the vocalizing has either started or gotten dramatically worse in the last few years

Ditto. It used to only happen in the shower, or doing dishes, or something equally mindless and alone where your mind can wander to bad places. But lately, I've found myself more likely to do it where another person can hear me. It's still only in the back of a cab, or walking home drunk on the street, but I fear the day it happens at work or with a friend. Like Miko,... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by CunningLinguist at 9:32 PM on July 22, 2008

For me there also has to be an element of surprise. Consciously dredging up a particular memory never results in a reaction


Absolutely. For me it's always something I did or said that, objectively speaking, isn't even that all that terribly bad that comes popping into my head out of nowhere to make me physically cringe and erupt in some nonsense word.

Why doesn't the opposite happen? Why don't random good memories... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by CunningLinguist at 9:20 AM on July 23, 2008

Downthemall rocks.
posted to Ask Metafilter by CunningLinguist at 6:11 PM on July 21, 2008

Why is it so expensive to frame a print?




Also, just at random, Target has some great collections of ten frames of various (mostly smaller) sizes for 20 bucks.
posted to Ask Metafilter by CunningLinguist at 4:49 PM on July 20, 2008

can I hear about these intriguing pyrotechnics now?
posted to Ask Metafilter by CunningLinguist at 1:57 PM on July 20, 2008

This isn't an answer and so might be deleted, but just wanted to a/thank you for introducing me to that marvelous short, and b/ share this sad 2004 exchange I found on a board discussing who did the music:


My son and i were grooving to Friz Freleng's way cool Three Little Bops this evening (we hadda watch it twice!). The credits mention Shorty Rogers for the musical credit, but who else played on that short?

I had the... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by CunningLinguist at 3:42 PM on July 17, 2008

Studs Terkel's Working is the classic of the genre.

Bourdain totally made me want to go work in a kitchen.
posted to Ask Metafilter by CunningLinguist at 7:28 AM on July 16, 2008

This is wild. I was told this as a child too, and only just remembered it now, more than three decades later. Now that I hear the title, I think we must have had this book, Stories to Tell To Children - Fifty-Four Stories With Some Suggestions For Telling.
posted to Ask Metafilter by CunningLinguist at 8:10 PM on July 15, 2008

Ahem. A story:


When I was a blithering movie-star-mad teenager lo these many many moons ago, my parents knew a guy whose son worked in the movie biz, a top agent or similar. And he came to visit and I babbled and then a few months later, a wondrous fat package appeared in the mail: a stack of glossy pix of everyone from Paul Newman to Al Pacino to Dustin Hoffman, all signed personally to me with love or good wishes. I was the most delirious 15-year-old you... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by CunningLinguist at 10:13 PM on July 8, 2008

can't remember who or in what context

It was the brilliant and still greatly missed Spy magazine, famous for pranks. They sent checks of around $1.19 to various celebs to see who cashed them. I remember Trump did. Brilliant.
posted to Ask Metafilter by CunningLinguist at 10:16 PM on July 8, 2008

Aw fake secret bars are fun. I actually had one on my block, look for the green light by the trashcans etc, and I miss it now that it suddenly vanished.
posted to Ask Metafilter by CunningLinguist at 6:58 PM on July 8, 2008

Have a look a the lightweight category at ebags. I can't vouch for a particular piece, but the site is terrific in general. I've bought a ton of stuff from them and never been disappointed.
posted to Ask Metafilter by CunningLinguist at 2:37 PM on July 8, 2008

"A Night To Remember" (The granddaddy of the genre, a book based on hundreds of survivor interviews that recounts stories so gripping or dripping with irony that they simply can't be true and yet are) and "Under the Banner of Heaven" are books people (rightly) get rabid about. Also, another vote for "The Alienist" and for Larson's "Isaac's Storm," which may be even better than Devil.
posted to Ask Metafilter by CunningLinguist at 12:54 PM on July 2, 2008

You know that many girls go to bars looking for casual sex, right?
posted to Ask Metafilter by CunningLinguist at 9:11 AM on June 22, 2008

I just got busted for speeding in one of the speed traps that Civil Disobedient describes so well, this one in Montana on the Wyoming border. The dickwad cop said my choices were to pay cash or go to jail. (Luckily there was enough cash in the car, as the fine was hefty.) Maybe your son's buddy didn't have cash or an ATM card?
posted to Ask Metafilter by CunningLinguist at 11:43 AM on June 9, 2008

Also, you are going to pass through several major cities, including Philadelphia and Baltimore. Try to time your trip to avoid rush hours in those places.
posted to Ask Metafilter by CunningLinguist at 11:58 AM on June 4, 2008

Why not just thin the one you like (but find too thick) with a little water or milk? (Though making your own is really easy, too.)
posted to Ask Metafilter by CunningLinguist at 7:46 AM on June 3, 2008 marked best answer

Just for posterity, this isn't convenient for your party, but the aforementioned Piece of Chicken on 45th and 9th is a buck a piece and just amazingly good - the best fried chicken I've had in NYC. It used to be Jezebel's - the restaurant closed but they kept the kitchen open and just started selling chicken out a window. Yummers. They also have fixings - and catfish - for a buck a serving.
posted to Ask Metafilter by CunningLinguist at 11:19 AM on May 31, 2008

You might be able to improvise with some Lapsang Souchong tea: it's ultra-smoky, to the degree that whenever I open the cabinet where my teabags are stored, the smell of smoke hits me almost physically.
posted to Ask Metafilter by CunningLinguist at 11:35 AM on May 28, 2008 marked best answer

Aw crap Kimmy, I totally forgot the best possible answer. (I too am a BBQ freak with no access to the outdoors and have investigated solutions over the years.)

SMOKER BAGS!

They are made by a Scandinavian firm called Savu. You stick some raw chicken, or braised ribs, into this foil bag cleverly fitted with smoker chips, pop it in the oven and smoke away. Totally cool.

I buy them here, but the guy says he doesn't ship... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by CunningLinguist at 11:20 AM on May 30, 2008

See, immediately, the amazing, wrenching movie The Lives of Others. It's on cable these days - I just Tivoed it. Saw it in the theatre last year and haven't stopped thinking about it since. I haven't seen a better, more visceral depiction of East Germany under the Stasi.
For a lighter, yet still bleak, depiction, also don't miss the excellent Goodbye Lenin, about tragicomic attempts to keep the illusion of the regime alive for a bedridden woman.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by CunningLinguist at 8:24 PM on May 28, 2008

If you see the Lives of Others, you will understand why no one likes to talk about it.
posted to Ask Metafilter by CunningLinguist at 8:25 PM on May 28, 2008

More about life right after the Wall fell - and about the wonderful bananas - in this thread.
posted to Ask Metafilter by CunningLinguist at 12:25 PM on May 29, 2008

Cortex, do you know if the use of the present tense in that anonymous comment you linked to is a byproduct of a language problem or something worse? The guy isn't posting from Pyongyang is he?
posted to Ask Metafilter by CunningLinguist at 6:02 PM on May 29, 2008

I went to a rocking party once at a photographer's studio. She regularly rents it out for parties. It's a huge room with those floor to ceiling windows, with a kitchen and bathroom and all the fixings for a party. I always thought, if I wanted to host a blowout, it would be there.

Sadly, I can't remember her name. I can ask a pal though if that sounds like something you'd like.
posted to Ask Metafilter by CunningLinguist at 1:06 PM on May 23, 2008

I remembered!
posted to Ask Metafilter by CunningLinguist at 1:07 PM on May 23, 2008

That has ALWAYS weirded me out...especially when it was found that they had kinda made those memories up. HOW???

That's a separate syndrome. Google "recovered memory" and Satan.


"Play It Again Sam" was the title of Woody Allen's movie. Maybe he's the reason people remember it that way?
posted to Ask Metafilter by CunningLinguist at 8:08 AM on May 23, 2008

You want mine? I have an unopened schmancy raised queen sized aerobed and I'm near Times Square.
posted to Ask Metafilter by CunningLinguist at 7:35 AM on May 23, 2008

Having just come back, I can assure you that photographically, you really can't go wrong. Check out this amazing shot I took with my crappy little PhD (point here dummy) camera at Mammoth.

Two tips: despite the name, the Artist's Paint Pots springs were nowhere near as colorful or impressive as most of the other geothermal areas, though it's a nice walk to get to them. Skip them if you are pressed for time. Also, Old Faithful was nice but very low on the Amazing Sights... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by CunningLinguist at 4:05 PM on May 21, 2008

Also.
posted to Ask Metafilter by CunningLinguist at 8:30 AM on May 1, 2008

I'm a skeptic like you. Would love to believe, but just can't.

That said, this episode of This American Life, called Conventions, has a story from a lifelong sane rationalist who says he found his soul mate and now believes in reincarnation. The way he tells it, it's pretty damn convincing. (Beware, great story with tragic twist)
posted to Ask Metafilter by CunningLinguist at 3:38 PM on April 29, 2008

Capri.
posted to Ask Metafilter by CunningLinguist at 3:29 PM on April 29, 2008

For what it's worth, as a childless woman with many friends who never had kids and who tend to be a tad older than I am, my friends are fairly unanimous that the baby clock just turns off at a certain point. So you probably won't always feel that biological pull. (I never had it at all, myself.)
posted to Ask Metafilter by CunningLinguist at 2:03 PM on April 24, 2008

To try and answer your actual question, here's the unbelievably trite, lame and banal thing that worked for me:

Don't think of it as quitting, or of yourself as someone who is "quitting smoking." Think of yourself as an ex-smoker. It's something you used to do, now you don't any more.
It sounds moronic, but I found that little shift quite powerful.
(Also, I finally really genuinely wanted to be done with it as opposed to thinking... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by CunningLinguist at 1:00 PM on April 23, 2008 marked best answer

Just get one or two of these covered ice trays. I have them. They work.
posted to Ask Metafilter by CunningLinguist at 9:47 PM on April 18, 2008

I think the key here is that you say you are using crushed tomatoes. Bought crushed? Because you would be amazed at the difference in taste when you take a moment to buy whole canned tomatoes and smush them up yourself, versus buying them pre-smushed. Seriously. I don't understand why anyone buys cans of crushed tomatoes.
posted to Ask Metafilter by CunningLinguist at 1:37 PM on April 12, 2008

I lived in five countries growing up and moved every few years. I wouldn't trade that experience for the world.

I do sometimes feel the lack of a "hometown" and I wonder what it must be like to live in one house from childhood on up, to have friends who knew me all my life. But it's an idle wondering thing, not an ache. I'm tremendously glad that instead I speak several languages, know many different kinds of people and generally feel perfectly comfortable in... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by CunningLinguist at 1:34 PM on April 10, 2008

As I was typing, all sorts of better and more detailed advice was posted but I'll submit anyway:


Be aware that you can have all the entertainment you need just walking around. Apart from a few small dead zones like 6th Ave in the 50s, the streets are full of life at all hours of day or night. There is always something to look at, often something amazing.

Read through the nyc and ny tags.

Buses are great for... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by CunningLinguist at 1:17 PM on April 10, 2008

I went to a bunch of murder scenes as a young reporter, and as others have said above, the standard coping mechanisms are booze and lots of mordant jokes. You never get used to it, but it becomes....doable. There are always going to be images you long to erase but know you never will. You find yourself gravitating towards other people who have been through it, too. (which is why homicide cops, firefighters and reporters tend to get along well)

On the bright side, it can... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by CunningLinguist at 3:43 PM on April 9, 2008

Nthing Aunt Sally's. Also, if your friends are somewhat, um, lowbrow, there are some amusing bottled hot sauces with X rated labels. Some great Katrina tshirts (FEMA = Fix Everything My Ass, etc). Stuffed croc heads. Beads. Masks. Shot glasses. You know what? The whole French Quarter is geared for people to buy crap to take home. You'll find tons of fun stuff. The best variety of kitsch appears to be on Canal and also on Decatur near the French Market.
The danger, I find, is buying... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by CunningLinguist at 8:13 AM on April 8, 2008

I am often tormented by utterly illogical feelings of guilt and shame after major drinking, even when my friends say I did or said nothing of note. Thanks to a previous AskMe answer, wherein it was suggested that such feelings are sometimes due to a B12 deficiency, I've tried downing a few B12 caps before or after carousing and found it really does seem to help. YMMV.
posted to Ask Metafilter by CunningLinguist at 9:06 AM on April 7, 2008

I clicked your profile, saddened by the knowledge that you are probably not in NYC and therefore it's no use for me to tell you about the lady with the unbelievable cave aged cheddar at the tiny greenmarket in front of Lincoln Center. But lo!

I'm not a cheddar fan even, but this stuff makes me go a little crazy it's so good. She sells nothing but three cheeses, and all are good, but the cave aged cheddar is the best cheese I've ever had.
posted to Ask Metafilter by CunningLinguist at 8:49 PM on April 4, 2008

I've never had to pay full month's rent when moving out mid-month.

I've never NOT had to pay the full month's rent when moving out mid-month. I've lived in, let's see, seven apartments in four states.
posted to Ask Metafilter by CunningLinguist at 10:00 AM on April 4, 2008

I had a problem with my Time Warner billing. I set up automatic billing but it got screwed up somehow. Their website is useless and the phone people sent me to a Kafkaesque place where the billing company said I had to talk to Time Warner and Time Warner said I had to talk to the billing company. Finally I demanded a Time Warner customer service manager. When I finally got him, after a half hour on hold, he was fantastic and fixed everything.

I guess the point of all... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by CunningLinguist at 10:46 AM on April 1, 2008

Just a word of caution about those ebay subscriptions. I got some great deals on there (gotta love three years for 15 bucks) but also got scammed twice. Check the feedback of magazine sub sellers very carefully. Because all such sellers, legit or not, tell you the first issue won't come for eight (ish) weeks, you will be out of the window to complain when you realize it hasn't arrived. Then again, there are great deals too. Just be careful.
On topic, my NYer arrives Mon... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by CunningLinguist at 9:09 AM on March 30, 2008

The Note used to be important. It was founded by the snarky, pompous, shallow and staggeringly influential Mark Halperin. He has now moved on to Time where he runs a blog called The Page, which now has the juice the Note used to have.

Ambinder is my pick for reasoned, informative commentary, but I'm not sure how big a readership he has.

Chuck Todd and the gang at NBC run First Read, which is also very useful.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by CunningLinguist at 12:26 PM on March 27, 2008

At my paper, we call it Triple A: Ask Any Asshole.
posted to Ask Metafilter by CunningLinguist at 6:53 PM on March 26, 2008

I'm not much of a bronzer/blush type but as a fair skinned blonde, I once read that NARS' Laguna blush is the greatest bronzer ever for the fair. And it really is. Neither orangy nor shiny, it just give you a nice glow. Seriously terrific. Here are the makeupalley reviews.
It won't work on your legs, but I'd second the Jergen's for that. I still got some streaks, but because it's gradual, it wasn't too bad.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by CunningLinguist at 3:47 PM on March 24, 2008

It is impossible to be sad when Solsbury Hill is playing.
posted to Ask Metafilter by CunningLinguist at 3:39 PM on March 24, 2008

Oops, didn't mean to link to my specific comment, but to the thread.
posted to Ask Metafilter by CunningLinguist at 3:36 PM on March 24, 2008