I like accents of all kinds. They make language interesting. And I'm always slightly jealous of people who have accents. For some reason, I never developed one. The standard response from people when I tell them I grew up in Texas is: "Funny, you don't have an accent." And I explain it by saying that while my dad's family are New York Italians who say "Yous" (as in "you all"), and my mom's family are Midwesterner's who drink "pop" (pronounced "pap") and who show wonderment or exasperation with an "Oh, Geez", we moved when I was quite young to a neighborhood in Houston where just about everybody was from someplace else. So there was really no strong accent influence on me. Sure, I had a heavy dosage of East Texas twang administered to me on a daily basis. Sure just about everybody I met said "ya'll" and pronounced Houston, "Youston," without the H. But these rituals of dialect were never something I joined in on. For some reason, it never wore off on me. I guess it's because my nearest friends and family were all from someplace else and spoke plain old boring English. Now, as an adult, I feel a little cheated.

Being in Maryland and DC has made accents much more of a novelty to me. You just don't hear them everyday. There is really no DC accent, probably because it truly is a town where most everybody is from somewhere else and is on their way to somewhere else. There is a Maryland accent, but it's subtle. They do a thing where they draw out their long O's. It's not something you recognize immediately, but the longer you're here, you begin to notice it. Anyway, because of the lack of a strong regional accent, I am always surprised when I go to other areas of the states now and find that—wow—everyday people really do talk like this here! It's not just something you hear on TV or the radio. It's an actual thing. I know, it sounds stupid to think this way. I mean, of course they do. But it really takes a few minutes to sink in. I've even experienced this when I go back to Texas, where I spent most of my life, and where I shouldn't really be surprised by such a thing. And I really felt it this past week while I was up in New Jersey. I had to stop myself from asking people to repeat things just because I loved the way they said it. I'm sorry, could you just tell me that story one more time, please. And this time really emphasize the "fugetaboutit" part.

I love the New Jersey accent. To my ears, it's pretty much the same as a New York accent. I guess if I were from the area, maybe I would notice subtle differences between the two—the same way I can tell when people are from East Texas or West Texas. Or the same way an English person might notice whether somebody is from London or Liverpool. A lot of people from the Northeast simply hear a Southern accent and think, that person's from The South. But when you grow up in The South, you really hear Texas Twang vs. Arkansas Drawl. Tennessee Mountain vs Georgia Old South. It's all very fascinating to me how dialect plays a part in identity.

C's family are French-Canadian on one side and English on the other. Depending on who she's with she can change accents like pairs of shoes. I can't do French Canadian very well, but I can sort of pull off "Ontario Hoser," only because I grew up worshiping Bob and Doug McKenzie. And of course, because I spent so many years in the lone-star state, I can do a passable Texan. I can almost pull off a Michigan-style Midwestern if you give me some time. But I can't do New York to save my life. And that really distresses me because it should be part of my genetic make-up. Maybe when we move to New Jersey that'll change.

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