I think you have an unworkable situation here. Please consider that, even if you can keep the bird alive, you are seriously diminishing its quality of life. Imagine the constant stress of having to live in close quarters with a predator whose overwhelming natural instinct is to kill you. Or the anxiety of having constantly to hear that stuttering noise that cats make in their throats. You should not have gotten the cat. The ethical course now is to let one or the other of your animals go.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by felix betachat at 12:51 PM on July 18, 2008

My fiancee and I are perfectly matched because we both adore chatfilter.
posted to Ask Metafilter by felix betachat at 11:39 AM on July 17, 2008

Lula Cafe has a range of menu choices and can easily and happily be enjoyed by two for less than $100. Also, it's got fantastic food.

Also, "price point" is a horrible turn of phrase. The English language is too beautiful to be marred by the argot of the stockroom.
posted to Ask Metafilter by felix betachat at 10:17 AM on July 16, 2008

Twin Anchors?

Only if your vision of "romance" includes bibs.
posted to Ask Metafilter by felix betachat at 10:49 AM on July 16, 2008

Oh man, listen to crush-onastick. The Atwood Cafe is great. Paired with a visit to the symphony or at a show downtown, it makes for a near-perfect night. Even without those, its art deco interior is really splendid. You'll get better french food at Brasserie Jo, but the Atwood has a feeling that BJ can't match.
posted to Ask Metafilter by felix betachat at 5:18 PM on July 16, 2008 marked best answer

Tacobel Canon?
posted to Ask Metafilter by felix betachat at 11:02 AM on July 12, 2008

chudmonkey tells me that the rhapsody link doesn't work outside the US. Here's a live version of the song on youtube.
posted to Ask Metafilter by felix betachat at 11:28 AM on July 12, 2008

Don't take responsibility for her emotions and don't second guess her choices. It's not your place. If you really care about her, keep your friendship strong and prepare a soft place for her to land when the relationship falls apart. Don't get impatient when she repeats the same frustrating anecdotes & circles around what is (to you) the obvious conclusion. People need to model and talk out changes before they implement them. Giving her the space to do that is worth more than any... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by felix betachat at 4:02 PM on July 9, 2008

Check your MeMail
posted to Ask Metafilter by felix betachat at 10:38 AM on July 6, 2008 marked best answer

If he's living in Wrigleyville, a ChicagoCard will be a must. It'll be the only way he can take the Red Line down to the South Side to see baseball the way it's supposed to be played.

City guides are a good call. So is a Chicago Zagat guide. Chicago is a phenomenal city for cuisine, ethnic and haute. He should get familiar with the listings in the Chicago Reader too.

If he's coming before July 18th, you might also buy him... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by felix betachat at 1:45 PM on July 5, 2008

A bottle of single malt scotch and a first edition copy of a beloved author. If he's a book guy at all, you can find something perfect by digging around a bit on bookfinder.
posted to Ask Metafilter by felix betachat at 6:13 AM on June 10, 2008 marked best answer

I've done it many times. People are usually very gracious about it. Everyone likes to know they're relevant and being read, after all. The article is probably no big deal, but you should check UMI before you ask for the dissertation. Go through your library and consult a reference librarian if you can't easily get access to their archives.
posted to Ask Metafilter by felix betachat at 5:42 AM on June 10, 2008

Go to a well ventilated area & take a deep breath.

I think you're okay. Plus that's for CF bulbs. I don't think there's mercury poisoning danger with regular fluorescent bulbs. When I was a kid, my brothers and I used to climb up on the roof and play Zeus, throwing spent fluorescent tubes on the sidewalk below. We turned out fine.

*twitch*
posted to Ask Metafilter by felix betachat at 11:37 PM on May 4, 2008

Buy him a 12 year Macallan. Vodka as a gift is for frat boys and drunks.
posted to Ask Metafilter by felix betachat at 11:08 PM on April 28, 2008

The problem is that, if you're going to do any serious graduate work in Israel, you're going to have to take coursework in Hebrew. If you're at the Hebrew University (the only institution I can speak to), that means you'll be at the Rothberg International School for at least a year doing English language coursework and trying to get your Hebrew up to snuff. This is, in my opinion, a colossal waste of time. You'll have access to good professors, but the quality of the student body will be... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by felix betachat at 3:05 PM on March 27, 2008

If you're suspicious of your own intentions toward yourself, anonymous strangers on the internet are not going to be of much help.

Keep taking deep breaths and thinking things through as calmly as possible.

Call someone you trust and try to explain what's happening with you.

Have them help you get help.

Good luck and take care of yourself. This confusion will pass.
posted to Ask Metafilter by felix betachat at 3:39 PM on February 17, 2008

Franz Rosenzweig wrote his masterpiece, The Star of Redemption while stationed in the trenches during WWI. He composed elements of the book on postcards which he mailed home to his mother.
posted to Ask Metafilter by felix betachat at 11:13 AM on December 28, 2007

Relationships are built on a foundation of attraction tempered with opportunity. You can skimp on the latter only if you have plenty of the former. Your best bet is to lay low. Have a few bons mot at hand just in case you cross paths again. And if you don't, let this be a gentle reminder that the world holds more beauty than one man can fully enjoy.
posted to Ask Metafilter by felix betachat at 8:51 AM on December 23, 2007

You'll want to look at Sari Nusseibeh's new autobiography, Once Upon a Country.
posted to Ask Metafilter by felix betachat at 10:55 AM on December 12, 2007 marked best answer

Your girlfriend obviously loves you a lot. You routinely engage in self-destructive behavior and your buddies are apparently oblivious to the fact that their influence on you is putting you in serious danger. She seems like the only one in the situation who's seriously looking down the road and trying to do right by you. Even if that means leaving you.

Think about that for a bit. How hard must that be for her?

You're going to wind up doing... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by felix betachat at 4:17 PM on December 3, 2007

So that being said ... start with an academic understanding of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, the ur-work where man tries to play God and create another man.

Not quite the ur-Text, I'm afriad. Shelley was drawing on the legends of the Golem.
posted to Ask Metafilter by felix betachat at 1:48 PM on November 30, 2007

Your first step should be to check out Filene's Basement on State Street. Take a few hours, try on suits and see if anything works. You can take it to a tailor and get it altered in ~24 hours and the amount you save at FB will make it worthwhile.

If you draw a blank, go to Men's Wearhouse, decline their in-house alteration & have it done yourself. The result will be pricier, but still worth it.

Do not buy a suit second hand. I'm sure... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by felix betachat at 7:10 PM on November 27, 2007

I don't know if this will make you feel better or not, but Hyde Park/Kenwood is experiencing a sort of mini crime wave at the moment. A UofC grad student, Amadou Cisse was just shot dead the other night while crossing the Midway. Terrible, as he had just completed his PhD in chemistry. The University administration is, justifiably, freaking the hell out and you can look forward to all kinds of pro-active safety measures in your neighborhood in the next couple of days.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by felix betachat at 10:54 AM on November 21, 2007

I think the UofC patrols have been going down to 71st or thereabouts for the past few years. There's a lot of development down there and plenty of med & law students trying to take advantage of cheap rent on new rehabs.
posted to Ask Metafilter by felix betachat at 11:40 AM on November 21, 2007

I don't think anyone here is in a position to give you decent advice. There are too many variables at work...ones that can't really be represented in a short description. So, I think you need to sort out your feelings and to assess your stability to see if you can take this on or not. Why not go see a therapist or go back to NA meetings? Wait to make a call until it's clear to you that you can handle it. And if you decide that you can't, at least you have the satisfaction of having worked... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by felix betachat at 11:26 AM on November 12, 2007

Two nuns are driving late at night when suddenly a demon jumps out of the woods and onto the hood of their car. As he snarls at them through the windshield, the nun driving says, "Quick, sister, show him your cross."

The other nun rolls down the window, leans out and screams, "Oy, devil! Piss off!"

Should be "fuckoff" but you specified clean.
posted to Ask Metafilter by felix betachat at 12:11 PM on November 11, 2007

Newegg is currently listing one as "open box", i.e., no software or documentation, for $385. That might be enough of a discount that it's worth it to buy & resell. I'm sure you can track down the driver software online.
posted to Ask Metafilter by felix betachat at 11:47 AM on November 11, 2007

Dorothy Day's autobiography, The Long Loneliness. Day, who placed service and community above all other values, is pretty much Rand's anti-type.
posted to Ask Metafilter by felix betachat at 8:25 PM on November 9, 2007

Thanks everyone for the reassurance. I'd long ago dumped the garageband crap and I'm pretty good about managing my iTunes. The latter is a necessity, since its my 65+ gb of music that puts me in these dire straits in the first place.

advil thanks very much for the explanation. I do, in fact, keep my computer running without rebooting for weeks on end. The sudden disappearance of big chunks of drive space has always been a vexing mystery to me.
posted to Ask Metafilter by felix betachat at 7:03 PM on October 20, 2007

Relax. The function of a letter of recommendation is to have someone with experience fill in the gaps in the committee's knowledge of you. If you're a good teacher/colleague, then you've got a huge advantage over the other candidates, since the committee already knows all about you. Take this as an opportunity to show them other sides of you than the ones they presently see. Don't act like a loser, press your advantage.

of course, if we're competing for... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by felix betachat at 5:19 PM on October 18, 2007

It's not ska, but it sounds like you'd like The Bottle Let Me Down.
posted to Ask Metafilter by felix betachat at 2:41 PM on October 16, 2007

He wants to be dominated by you? Fantastic. Tell him you're not a goddamn Barbie Doll.
posted to Ask Metafilter by felix betachat at 1:21 AM on October 13, 2007

Try spamming a large community website.
posted to Ask Metafilter by felix betachat at 11:08 PM on October 9, 2007

I'm guessing that rural school = proportionally more kids from a protestant christian background than at urban school. The problem here is that these are the sorts of people who are likely to have the most preconceptions and baggage relating to Jews and the least actual exposure to mitigate that. So he needs to be aware of what he's up against. These kids are drawing influence from their surroundings: the copy of Left Behind on an uncle's nightstand, the... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by felix betachat at 2:59 PM on September 27, 2007

Unfixable. She stood you up. You either walk away or you look like a chump. Either way, you ain't gettin' some unless she slathers on the contrition.
posted to Ask Metafilter by felix betachat at 1:32 PM on September 27, 2007

Franz Bibfeldt
posted to Ask Metafilter by felix betachat at 11:31 AM on September 23, 2007

More Bibfeldtiana
posted to Ask Metafilter by felix betachat at 11:32 AM on September 23, 2007

Songs 6:3 with nekudot. If you have the unpointed text, you should be able see which portion you want.
posted to Ask Metafilter by felix betachat at 12:23 PM on September 20, 2007 marked best answer

I think she's concerned about leaning too heavily on any one source of information. In the case of the official channels of religious organizations, obviously, the problem is going to be that someone is trying to pitch you a sanitized version of a complicated lifestyle choice.

In any case, this is all good advice. The facebook route in particular is a stellar example that we hadn't considered. I think she'll cast a wide net and then narrow her search once she gets a... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by felix betachat at 9:52 PM on September 19, 2007

You will get all kinds of advice here, some good, some condescending, some terrible. But trust me, this is the only thing that will work: Start dating other people immediately. If seeing you with another woman makes her anxious, then you two have a chance together. If not...well...you've made a good first step toward getting over her.
posted to Ask Metafilter by felix betachat at 10:35 PM on September 10, 2007

I guess I'll be the lone voice of dissent here. Seeing these sorts of connections is, I think, a pretty basic and pre-rational cognitive act. Our brains are hard-wired to notice this kind of stuff and some of us do it better than others. Art, religion and criticism are built on this intuitive capacity. It can get creepy when a) the connections being made are banal and unilluminating or, b) when the person making them takes them too seriously.

Honestly, I have this... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by felix betachat at 10:13 PM on September 10, 2007

Goethe Institute and whatever else you can get your hands on this year. And hire a private tutor to read newspapers and talk with you.

Then, in June, get your ass to Middlebury.
posted to Ask Metafilter by felix betachat at 3:30 PM on September 10, 2007

Sorry, regarding the money issue, for a tutor, advertise on College campuses. Specify that you want a native speaker, that you're willing to pay cash, and what you can afford. I'm guessing that, for some German grad student, $25/hour would be more than reasonable.

If you decide to go the Middlebury route (it really is the best program out there), see if you can get financial aid for the program. I'm guessing that if you stand to lose a lot of money in a bet, taking... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by felix betachat at 3:36 PM on September 10, 2007

The best beer in the midwest, New Glarus, can't be had in Chicago anymore. Something about extortionary beer distributors and the company swearing off their thirsty brethren to the south. So go there. Try the Spotted Cow.
posted to Ask Metafilter by felix betachat at 4:33 PM on August 28, 2007

When you part company with someone, you're accustomed to saying "goodbye" and the etymological fact that the word is a contraction of the phrase "God be with ye" combined your atheism doesn't make you a hypocrite every time you say the word. It's just that the word itself comes from a time when people were accustomed to invoking God, and it's still used today, when God isn't such a part of our daily intercourse.

In the same vein, the christening... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by felix betachat at 6:24 PM on August 23, 2007

Since you'll be working at 57th & Drexel and you want a cheap studio, I'd suggest looking south of the midway. Even 5 years ago, I'd never have suggested that, but the area is a lot safer now and the UofC police have recently extended their patrol zone down to 75th, I think. Get a bike and you're good to go.

If you want to stay within $700/month, I'd suggest avoiding UofC grad student housing like the plague. Their rents are inflated by about 10%-15% because they... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by felix betachat at 9:36 AM on July 26, 2007

The #6 Jackson Park Express runs until about 12:30. During the school year, the Lakeview Express bus runs until about the same time. Any time after that and I usually cab it home. If you're way north, you can catch the red or blue lines to the loop and then pay ~$18 for a cab. I think the Metra does run later than that, but I never think to take it.
posted to Ask Metafilter by felix betachat at 9:51 AM on July 26, 2007

BTW: Harold's sucks. Ribs & Bibs, on the other hand, is ambrosia.
posted to Ask Metafilter by felix betachat at 3:10 PM on July 26, 2007

we're working on making a self-serve tool that will allow you to regain access to your account.

Best of luck trying to protect us from ourselves! I got an email from Ben at Flickr 20 minutes ago, who helped me associate my account with a new yahoo ID.

It's a little strange: for whatever reason, yahoo's login process doesn't trigger the autosave feature for passwords in Firefox, which I suspect was part of my original problem.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by felix betachat at 5:35 PM on July 19, 2007

Keep an eye open here. Good luck.
posted to Ask Metafilter by felix betachat at 4:34 PM on July 19, 2007