It’s list mania! Today’s installment is a list of things from the road, so to speak.

• Today I got to break out my Bullshit Meter and polish and de-rust it. The one aspect of my trip I wasn’t looking forward to terribly much was the inevitable visit with my folks. Today was the first such visit, and consisted of an hour-and-a-half long lunch, after which I realized the following: the things one says when one thinks no one is actually listening are often the most telling about one’s character. Here’s the second lesson I learned from that: people don’t like it when you call them out on things they’ve said that they thought you didn’t know about.

• The Top Chef finale tonight was fun, but lacked a certain amount of drama I was craving. That darn teaser that showed Richard saying “he would go ahead and say it” was totally fucking misleading. I was hoping he would call Lisa a big gigantic bitch, but he had to go all cowboy and be the cool guy he is, damn him.

• I got the following spam message on my website today:

  see thru lingerie… One of the best places to begin your search is right here at Best Prom Dresses. You can find tons of formal prom dress options and then even be able to purchase them without leaving home. Part of the fun of formal prom dresses is trying them on though …

  Frankly, see-“thru” prom dresses sound pretty racy, but at the same time self-defeating. Like eating dessert while you’re still in the middle of the main course. But what do I know, right? Spammers know all. I’m wondering if the same people who spam my site with various messages about animal porn (horse sex! frog sex! zebra sex!) are behind the transparent undergarments.