Your physical attractiveness, or not, is not discussed or regarded as more important than anything else you might achieve.

And yes, chatfilter.
posted to Ask Metafilter by arha at 4:56 PM on May 29, 2008

Thanks heaps for the responses. Zingerman's was closest to being what I was after, and has some awesome gift baskets. Tapas mix set ordered that will hopefully arrive on time!
posted to Ask Metafilter by arha at 6:10 PM on May 27, 2008

Mick Hucknall, if the Simply Red website is anything to judge by.
posted to Ask Metafilter by arha at 5:59 AM on April 21, 2008

This is what I have been making lately

Make a marinade out of 1/2 a cup of balsamic vinegar, a 1/4 cup of olive oil and the juice of one lime or 1/4 cup of white wine. Maybe chuck in a couple of mashed garlic cloves, throw the chicken breasts in and leave for 20 minutes.

Remove the chicken breasts, season and pan fry for 7-8 minutes each side, adding the reserved marinade to the pan for the last couple of minutes of cooking. The sauce should... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by arha at 4:00 AM on March 31, 2008 marked best answer

When I was last in the states and really strapped for cash, I was gobsmacked at just *how* much cheaper it was to eat crap than to buy healthy food. It not just the "richer, tastier food" that is more expensive, its the fruit and vegetables and lean meat. You can buy a hell of a lot more shitty noodles and pizza and white bread for a couple of dollars than vegetables.

Plus the cheap food is so crappy and low in nutrients you tend to eat more calories just to... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by arha at 1:30 AM on March 12, 2008

I've been in a relationship I was warned about, and although I paid little heed at the time, it certainly gave a fair bit of impetus to my exit once I worked out things really wouldn't be different with me. So I say, send one email, leave it at that and walk away.

This question reminded me a lot of this blog entry by the accordion guy. It seemed to help him a lot that someone let him know that he was involved with a piece of work.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by arha at 2:40 AM on January 3, 2008

You could also substitute the milk chocolate or plain chocolate for dark chocolate. IMHO that would taste better anyway.
posted to Ask Metafilter by arha at 1:20 PM on November 16, 2007

Lemon Tuna Pasta.

Heat some chopped parsley and garlic very gently, then add a can of tuna and a squeeze of lemon juice. Serve over pasta. You can add some Parmesan if you want to get fancy.
posted to Ask Metafilter by arha at 8:23 PM on October 27, 2007

Previously
posted to Ask Metafilter by arha at 4:57 PM on October 5, 2007

I cut. I cut when I was also badly injuring my body with bulimia. I got better, then when I was badly depressed again I would "cut" by bruising myself very badly.

I guess it was about control. I could "control" the amount of pain I was going through. You think that was bad? that was nothing. I could do worse to myself.
posted to Ask Metafilter by arha at 10:16 AM on September 9, 2007

Here is an account of a homicide in the 1850's where nicotine was implicated. So its been used to murder people for quite a while.
posted to Ask Metafilter by arha at 7:04 PM on August 17, 2007

Ursula Le Guin?

Garth Nix?

Do goddawfull books conglomerate pseudonyms count?
posted to Ask Metafilter by arha at 7:16 AM on August 17, 2007

and seconding CS Lewis if Tolkien counts.
posted to Ask Metafilter by arha at 7:17 AM on August 17, 2007

bend it like beckham
posted to Ask Metafilter by arha at 6:39 PM on July 20, 2007

Before & After
posted to Ask Metafilter by arha at 10:16 AM on July 18, 2007

Sounds vaguely familiar. Could it be Eye of the Beholder?
posted to Ask Metafilter by arha at 1:19 AM on July 5, 2007

Bad Boy Bubby
posted to Ask Metafilter by arha at 9:00 PM on July 2, 2007

I had a fair bit of fun with CivCity Rome.

Seconding Mercaptan's suggestion to try out the City Building Series. I personally got extrememly addicted to Zeus.

On a bit of a tangent, maybe she would like RollerCoaster Tycoon. It's not city building per se, but it's in the same sort of "management design" genre, and a hell of a lot of fun.
posted to Ask Metafilter by arha at 3:05 PM on July 2, 2007

The rotary hoe, or Howard Rotavator.
posted to Ask Metafilter by arha at 9:25 PM on June 27, 2007

Ouch web-goddess, I feel your pain ... this is a tough time to be looking for rental property in Sydney. I can't offer you any solid advice beyond pointing you to the Office of Fair Trading.

as an aside I can't believe NSW doesn't have the equivalent of a Rental Tenancy Authority, esp seeing how rough the market is in Sydney

You are actually on a slightly better footing as a month to month tenant. The landlord has to... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by arha at 7:25 PM on June 27, 2007 marked best answer

One of the settings in "The Master and Margarita" by Mikhail Bulgakov involves a satirical retelling of the passion (although the chief protagonist is Pontius Pilate).
posted to Ask Metafilter by arha at 3:04 PM on June 26, 2007

Hi, not to add to the chorus or try and freak you out, but I had your symptoms. Turned out it was acute PID (pelvic inflammatory disease).

If there is a chance you may have an STD, please see a doctor before the 5th.
posted to Ask Metafilter by arha at 6:32 AM on June 25, 2007

Late in on this one, but my favourite was always the Canonbury Tavern. Absolutely lovely beer garden.
posted to Ask Metafilter by arha at 9:14 PM on June 3, 2007

eh empath? Its called "bacon" here in Australia. And in the UK. I'm confused.
posted to Ask Metafilter by arha at 7:27 PM on May 23, 2007

Does Lili Taylor's character in I Shot Andy Warhol fit the bill? I remember her character being pretty much completely unlikable from beginning to end.
posted to Ask Metafilter by arha at 4:59 PM on April 26, 2007

Seconding Croupier, great example. That movie permanently put me off Clive Owen.
posted to Ask Metafilter by arha at 5:12 PM on April 26, 2007

Seconding babble. Very very addictive.
posted to Ask Metafilter by arha at 6:35 PM on April 23, 2007

There is one near me in Newtown where my parents stay quite a bit. Its a small place, nice. And it's just down the road from my favourite restaurant, Oscillate Wildly.

Details here.
posted to Ask Metafilter by arha at 2:14 AM on April 20, 2007

Oh, and about Oscillate Wildly. Very very good food (modern Australian), and you get 3 courses for around $45 a head. Its a small restaurant so you need to book at least 3 weeks in advance. Highly recommended for a romantic night out that's light(ish) on the pocket.
posted to Ask Metafilter by arha at 2:32 AM on April 20, 2007

Could it be "My lady love, my dove" by Roald Dahl, from "Tales of the Unexpected"?

Link to a synopsis here.
posted to Ask Metafilter by arha at 8:05 PM on April 9, 2007

The question is: what the hell did dogs do for kicks before the invention of the internal combustion engine?
posted to Ask Metafilter by arha at 1:45 AM on March 16, 2007

I'm very fond of Jarlsberg. With maybe some ham and a little bit of sweet chilli sauce.
posted to Ask Metafilter by arha at 3:15 PM on March 11, 2007

If you swim while chewing gum you will automatically drown.

The crusts of bread contain more nutrients than any other part of the loaf.

And yes, I believed both of these until well into my teens.
posted to Ask Metafilter by arha at 1:01 PM on February 7, 2007

Personally, I don't start a game unless there is a good spread of cards (mix of high and low suit values) and I can move a couple of cards onto a suit card to open the game. This is probably more superstition on my part, but I find it cuts down on the percentage of unwinable games.

Always move suit matches first, then higher value cards down. I also resist automatically moving a card onto a suit card if there is another option. Often moving the off-suit card first will... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by arha at 3:13 PM on December 30, 2006

Oh, I should have noted that was 47% on a 4 suit game.
posted to Ask Metafilter by arha at 5:28 PM on December 30, 2006

MsMolly, the 4 suit games are definitely winable. Another thing to remember is to prioritise clearing columns before matching suit cards into a stack, as KRS suggested.
posted to Ask Metafilter by arha at 10:10 AM on December 31, 2006

A giftbox of BodyShop toiletries containing cellulite and wrinkle cream, and deoderant.
posted to Ask Metafilter by arha at 5:50 PM on November 2, 2006

Nancy Mitford
posted to Ask Metafilter by arha at 5:41 PM on July 28, 2006

Thinking about it, Decca Mitford is even more eligable.
posted to Ask Metafilter by arha at 5:46 PM on July 28, 2006

George Sand
posted to Ask Metafilter by arha at 5:52 PM on July 28, 2006

2 already. Life is too short.
posted to Ask Metafilter by arha at 4:23 AM on July 15, 2006

Australian example: When the (once) youth station JJJ started up in the seventies the first song they played was "You Just Like Me 'Cause I'm Good in Bed" by the Skyhooks. The song was banned on all other broadcast stations at the time, but has now passed so far beyond shocking it is now into "meh" territory.
posted to Ask Metafilter by arha at 8:02 PM on June 19, 2006

The "A Song of Ice and Fire" series, if you go for fantasy.
posted to Ask Metafilter by arha at 3:04 PM on May 25, 2006

All this talk about creepy, and noone's mentioned Creep by Radiohead.
posted to Ask Metafilter by arha at 3:17 PM on May 23, 2006

Vaseline, left on overnight, works wonders.
posted to Ask Metafilter by arha at 7:47 PM on May 20, 2006

Possibly apocryphal, but the song "Dare" by the Gorillaz was originally intended to be called "It's There". However they were unable to get Shuan Ryder to sing the chorus intelligibly, leading to the change of the name.
posted to Ask Metafilter by arha at 12:12 AM on April 27, 2006

I had good experiences with 171 on Upper St, Islington. This was a couple of years ago now, however.
posted to Ask Metafilter by arha at 6:36 PM on March 29, 2006

You could try 3d.sk (NSFW). It does require a subscription, but they have an incredibly diverse collection of reference photographs of human anatomy, clothed and unclothed.

You'd have to compile them into the poses you want yourself, so I'm not sure if it will suit you, but it might be worth a look.
posted to Ask Metafilter by arha at 1:24 PM on March 14, 2006

Second Ikea. I got a sofa bed/futon from there (Beddinge range) which manages to be comfortable as both a bed and a sofa, which is no mean feat. Looks like it retails for about $150 - $200 USD.

I have had crappy futon beds from the equivalent of Kmart and they've been a complete waste of money, as in the futon becomes unusable after about 6 months.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by arha at 2:39 PM on March 13, 2006

Oh, and having started to come out of that black pit, I know now it wasn't normal, but back then I was so apathetic and numb I didn't know the difference. I am not you, however.
posted to Ask Metafilter by arha at 12:56 PM on March 13, 2006