In all honesty, I'd accept her story as true with the catch that self-deception and self-contradiction go hand-in-hand and she probably isn't quite sure how to frame the details of her own life. Anyone who's devoted all her time to working, school, and avoiding an abusively crazy father isn't going to have time for a real love life, nor is she likely to be emotionally receptive to a healthy one. I'd like to wish mefi's sansgras, assuming she's telling her story as she perceives it, a good period... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by mikeh at 12:38 PM on March 10, 2008

This guy kind of reminds me of a few people I know. At least one is a serial pick-up artist and swinger, and the other is bipolar and is about this intense half the time, and spends the other half way down on himself.

I opted to not post in the thread since "Find other people with complimentary psychoses" isn't usually complimentary. Don't get me wrong, some people just live their lives like this, and the volume knob really is turned up to 11 all the time. I... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by mikeh at 3:09 PM on December 18, 2007

The most reasonable, polite, non-confrontational posts that happen to be on issues some people have strong feelings about are public health hazards?

Ideally, anyone who would get freaked out would be the best person to answer the question! Would you get more freaked out by a gun you can kind of see the outline of, or one that's not at all visible? Do you get more freaked out by people wearing inappropriate levels of clothing in warm weather, assuming that they're hiding... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by mikeh at 6:38 AM on April 25, 2007

What has pre-'68 socialism done for you lately? Would you like an explanation of what it could do for you?
posted to MetaTalk by mikeh at 6:31 AM on April 18, 2007

Well, at least no one had to offer the comment that she could look supportive by drinking the kool-aid, since she started the thread with a big old glass in hand. That said, it's one of those disclaimers I tend to breeze over with AskMe since it really has nothing to do with the question.

(Fighting for my rights? Safety, maybe. But I tend to think that unless someone is inside my country subverting the constitution, my rights will probably be fine.)
posted to MetaTalk by mikeh at 7:51 AM on February 21, 2007

I really read this part as a separate question:


Is there an underground scene of bands that sing Doo-Wop or play Jump Blues, 60s Soul or 70s Funk (not all together)?

Because when put together with the original question, my brain turns into mush. I misread that part as "So do black teens like old-timey black people music, since they don't like new black people music?" I don't think that's a very generous... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by mikeh at 11:47 AM on January 3, 2007

Isn't this just the same thing that happens with every group of semi-random people? Most will converse in a fairly normal way, some will disagree or be disagreeable, some will attempt to befriend everyone, and some are wary of newcomers.

Then there's the guy who's nice enough but wants your time. Maybe he likes you, or maybe he just really needs the attention because it's what he's got. Some of these guys will make small talk and be happy sitting nearby as you converse... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by mikeh at 9:32 AM on December 7, 2006

There's a culture for acceptable content and style around here that is very valuable, and would not exist but for the pedantic MeFite police cracking down, sometimes hard, on the little stuff. I thought that pretty much everyone agreed about this.

We do. That's why there's a MeTa to talk about this shit, hash out what is actually unacceptable and what's merely obnoxious to some and entertaining to others. I can guarantee that if this stuff was... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by mikeh at 11:13 AM on December 7, 2006

No clue at all, really. I'd like to use this space to apologize to the world for having posted on that thread, and for having a typo in at least one of those posts.

I wish them both well, even if I am a complete pussy for saying it.
posted to MetaTalk by mikeh at 7:09 AM on September 27, 2006

I would like to pause a moment to bask in the glory of this amazingly misconstructed post. Is there anything that was done correctly? I guess the title is at least accurate...
posted to MetaTalk by mikeh at 2:52 PM on August 29, 2006

YouTube won the embedded video war and (from what I've heard) is more lax in their submission screening so it has a lot more popular content and traffic. That and they won the hearts and minds of myspace users and websites somehow, so they win.
posted to MetaTalk by mikeh at 2:06 PM on June 29, 2006

It's put together vaguely enough that jessamyn couldn't figure out the details! The jist of both posts is this: There is a man named Richard D. James who records as Aphex Twin who has embedded his face (which is creepy, see examples) in his music. The original thread has pretty much all of the details in the new post, and the Wired magazine article linked is from 2002. Nothing new here, and the old stuff has been covered.
posted to MetaTalk by mikeh at 8:14 AM on April 4, 2006

The reason people say it is simple - many people will not seek professional help unless they're flat-out told that it is the correct response. I have heard problems rationalized away, friends claiming "it's not that big of a deal" about personal issues, and had people I would consider to be close go completely silent about their problems.

If you have an emotional or psychological issue, you're very often not going to seek out professional help as a first... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by mikeh at 8:31 AM on March 27, 2006

matteo, if only we had anonymous responses in ask.mefi my uh... friend.. could let you know how he fixed that exact situation. As it is, I can only recommend a professional and keeping a fire extinguisher on hand next time.
posted to MetaTalk by mikeh at 8:53 AM on March 27, 2006

I use Mehta-filter although I've heard the "meta" prefix pronounced Mayta fairly often. I think it's a Canadian thing that's made it's way into the upper midwest US as well.

I pronounce MeFi how I'd pronounce "Me" and "Fi" alone: Mee-Fie. MehtaFilter. Mehta for MeTa, since it's spelled the same as the prefix. Mee-Fite for the people.
posted to MetaTalk by mikeh at 6:32 AM on March 2, 2006

Well, he does post in each and every one...
posted to MetaTalk by mikeh at 3:53 PM on January 25, 2006

Well, the fact this is in MeTa just made me more apt to comment on it. I know we're all old and jaded on MeFi, but I thought it was a reasonable question about the woman's conscience in the long term. There are a lot of awful comments about the woman's motivation in there who make her seem less than human just because she's smart enough to recognize when something will bother her and is intelligent enough to deal with it. I can't say that I like the stated options, though.... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by mikeh at 11:02 AM on December 13, 2005

I think the question is valid because there are a couple people who are the only ones living in the apartment and are likely paying the entire lease, the primary leaseholder is away for some unspecified time that could be a while, and it's implied that the leaseholder is disorganized and somewhat of a jerk.

While it's great to warn the person that this is a bad idea and screwing over an unethical person is still unethical, don't we have a level of community trust? A... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by mikeh at 7:46 AM on December 12, 2005

Did anyone ever read the context of the original thread? It was a test screening! These people want the most generic, "normal"-looking cross-section of the population they can get. If it's in a large city, they might have a film crew taking reaction shots of people leaving the film ("We love Willy Wonka! I was scared of the candy man! Woooo!") In general, they're trying to impress every person in the theater and get them to go out and recruit their friends. Unfortunately, Mr.... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by mikeh at 7:26 AM on May 19, 2005

Thanks, Matt. I already drunkenly subscribed to SG once, now I can browse MetaFilter when inebriated without possibly making the same mistake twice.
posted to MetaTalk by mikeh at 9:44 AM on February 3, 2005

My first reaction when seeing the ad was, "Oh great, this one has a SG ad on the front page now, too." I'm not sure I'd really get too worried about referring mefi to others with the advertisement, mostly because they've already infiltrated half a dozen other sites I frequent and recommend. So they've worn me down already.

For those not familiar with SG, it's basically a created form of fandom for these tattooed, pierced, alterna/goth/indie girls. Paying... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by mikeh at 9:09 AM on February 2, 2005

I think I overstated how much self-linky inside the thread is ok. I think if he'd said, "I have an interest in this since I've been delving into the whole iTunes blog thing" it might have been vaguely inexcusable. That's within a personal comment, and mentions a self-interest. Ideally it'd just be one of those "look at my profile to find my site" posts. But yeah, linking yourself anywhere near an article that speaks positively of your little livelihood on the blue means... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by mikeh at 1:36 PM on January 10, 2005

Seth, why not just keep a two or three day list of threads that you feel are too one-sided and then create one MeTa post that links to all of them, demonstrating a trend when the discourse sucks? As it is, you've been tainting every one of these posts with repetitive comments, and I have no clue if anything interesting would be posted because you've torched the village by the time I arrive.

If you hate fire so much, stop trying to put it out with a gas can. I have... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by mikeh at 11:40 AM on August 30, 2004

I've seen some excellent threads come from short, opinionated FPPs. It's the discussion and synthesis of ideas that makes this a community, not the "me too" posts and "this is partisan" posts.

On preview: I'd tend to agree with loquax. I think I'm letting the community down by just not commenting on overly political or partisan days, because unless there's a point for thoughtful discussion, I just don't post. Maybe I just need to make a good FPP for... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by mikeh at 12:08 PM on August 30, 2004

I regularly read MeFi for quite a long time before finally becoming a member, and even now it seems like I barely comment. In the past, I've been hesitant to do so because I didn't feel I'd really be adding to the conversation. Lately, it seems like I'd just be pouring fuel on the fire in some of the more confrontational threads.

Too many factions. Not enough random views and discussion. It seems like every new post is attributed to a group, and then the battle continues.... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by mikeh at 1:28 PM on August 9, 2004

Anyone else noticed that hama7 has not posted a single comment to either the original thread or this MeTa one? This all seems really voyeuristic.
posted to MetaTalk by mikeh at 7:49 AM on July 21, 2004

Obviously this is relevant because the president confides his greatest secrets in Marvin, who shares them with his most trusted confidant... the babysitter!

But really, this poor woman wouldn't have made the washington post had she not been vaguely connected to the Bush family. This isn't a quirky news story or one that needs commentary or an inquisition. If the FPP had linked to sites that are calling this a conspiracy, then it might be worth commentary (mainly,... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by mikeh at 7:49 AM on October 16, 2003

As much as it shocks me to say it, the Pat Buchanan op-ed linked by 111 in a comment was worth posting.

I'm going to agree with mathowie here. The difference between Berkowitz's article and Buchanan's articles is simple: Berkowitz wrote his as a Bush supporter, and Buchanan wrote his as a political analyst.

If the FPP was meant to be an analytical article to start a discussion, it failed badly. However, if you like battles... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by mikeh at 8:52 AM on August 25, 2003