Here's a heart-breaking post from a woman who had a blighted ovum, explaining it to her three-year-old daughter. I think she handled it very well -- I think that's how I would have wanted to handle it -- but in a post several weeks later she noted that her daughter had to have it explained several times before she really got it.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Jeanne at 4:28 PM on November 16, 2008

Doctor Harbl. It's the nerdiest name ever because it references (a) Doctor Horrible's Sing-Along Blog; (b) LOLcats; (c) Doctor Who, if only because we can refer to him as "The Doctor."
posted to Ask Metafilter by Jeanne at 7:08 PM on November 10, 2008

One result of the credit tightening is that people are finding it hard to get mortgages unless their credit score is very good, like above 700 or even 750. I don't know how old you are or what your credit situation is, obviously, but it's something to consider. (Mine is lower than 700 only because my credit history is short, about two years.)
posted to Ask Metafilter by Jeanne at 5:11 PM on October 19, 2008

"Lila the Werewolf" by Peter Beagle. It's been ages since I've read it, but the guy's a genius.

"Blood and Chocolate" is a very enjoyable YA novel about a werewolf girl who falls in love with a human boy. Another YA I liked is "Nevernever" by Will Shetterly.

The best source I've found on werewolf folklore is "The Beast Within" by Adam Douglas.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Jeanne at 4:53 AM on October 16, 2008

I have a tremendously long list of books to read. I think right now it's around 80.

Most of these are popular or award-winning young adult books that I think I should read to help me be a good YA librarian.

I had a lot of guilt over how many books I hadn't read until last year I realized that most of the much-hyped books that people were screaming over at the time... fell off the radar a year later, and it didn't actually matter that much... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Jeanne at 8:58 AM on October 9, 2008

You may get very lucky and find a used acoustic cheap; keep in mind you may be out $500 just with tuning and moving. Can you take a piano savvy friend along to look at instruments? At the very least play each key to make sure it sounds and doesn't stick.
If you go digital, you DO need 88 weighted keys, the ability to play loud and soft, and hopefully a sustain pedal. That will run you $500 at a minimum. But I'd rather play a decent digital than take my chances on a badly maintained... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Jeanne at 9:17 AM on September 19, 2008

My favorite YA novel of the year is "The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks," which is set in the present day but explores how the old-boy networks and patriarchal social structures persist despite nominal equality between the sexes.

I really admire Katherine Sturtevant's series ("At the Sign of the Star", "A True And Faithful Narrative") which is very honest and non-anachronistic about the social pressures faced by a printer's... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Jeanne at 2:58 PM on September 16, 2008

I remember starting Infinite Jest when I locked myself out of my apartment in the middle of a blizzard and couldn't think of any place to go but the bookstore.

God, what is it with writers and suicide? Nothing, I guess, I guess just confirmation bias and their visibility as compared to all the people who kill themselves with no one to notice but their own circles, but it's enough to drive one to despair. As if the human condition is something out of H.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Jeanne at 7:19 PM on September 13, 2008

A college math professor did a video response to these (part 1, part 2) that said all I wanted to say. It is really important for students to get a basic understanding of what's going on, a basic theoretical grounding, or they're going to come up with answers that aren't remotely sensible. And when they start using calculators, as they inevitably will, they won't be able to realize that their answers aren't sensible. So, yeah, teach them about orders of magnitude and estimation and why things... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Jeanne at 6:18 AM on September 6, 2008

I also have very large feet. I posted a similar question ... and what I actually ended up with, after a certain amount of trial and error, is a pair of Keen men's shoes. (Similar in style to these - they don't seem to make the exact same style any more.)

I love 'em. I can walk all day in them. They're the only shoes I've actually been complimented on!

Most of their women's shoes do go up to an 11, actually...... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Jeanne at 6:03 PM on August 29, 2008

Have you read Christopher Booker's "The Seven Basic Plots"? It's a heavy brick of a thing, about 800 pages, but it's written at a layman's level. One of the things it emphasizes really heavily is a 'comedy' as a story where the hero is able to successfully integrate his masculine and feminine aspects (which are personified as feminine characters) and a 'tragedy' as a story where this doesn't happen (the character is alienated from women and thus alienated from himself).
posted to Ask Metafilter by Jeanne at 12:50 PM on August 29, 2008

All the presidents and VPs in US history have been white and male. That is guaranteed to change this January, barring some freak occurrence, and I think that's awesome.

But is the Christian right really going to accept a mother with a 5-month-old infant going on the campaign trail? I've known too many who think that mothers shouldn't be working at all, or at least not till the kids are in school. And there's no way she's prepard to take over if McCain dies.
posted to MetaFilter by Jeanne at 8:07 AM on August 29, 2008

By the way, if you've never had a credit card or taken out any loans, there might not be anything on your credit report. I had some frustrating phone calls with the credit bureaus until they managed to convince me that I didn't have anything to report yet.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Jeanne at 3:47 PM on August 22, 2008

I would not worry too much about formal reading instruction at that age. The best thing you can do to challenge her reading skills is read to her and make sure she has a ton of books and time to read them.

If she is bored, if she is restless, then it may be time to consider other options - but probably she'll do what generations of bookworms have done before her, zone out during reading classwork and then tear through books at home and at recess until she's reading even... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Jeanne at 4:24 PM on August 21, 2008

Hopefully I shall be there!
posted to MetaTalk by Jeanne at 2:28 PM on August 20, 2008

I think this may work better on a large campus where athletics (and rivalries) are a big deal, but my alma mater had a food drive contest with the rival college. It was a really intense rivalry, and they got quite a lot of food.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Jeanne at 2:20 PM on August 20, 2008

It doesn't get any more specific than this, from the end of Genesis 6:

You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive.

posted to Ask Metafilter by Jeanne at 11:21 AM on August 17, 2008 marked best answer

I would recommend a book like Paws to Consider - it may help turn up some factors you hadn't been considering.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Jeanne at 7:07 PM on August 12, 2008

There was a little hum of controversy last year when Scalzi was nominated for best fan writer when he's clearly a pro; the categories might be a little misnamed, because the award isn't really for best fan writer but for best fan writing. Clearly the majority of science fiction fan writing has moved from the zines to the blogs; and Scalzi's blog is some of the best SF fan writing, whether he writes pro novels or not.
posted to MetaTalk by Jeanne at 8:34 AM on August 11, 2008

Just reading this thread it occurs to me how many different things people want from science fiction. Some people want rigorous science, some people want a sense of wonder, some people want social commentary, some people want adventure set in space. Ted Chiang's stories are intellectually fascinating, but the characterization and emotional content were so stunted and perfunctory that they left me cold. Mostly I want a novel that is interesting in the ways that novels in other genres are... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Jeanne at 4:38 AM on August 4, 2008

The first one sounds like it might be Paula Vronsky.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Jeanne at 5:58 AM on August 3, 2008

I've been hearing a lot about Skim, which just came out recently. It's about a girl who falls for her teacher at an all-girls private school.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Jeanne at 4:04 AM on July 28, 2008

I do think there's a problem with students not getting enough instruction about how to separate low-quality from high-quality information; a lot of kids will just run a Google search when they have a topic to research, and occasionally a search for a particular African-American inventor will turn up a white supremacy website, or a search for information about coal will turn up astroturf about how awesomely environmentally friendly coal is.

Reading novels is an entirely... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Jeanne at 6:44 PM on July 27, 2008

I went throuh a big Dahl phase when I was about seven. We were living in France at the time, and getting all our books sight unseen in the mail.

We were midway through reading "The Swan" outloud when my mother realized its target audience might be slightly older than "James and the Giant Peach."
posted to MetaFilter by Jeanne at 1:06 PM on July 23, 2008

I second Bardolph's advice. I'll add:
-Breeding time is good for songbirds. Migration time is good too, even more so for raptors and waterfowl.
-I've had the best luck right around the crack of dawn.
-You'll get more interesting birds walking around in the wilderness than setting up a feeder, even if you had space for a feeder. But if you would like to put a feeder up, you can get one that'll stick to your window.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Jeanne at 4:32 PM on July 14, 2008

There may be fora that are specific to your particular situation; there's a library_mofo community on Livejournal for example, for library staff to bitch. Most commenters are anonymous and lock their posts so that only community members can read them. (One commenter did get fired for his postings; he posted frequently and without locking his posts, though.)
posted to Ask Metafilter by Jeanne at 7:02 PM on July 8, 2008

However, I don't think participation in any writing group would help me much unless most of the other members were much better writers than me.

FYI, and only because you're explicitly asking for help with usage, traditional grammar would have "much better writers than I [am]." I don't think traditional grammar is right about this, and I don't monitor it in my own writing.

Personally, I think that... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Jeanne at 6:53 AM on July 7, 2008

I'm disgusted by puppy mills, but I'm a lot more disgusted at the demand end than the supply end. If you are planning on taking a living creature into your family for the next ten or fifteen years, you need to do at least enough research to realize that getting a puppy from a pet store is a terrible idea. That goes right along with doing enough research to realize that puppies will destroy your shoes, or that puppies will not be nearly so cute if you don't put any effort into training them, or... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Jeanne at 4:47 AM on July 4, 2008

I've switched over from LibraryThing to GoodReads, but they're both useful.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Jeanne at 5:04 AM on July 3, 2008

Sorry, bad link. GoodReads.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Jeanne at 5:05 AM on July 3, 2008

TNH's blog, Making Light, consistently has more funny, wise, kind, and educational comments than any other blog I read. But what works on a blog like ML isn't necessarily going to work on a blog like BoingBoing; it's just a completely different community environment.
posted to MetaFilter by Jeanne at 10:56 AM on June 30, 2008

I don't have an answer, but some points to consider:
"The camera adds 10 pounds" is actually true because of the way we perceive sizes in 2-dimensional images rather than 3-dimensional real life. There are some people who are very gorgeous in real life but who would be too heavy to be supermodels.

The AMA says that female models should have body proportions of around 34-24-34 and be at least 5'8" tall - once you exclude everyone with more... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Jeanne at 3:19 AM on June 29, 2008

These exercises have been helpful for me in a similar situation.

Squats, not so much - they put a little too much pressure on the knees.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Jeanne at 5:10 PM on June 27, 2008

It was just my personal experience that they made things worse rather than better.

Now, I had done squats in previous years without any problem - but not when I already had a minor knee injury to deal with.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Jeanne at 7:13 AM on June 28, 2008

Electronic dictionary, if that's in your price range and she doesn't have one already.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Jeanne at 6:42 AM on June 28, 2008

My cousin was one of those volunteering with the international Solidarity Movement and subverting the program. He blogs about his experience here.
(Which is not to say that I agree with his politics completely, but I am impressed by his convictions.)
posted to MetaFilter by Jeanne at 7:05 PM on June 26, 2008

Your description makes me think of the band Hem. Funnel Cloud, maybe.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Jeanne at 11:49 AM on June 26, 2008

At my friend's friend's bridal shower/bachelorette party, we hung a piece of gauze up on the wall against a window and pinned butterflies to that. We also hung them from the hanging lighting fixtures.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Jeanne at 11:35 AM on June 26, 2008

The Spanish dub of Futurama has "Díselo a mi brillante culo metálico," which I believe translates literally to "Tell it to my shiny metal ass." I don't recall what dialect of Spanish is in the dub, though.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Jeanne at 6:57 PM on June 22, 2008 marked best answer

Please don't try to carry on a conversation with me if you are carrying on a conversation with someone else on your cell phone. It makes it really difficult for me to tell when you are addressing me and when you addressing the voice on your Bluetooth headset. (This goes double if you're talking to your doctor, or breaking up with your boyfriend.)

Please speak in full sentences. Okay, this is pretty much only a problem with surly teenage boys, but they will say things to... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Jeanne at 4:41 AM on June 21, 2008

It helps me to acknowledge my fear/anxiety/sadness and just "sit calmly beside them" -
"I feel bad now. I'm worried and scared. And that's okay. I'm worried and scared because I'm in a worrying situation (or because my hormones are acting up, or because I got the kind of criticism that I tend to take personally, or whatever.) It's okay that I'm feeling worried and scared. But, it's just a feeling, and it's completely separate from whether what I'm worried about will... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Jeanne at 11:53 AM on June 20, 2008

...[the professor] insisted that I continue [giving shocks.] I refused, offered to give him back the five dollars, and told him that I believed the experiment to be really about how far I would go, that the learner was an accomplice, and that I was determined not to continue.


He didn't stop because of moral courage; he stopped because he thought he was being played.

If I recall correctly, in the... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Jeanne at 3:29 AM on June 20, 2008

I will substitute almost anything for almost anything else, since the time I was making various kinds of Japanese food and didn't have an Asian grocery nearby; I subbed beer for the sake and mirin, and it came out fine. If a recipe has two herbs and three spices, I might use one herb and one spice - or I might substitute whatever spices I have in the cupboard.

Ingredients are not a problem; time and equipment are, particularly since I'm moving often enough that I don't... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Jeanne at 7:03 AM on June 10, 2008

On the order of $10,000 - $15,000; that's figuring 10-15 cents a word (I would be very surprised if you could get a good literary translation for 10 cents a word, but 15 might be possible) over 100,000 words. There are many, many translation agencies that can be found online, though literary translation doesn't make up the bulk of what they do.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Jeanne at 5:41 AM on June 6, 2008 marked best answer

If you have a good idea, people will say "That's a good idea" instead of pretending they don't hear it until a white male says it.

You may be interested in this list of privilege lists (able-bodied, average-sized, straight, male, and more!)
posted to Ask Metafilter by Jeanne at 6:24 PM on May 29, 2008 marked best answer

Bojangle's is fast food, but I'd consider them a notch above Popeye's and KFC -- in Bushwick on Broadway a little west of Gates.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Jeanne at 1:51 PM on May 29, 2008

Dog's Death by John Updike

Four-Feet by Rudyard Kipling; I LOVE it but at the same time find it somewhat too well-known/sentimental. But it's no Rainbow Bridge.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Jeanne at 10:06 AM on May 29, 2008 marked best answer

The thing about kids is that they are still growing. They are supposed to be gaining weight; they are supposed to be getting taller. And the rates for height growth and weight growth don't necessarily match up. Some kids will go through a phase when they shoot up, get real skinny, and then put on some weight; some kids will go through a phase when they gain weight, get chubby at first, and then put on a few inches vertically and balance out. I really, really don't think it's... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Jeanne at 6:13 AM on May 22, 2008

I moved to Brooklyn in January. I make a librarian's salary (~40K) and live in an inadequately heated apartment with too many roommates.

I'm a quiet, mousy person, who is made nervous by large crowds and casual swearing. Stupid decision, right?

I kind of adore it.

Remember that it's a different (not wrong, just different) culture and try hard not to take anything personally; and give yourself lots of slack in taking time to adjust.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Jeanne at 8:59 AM on May 20, 2008

Ratatouille in ramekins is very nice. You start with a little drizzle of olive oil, layer on thin layers of zucchini, onion, eggplant, bell pepper, whatever other veggies you have around, then garlic and a little more olive oil, and roast that in the oven for about 40 minutes.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Jeanne at 7:14 PM on May 16, 2008