What a gift it seems to me to be able to be happy by yourself. I say go with your instincts and keep your own place.
posted to Ask Metafilter by macinchik at 10:55 PM on August 5, 2008

On the psychological side of things: i keep the radio on 24/7 when my husband is out of town. i find the sound keeps me from obsessing over other sounds in the night, and the occasional voice of a DJ is reassuring.

There's a completely irrational element in this of "if i can't hear them they can't hear me" which I recognize -- and yet it still helps me. Good luck to both of you.
posted to Ask Metafilter by macinchik at 10:30 PM on June 2, 2008

give it a try. i find neurontin to be both efficacious and innocuous, pretty rare in my experience for a mood-altering substance. at worst, it makes you sleepy and sort of stupid-feeling. but the effect wears off quickly and in my experience there are no withdrawal symptoms, nor does one need larger and larger doses to achieve the same state of mind. at its best, it takes away the edge for me, the constant alarm going off in my head wanting me to *do something.* it feels a little like being... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by macinchik at 8:13 PM on April 22, 2008

Don't buy the best house on the block!
posted to Ask Metafilter by macinchik at 6:31 PM on December 12, 2007

This site is amazing and so is every single one of these responses. Thank you very much.
posted to Ask Metafilter by macinchik at 6:24 AM on December 7, 2007

In my personal experience with this problem, I have found the only way to cope with it is to put music on in my environment to give my brain something else to mess with. It can be so low that most people can't even hear it, but it is still enough to jam my brain's circuits w/data.

It is a miserable feeling, and I can totally sympathize. It is probably a stress-related thing (what isn't?), or a mineral deficiency of some kind.
posted to Ask Metafilter by macinchik at 12:55 PM on October 7, 2007

Seconding the Maybelline Full & Soft. It's brilliant.
posted to Ask Metafilter by macinchik at 12:22 PM on September 19, 2007

social psych describes the way people act in groups; sociology describes the way groups express themselves in people.

interesting question.
posted to Ask Metafilter by macinchik at 12:38 AM on September 12, 2007

The Elements of User Experience, by Jesse James Garrett: web design and development.
posted to Ask Metafilter by macinchik at 7:09 PM on September 8, 2007

You're in pain and looking for external reasons for it, reasons which might not exist in any real sense. Go to a doctor, get a full check-up. Then think about expanding your life through either art or exercise. Failing that, see a psychiatrist.
posted to Ask Metafilter by macinchik at 7:26 PM on May 9, 2007

my dad has the same problem. he copes by using butter and BBQ sauce on *everything.* he also still likes licorice candy.
posted to Ask Metafilter by macinchik at 3:07 PM on April 1, 2007

Dolly Parton's "To Daddy" (also covered by Emmylou Harris)

One morning we awoke
Just to find the note
That momma carefully wrote
And left to daddy
And as he began to read it
Our ears could not believe it
The words that she had written there to daddy

She said our kids are old enough
And they don’t need me very much
So I’ve gone in search for... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by macinchik at 4:30 PM on March 21, 2007

I know that people recovering from hyperparathyroidism after successful interventions will gradually regain normal bone composiiton. It may take a few years, but I think you can be optimistic about your future prospects.

Note: even normal but high calcium levels in the face of an upper range PTH score indicates a problem with the parathyroids.

Not that I doubt Depo's ability to mess with your endocrine system.
posted to Ask Metafilter by macinchik at 8:43 PM on March 14, 2007

I have similar issues with being bothered constantly by the noise in my head. It used to really bug me and I recognize your longing for silence. It helped me to finally realize that perfect silence is an ideal and never truly experienced, unless you are completely deaf.

Also: it is the resistance to the ringing which bothers you, not the ringing itself.

You will get used to it, I believe. I am sure your suicidal friend had other things going on, as you stated previously.
posted to Ask Metafilter by macinchik at 5:25 PM on March 10, 2007

I use Pattern Maker for this kind of thing. It calls itself a cross-stitch program but you can use if for anything requiring careful attention to a grid.

You might also want to explore these Plug-ins for Illustrator, especially Tessella.
posted to Ask Metafilter by macinchik at 4:43 PM on March 8, 2007

A not so little gem if you're into antiques: Seattle Pacific Galleries.

Not just auctions: an enormous, factory-sized building crammed to the gills with *stuff,* open regular hours throughout the week. If you don't want to dispute prices, the people who tend the floor can sell you things from any booth immediately. Bliss!
posted to Ask Metafilter by macinchik at 12:21 PM on March 6, 2007

i like textpattern the best but i can't say exactly why it is superior to Wordpress. maybe because the admin area is more attractive.
posted to Ask Metafilter by macinchik at 6:07 PM on February 15, 2007

Vitamin E supplements seem to make my skin softer.

Also, I swear by Lush's Dream Cream. I don't like lotion hands either so I apply liberally, rub for a while, and then wipe the excess off on a hand towel. I find it keeps my hands soft for hours, without the lotion feel.
posted to Ask Metafilter by macinchik at 5:46 PM on February 15, 2007

Let me chime in here to ask if you had your calcium levels checked during your last doctor's appointment. I suffer from parathyroid disease, which causes hypercalcemia, which can cause psychiatric symptoms of the kind you describe.

It's called hyperparathyroidism and it has nothing to do with the thyroids and it is much rarer than thyroid disease but you definitely ought to rule it out.

Best wishes to you, and yes, I think you should trust your doctor.
posted to Ask Metafilter by macinchik at 8:45 PM on February 12, 2007

Um, that's the "thyroid" (no S). I believe we only come with one of them.
posted to Ask Metafilter by macinchik at 8:46 PM on February 12, 2007

MSG has this effect on me, as well as large amounts of refined flour. My body feels hot and stressed out, my heart beats fast, and I'm anxious. Then it passes and I feel exhausted.
posted to Ask Metafilter by macinchik at 9:44 PM on January 18, 2007

Excellent question. I know just how you feel. I get the same feeling looking at telephone poles that have had countless flyers attached to them and ripped off and are bristling with staples.

I think it is some kind of deep brain response to rot or decay.
posted to Ask Metafilter by macinchik at 6:49 PM on January 17, 2007

pickled mustard greens?
posted to Ask Metafilter by macinchik at 5:56 PM on January 12, 2007

it's possible this Tricky person was referring to Kombucha when he talks about mushroom tea.
posted to Ask Metafilter by macinchik at 6:52 AM on December 26, 2006

I quit my master's program in Sociology because:

a. I realized I had zero interest in teaching.
b. Statistics bored me.
c. I had no idea how to write a thesis paper.
d. My primary adviser died.
e. My secondary adviser left for a better university.
f. I was offered a job making web sites (something I knew I enjoyed).

Obviously it was a fairly easy decision although I still wish that I would have found a way to make a clean finish.
posted to Ask Metafilter by macinchik at 6:39 PM on December 14, 2006

IANAD, but to me it sounds suggestive of hidradenitis supportiva.
posted to Ask Metafilter by macinchik at 9:14 PM on November 13, 2006

turn on the radio when you're at your SO's house. keep it on all night.

when my husband goes out of town I keep NPR on constantly. otherwise i focus on all the little noises and really freak myself out.
posted to Ask Metafilter by macinchik at 6:20 PM on November 13, 2006

not the grateful dead but: iron and wine. when i give into it, it works just like religion.
posted to Ask Metafilter by macinchik at 10:04 AM on November 11, 2006

if you don't mind the alienated but passionate lead being female rather than male, you might really enjoy the new Marie Antoinette movie. definitely a killer soundtrack.
posted to Ask Metafilter by macinchik at 11:35 PM on November 7, 2006

edible perfume, basically
posted to Ask Metafilter by macinchik at 12:21 AM on November 3, 2006

The "last word in an argument" angle is kind of intriguing.
posted to Ask Metafilter by macinchik at 9:07 PM on October 30, 2006

you toes are cold because you are not wearing socks made of smart wool. highly recommended.
posted to Ask Metafilter by macinchik at 3:59 PM on October 27, 2006

you take a greater interest in what people are saying to you than in what you have to say to them. if people find you off-putting it more likely derives not from how much you know, but from your attitude, which I, at least, perceive as tremendously conceited.
posted to Ask Metafilter by macinchik at 3:50 PM on October 13, 2006

I recommend the novels of Denise Giardina for their historical depictions of life in southern Appalachia over the last two centuries. I especially remember enjoying a book called Storming Heaven.

Perhaps more about coal than tobacco, but definitely a landscape your grandmother would have recognized. Good luck in your search.
posted to Ask Metafilter by macinchik at 9:50 PM on October 9, 2006

You simply must try out the Queen Anne Cafe for breakfast. Their chicken-fried steak is a weekend staple. It's on upper Queen Anne on your left as you head up the hill.

I think the food at Snappy Dragon is weird and a little gross. You want Shanghai Garden for the best Chinese food in town. Don't miss the barley green noodles.

After you eat at Kisaku (please don't miss the Kisaku roll), head across the street to Hiroki, a dessert place where you... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by macinchik at 11:45 AM on October 3, 2006

Oh and the best BBQ in town is surely the R & L Home of Good Barbeque on upper Yesler. Bring cash and go crazy.
posted to Ask Metafilter by macinchik at 11:48 AM on October 3, 2006

Have someone give your back a good scratch. For some reason this always helped me when I was short of breath.
posted to Ask Metafilter by macinchik at 5:26 PM on September 22, 2006

I just visited Portland and had two lovely meals there, one at a Korean restaurant named BeWon and at the other at an upscale but cozy place called Lucy's Table, both off of 23rd in what I believe is called the Nob Hill region of town.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by macinchik at 9:29 PM on September 21, 2006

Seconding the hydrogen peroxide advice. I find it works practically instantly.
posted to Ask Metafilter by macinchik at 10:51 PM on September 19, 2006

May I suggest that you may not be a lipstick person, you may be a lip gloss person? I can't stand the feeling of most lipsticks on my lips: flat, drying, and I hate the way they make my lips look so severe (I am post-30, btw).

I love lip gloss instead. And luckily, we exist at a time when the neatest lip glosses to roam the planet can be found at Lancome counters. They're called Juicy Tubes. Try on Simmer and see if you like it.
posted to Ask Metafilter by macinchik at 3:58 PM on September 7, 2006

You guys are awesome. I was able to immediately obtain the information I needed. Thanks!
posted to Ask Metafilter by macinchik at 11:44 PM on September 2, 2006

I think this problem is on the increase in our society.

I am often plagued with earworms, although years of dealing with them have made them seem less annoying. For me it doesn't have anything to do with listening to the source material over and over again: the only thing I can do that helps is to get near an outside source of sound/music. I have found that even if the sound is so low in volume I can barely hear it, it gives my brain enough to "do" and so it... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by macinchik at 8:56 AM on September 2, 2006

I enjoyed a book called Scenes From Deep Time. It's more focused on pictorial representations but it touches a lot on model making. It gives a very detailed account of early-modern scientific attempts to visualize fossils as living creatures.
posted to Ask Metafilter by macinchik at 4:59 PM on September 1, 2006

a truly ethical breeder won't advertise in the newspapers? how on earth am I supposed to find one, then?
posted to Ask Metafilter by macinchik at 2:01 PM on August 29, 2006

Congratulations and thank you for telling your story in support of humanity and in defense from the soul-murdering consequences of well-meaning but inept medical care, especially as regards women, hormones, and mental illness.

I suggest you give yourself new challenges, in the form of a job. Anywhere. Doing anything that isn't dangerous. It will most likely be horrible in lots of ways -- all my early jobs were. But you will gain some measure of independence from your... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by macinchik at 8:44 AM on August 22, 2006

Magnesium tablets. My husband takes one when he feels a migraine coming on and it stops it in its tracks. He hasn't had a full-blown attack since he discovered this remedy.
posted to Ask Metafilter by macinchik at 10:19 AM on August 21, 2006

Indian -- The Tandoor on upper University avenue (don't miss the Butter Chicken)
Sushi -- Musashi's in Wallingford (maybe not on a Sunday tho, sadly) or Nishino's (upscale; incredible; Madison Valley)
Dim Sum -- House of Hong, baby! In the International District; get there before too late in the afternoon for the most variety.
posted to Ask Metafilter by macinchik at 7:44 PM on August 19, 2006

Caffeine is known to cause the pancreas to release excessive amounts of insulin, thus causing hypoglycemia and drowsiness.
posted to Ask Metafilter by macinchik at 9:58 AM on August 17, 2006

Try to eliminate refined sugar from your diet, and eat protein for breakfast. This will automatically help you eat more for hunger and less for gratification.

I have found cross-stitching to be tremendously helpful. I know it sounds silly, but if excercise and straightforward meditation bores you, like it does me, you have fewer options. I find that stitching relaxes me immensely, it seems to put me in an entirely different mental space, the space I used to get to via... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by macinchik at 10:10 AM on August 14, 2006

Trusty lip balm...headphones...neck pillow...shortwave radio...earplugs...books...stitching project...soft nightgown...a good assortment of socks
posted to Ask Metafilter by macinchik at 10:06 PM on August 9, 2006