of cutting back is less salt.

18. You wake up in the bedroom, your underwear is in the bathroom, you fell asleep clothed. – hmm.

19. The whole bar says ‘Hi’ when you come in…

20. You think the Four Basic Food Groups are Caffeine, Nicotine, Alcohol, and [Women or Men].

21. Every night you’re beginning to find your roommate’s cat more and more attractive.

22. Roseanne looks good.

23. Don’t recognize wife unless seen through bottom of glass.

24. That damned pink elephant followed me home again.

25. Senators Kennedy and Packwood shake their heads when they walk past you.

26. I’m as jober as a sudge, people need to know that drunk driving in Boston or anywhere in the world is a serious and a punishable crime.

27. Everything is drunk when you’re funny

28. The shrubbery’s drunk from too frequent watering.

29. You wake up screaming “TORO TORO TORO!” in the middle of the night.

Continue ReadingYou Know That You Are Too Drunk When…

You Know You’re Not in College Anymore When…

You’re waking up at 6 am instead of going to bed.

Beers at lunch get you reprimanded.

College sweatshirts are ‘casual’ instead of dress up.

Your parents charge rent.

The four food groups are no longer beer, pizza, chips and cereal.

It’s ‘getting late’ when it’s 9:30 p.m.

Three words: Student Loan Payments.

You make thousands of dollars a year – and still can’t afford that dream Porsche.

You start eyeing the Light Beer Section appreciatively.

Pickup football games mean that at least one person will be in the hospital by game’s
end.

Discussing with your friends:
THEN: GPA’s, spring break plans, and tonsil hockey;
NOW: mutual funds, interest rates, and wedding plans.

Sleeping on the couch is a no-no.

Naps are no longer available between noon and 6 p.m.

Sneakers are now ‘weekend shoes’.

Dinner and a movie – The whole date instead of the beginning of one.

Pregnancy now brings thought of tax deductions instead of coronaries.

Jack and Cokes become Dewers on the Rocks.

The only drugs you take are Tums and Tylenol.

The weak single you hit in the intramural softball game is now remembered as a Varsity dinger for the League Championship.

You get your news from sources other than USA Today, ESPN Sportscenter, and MTV News.

Random hook-ups are no longer socially acceptable.

You wear more ties in a week than you even owned while taking in college.

You find yourself reminiscing fondly of 2-hour Calculus exams.

You empathize with the characters from ‘Friends.’

METABOLISM SLOWDOWN

Wine appreciation expands beyond Boone’s and Mad Dog.

You actually eat breakfast foods at breakfast time.

Grocery lists actually contain relatively healthy food.

When drinking, you say at least once per night, ‘I just can’t put it down the same as I used to.’

Over 90% of the time you spend in front of a computer is for real work, not video games.

You’re actually willing to pay a bit more to drink in a bar that’s not full of ’21-year-old kids.’

Golf is beginning to seem a lot less silly.

Continue ReadingYou Know You’re Not in College Anymore When…

You Might Be a College Student If…

You have ever price shopped for Top Ramen, you might be a college student.

You live in a house with three couches, none of which match.

You consider Mac and Cheese a balanced meal.

You have ever written a check for 45 cents.

You have a fine collection of domestic beer bottles.

You have ever seen two consectutive sunrises without sleeping.

Your glass set is composed of McDonald’s Extra Value Meal Plastic Cups.

Your underwear supply dictates the time between laundry loads.

You cannot remember when you last washed your car.

You can pack your worldly possesions into the back of a pick-up (one trip).

You have ever had to justify yourself for buying Natural Light.

The first thing you do in the morning is roll over and introduce yourself.

You average less than 3 hours of sleep a night.

Your trash is overflowing and your bank account isn’t

You go to Wal-Mart more than 3 times a week

You eat at the cafeteria because it’s"free", even though it sucks

You are personally keeping the local pizza place from bankruptcy

You wake up 10 minutes before class

You wear the same jeans 13 days in a row –without washing them

Your breakfast consists of a coke on the way to class

Your social life consists of a date with the library

Your idea of "doing your hair" is putting on a baseball cap

It takes a shovel to find the floor of your room

You carry less than a dollar on you at all times because that’s all you have

You haven’t done laundry in so long you are wearing your swim suit to class

Your midnight snack is microwave popcorn

You celebrate when you find a quarter

Your room is so cold that your toilet freezes over

Your walls are plastered with posters of half naked men or women

You have built up a tolerence for certain beverages (he he he)

You wear a sweat suit for so long that it stands up by itself

Your backpack is giving you Scoliosis

You get more sleep in class than in your room

Your idea of feeding the poor is buying yourself some Ramen Noodles

You can sleep through your roommate’s blaring stereo

You live in an area that is smaller than most mobile homes

You get more e-mail than mail……

Continue ReadingYou Might Be a College Student If…

You Know You’ve Had Too Much Coffee When

Juan Valdez names his donkey after you.

You get a speeding ticket even when you’re parked.

You grind your coffee beans in your mouth.

You sleep with your eyes open.

You watch videos in fast-forward.

You lick your coffeepot clean.

Your eyes stay open when you sneeze.

The nurse needs a scientific calculator to take your pulse.

You can type sixty words a minute with your feet.

You can jump-start your car without cables.

Your only source of nutrition comes from Sweet & Low.

You don’t sweat, you percolate.

You’ve worn out the handle on your favorite coffee mug.

You go to AA meetings just for the free coffee.

You’ve worn the finish off you coffee table.

The Taster’s Choice couple wants to adopt you.

Starbuck’s owns the mortgage on your house.

You’re so wired you pick up FM radio.

Your life’s goal is to "amount to a hill of beans."

Instant coffee takes too long.

You want to be cremated just so you can spend eternity in a coffee can.

You name your cats Cream and Sugar.

Your lips are permanently stuck in the sipping position.

Your first-aid kit contains two pints of coffee with an I.V. hookup.

Continue ReadingYou Know You’ve Had Too Much Coffee When

A Student’s Guide To Bawstin

(for all of you who were not bon heah)
By John Powers, Globe Staff:09/11/97

The truth, now. How many of you said "Boston University" to the cabbie at Logan Airport and ended up at Boston College? You’re right. It wasn’t a misunderstanding. The cabbie knew you weren’t bon heah, so he took you for a ride. By now, you know that nobody in the Hub calls it Boston University. We don’t really call it the Hub, either, except in headlines. By the time you graduate, you’ll also be able to tell Southie from the South End, know how to pronounce Gloucester, and who should have been at first base instead of Bill Buckner. You’ll know who the cahdnal is, how to take the T to JP and what the blinking red light atop the old Hancock Building means in the summer. And if you’re smaht, you’ll know how not to get cahded at the packie.

Herewith, a student’s survival guide to Bawstin:

How we tok: We don’t speak English. We speak whatever they brought over here from East Anglia in 1630. The Bawstin accent is basically the broad A and the dropped R, which we add to words ending in A – pahster, Cuber, soder. For the broad A, just open your mouth and say "ah," like the dicta says. So car is cah, park is pahk. If you want to talk like the mayah, repeat after me: "My ahnt takes her bahth at hahpast foah.’

When we say: \ We mean:
bzah: odd, or a place where they sell stuff.
flahwiz: roses, etc.
hahpahst: 30 minutes after the hour
Hahwahya?: How are you?
khakis: what we staht the cah with
pissa: superb
retahded: silly
shuah: of course
wikkid: extremely
yiz: you, plural

How we’ll know you weren’t bon heah:
You wear a Harvard sweatshirt.
You cross at a crosswalk.
You ask directions to "Cheers."
You order a grinder and a soda.
You pronounce it "Worchester."
You walk the Freedom Trail.
You call it "Copely Square."
You go to BU.

Getting around: Boston is a mishmosh of 17th-century cow paths and 19th-century landfill penned in by water. You know:"One if by land, two if by sea." Charlestown? Cahn’t get theyah from heah. And which Warren Street do you want? We have three:plus three Warren Avenues, three Warren Squares, a Warren Park, and a Warren Place.

Pay no attention to the street names. There’s no school on School Street, no court on Court Street, no dock on Dock Square, no water on Water Street. Back Bay streets are in alphabetical odda. Arlington, Berkeley, Clarendon, Dartmouth. So are South Boston streets: A, B, C, D. If the streets are named after trees (Walnut, Chestnut, Cedar), you’re on Beacon Hill. If they’re named after poets, you’re in Wellesley. Dot is Dorchester, Rozzie is Roslindale, JP is Jamaica Plain. Readville doesn’t exist.

The North-East-South-West thing: Southie is South Boston. The South End is the South End. The North End is east of the West End. The West End is no more. A guy named Rappaport got rid of it one night. Eastie is East Boston. The East End is Boston Harbor.

About our "cuisine" : Boston cream pie is a cake. Frappes have ice cream; milk shakes don’t. Chowdah does not come with tomatoes. Soda is club soda. Pop is Dad. If it’s fizzy and flavored, it’s tonic. When we mean tonic water, we say tonic water. Scrod is whatever they tell you it is, usually fish. If you paid more than $6 a pound, you got scrod. Brown bread comes in a can. You open both ends, push it out, heat it, and eat it with baked beans. They’re hot dogs. Franks were people who lived in France in the ninth century.

People without last names: Dapper, Whitey, Raybo, Larry, Natalie, Roger, Julia and Yaz.

Things not to do: Don’t call it Beantown. Don’t pahk your cah in Hahvid Yahd. They’ll tow it to Meffa. Don’t swim in the Charles, no matter what Bill Weld tells you. Don’t sleep in the Common. Don’t wear orange in Southie on St. Patrick’s Day. Don’t call the mayah "Mumbles." He hates that. Don’t ask what she’s majoring in. You don’t care.

Things you should know: There are two State Houses, two City Halls, two courthouses, two Hancock buildings. There’s also a Boston Latin School and a Boston Latin Academy. How should we know which one you mean? Route 128 is also I-95. It is also I-93. It’s the Sox, the Pats (or Patsies), the Seltz, the Broons. The Harvard Bridge goes to MIT. It’s measured in "smoots." Johnson never should have hit for Willoughby. The subway doesn’t run all night. This isn’t Noo Yawk. Ray Flynn used to be mayah. It’s Comm Ave, Mass Ave and Dot Ave. Yaz wore 8, Ted wore 9. The drinking age is 21. If you use a fake ID, make sure it isn’t from Mississippi. Argeo Paul Cellucci, the governor, is just acting. To get back to Logan from BC, take the Green Line to the Blue Line – then grab the bus.

Miscellaneous:

The Hub: A Bostonian once called this city the Hub of the Universe. It was:in 1775.

The Big Dig: The downtown highway project that’s taking longer and costing more than it should. The latest excuse for why traffic here is bzah.

The old Hancock Building lights are actually a weather forecast: Steady blue, clear view. Flashing blue, clouds due. Steady red, rain ahead. Flashing red, snow instead. In the summer, flashing red means the Sox home game has been called off.

Continue ReadingA Student’s Guide To Bawstin

You Know You’re In America When…

A pizza can get to your house faster than an ambulance.

There are handicap parking places in front of a skating rink.

People order double cheese burgers, a large fry, and a diet coke.

Banks leave both doors open and then chain the pens to the counters.

People leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the driveway and leave useless things and junk in boxes in the garage.

People use answering machines to screen calls and then have call waiting so we won’t miss a call from someone we didn’t want to talk to in the first place.

People sell hot dogs in packages of ten and buns in packages of eight.

People use the word "politics" to describe the process so well: "Poli" in latin meaning "many" and "tics" meaning "blood-sucking creatures."

Continue ReadingYou Know You’re In America When…