One of the things in life that has always interested me is the topic of local accents, how they show themselves, and just how hard they are to break. Since I've always had Wisconsin relatives in my family I've long been able to enjoy and attempt to deconstruct that accent. Its softness and flowing quality usually makes me smile and laugh. Its such a stark contrast to the sharp and hammer like nature of the Chicago accent that I own to a degree much higher than I'd like to admit. All this having been said, I'm starting to drink the Kool-aid. As much as it is near impossible to ever shake an accent you've had from youth through early adulthood, you can pick up things here and there. Case in point -- "Stoughton." Its a town just south of Madison and also the name of a road (highway 51) that cuts through the Madison area, so you do need to say it out loud quite often to get by. When I moved here I said STOW-TUN, and was always corrected with the softer STOOOHHH- TUN. I figured that since my accent comes from a violent city with lots of guns and murders that I should get my way, but alas it is not true. I have relented, if only to reduce the amount of run around in conversations just to tell people what I'm talking about. +1 Wisconsin. My friend Amy had a similar problem with Eldorado street in Decatur, IL. I don't know if she ever gave in. She's a much better linguist than I am so she probably is still holding strong to that one.

People in Chicago complain about it being too cold -- people in Wisconsin are happy that "we're making ice today."

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If you're not reading Infinite Crisis, please start. It is so much better than I expected it to be and this past issue had an excellent recap on the what/where/why so there is no excuse not get on board. The Royal Flush gang (one of my favorites) died a few issues ago and in #4 Superboy-Earth Prime went on a killing spree. So far the series is really paying off.

Oh, and please buy Jonah Hex not only because its truly wonderful, but because it would be terrible to see it canceled.