Since today is probably my last day on the site in this account, I'd like to make sure that Cool Papa Bell does not go unthanked for constantly helping to set the parameters of any sociological discussion by planting a flag at its nadir. Thanks Papa!
posted to MetaFilter by hermitosis at 11:27 AM on February 28, 2008

is that bad that the first thing i thought of were furries?

Based on your username, I'd say it's just business as usual.

I'm charmed most of all by the Aces, each of which features an animal caring for a changeling infant. It's an amazing re-interpretation, IMO.
posted to MetaFilter by hermitosis at 8:34 AM on February 28, 2008

I just drew a phone on my arm with a marker. My friends think it's dumb, but they're just jealous because I won't let them use it.
posted to MetaFilter by hermitosis at 2:22 PM on February 27, 2008

A valuable lesson in overkill: celibacy is just as easy to phone in as sex.
posted to MetaFilter by hermitosis at 11:02 AM on February 27, 2008

Metafilter: *Fade to black-and-white for grim emphasis* "You are single if you are NOT MARRIED."
posted to MetaFilter by hermitosis at 11:06 AM on February 27, 2008

Am I the only one that thinks god is the ultimate turn off?

I refuse to worship any god that I can't imagine going to bed with. This has actually resulted in MORE gods in my personal pantheon, not fewer.
posted to MetaFilter by hermitosis at 11:19 AM on February 27, 2008

I think I have listened to a total of one song by her, professionally I think she is crap...

I too aspire to a job where I don't leave my house for ten years. Can you tell me where to apply?
posted to MetaFilter by hermitosis at 9:22 AM on February 26, 2008

MetaFilter looks on and ****'s a plate of beans.
posted to MetaFilter by hermitosis at 9:57 AM on February 25, 2008

On the contrary, the barrage of imagery, however repetitive, really got me thinking about humans in those times and how arbitrary and sudden death must have been. Today we are spoiled with getting to know why and how more often than not, and so we feel entitled to see death coming. These people could see what we can't anymore-- that it is already here, always. And that this fact is tragic and horrible, but also humorous and... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by hermitosis at 2:52 PM on February 24, 2008

Thanks, this contributes something new to the debate here at MetaFilter. Almost.
posted to MetaFilter by hermitosis at 8:38 PM on February 20, 2008

I weep for those parents as their kid grows older and knows that every time he cries, he is rewarded.

If it makes you feel any better, whenever they're not using it to record funny videos for The Internet, they stash it in a cardboard box in the hall closet.
posted to MetaFilter by hermitosis at 6:24 AM on February 20, 2008

"Shepard found he was able to successfully climb out of his self-imposed poverty."

That's what makes real poverty so soul-crushing. It's not self-imposed (at least, not in the ways that he seems to think).

It's sort of like how learning you're pregnant gets different reactions based on whether you were actually trying to conceive. The reactions of everyone around you change based on that too.
posted to MetaFilter by hermitosis at 2:39 PM on February 15, 2008

Plus, he gave up when someone his family got sick.

In other words, he gave the moment real life intruded on his juvenile fantasy. Which is exactly where the real experiment BEGINS for most people.

Barbara E. gets a lot of nagging criticism, but her project was interesting and well-written. In fact, the reason why that book is so beloved is because she clearly articulates the reality of others' experiences, not just hers.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by hermitosis at 3:13 PM on February 15, 2008

In substance they are two different people from different walks of life who did a vaguely similar thing in two totally different ways.
posted to MetaFilter by hermitosis at 9:39 PM on February 15, 2008

If budgeted properly and cooked at home, I can eat like a king for $25 a week. In 2007.
posted to MetaFilter by hermitosis at 6:52 AM on February 16, 2008

cytheria, my current freelance-wage diet:

Breakfast: McCann's oatmeal, made with walnuts and soymilk, sweetened with jam. $1.50 per serving.

Lunch/Dinner: Various soups and stews made in massive quantities in the crockpot and then frozen, kept in heavy rotation to stave off boredom. Currently: Pinto bean soup with Polish sausage, carrots, and potatoes, with day-old pumpernickel from a local bakery. Under $1 per serving.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by hermitosis at 11:11 AM on February 16, 2008

Even then, as Barbara Ehrenreich pointed out in her book, a diet like mine requires that a person have access to appliances such as a stovetop or a crock pot and a freezer, the necessary pots, pans, and utensils. A lot of the dwellings available to the poor don't come with those, and if I was working two jobs and commuting back and forth to them, I probably wouldn't have time to cook anyway. I'd wind up spending $5-$7 per meal at fast food places or on quick store-bought snacks.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by hermitosis at 11:20 AM on February 16, 2008

It's kind of great how cytherea's kittenish trolling bookended Unicorn's genuine response, making the latter shine all the brighter.
posted to MetaFilter by hermitosis at 12:49 PM on February 17, 2008

Rubbish. The "fake homosexual sex" is still homosexual sex, it's just had for different purposes.

Plenty of "straight" men have "fake homosexual" sex. They're not "gay" or anything. They just don't mind letting fags suck 'em off. Or helping a buddy out when his girl's outta town. A little 420, a little porno, and let's see what happens, amirite dude?
posted to MetaFilter by hermitosis at 5:05 PM on February 16, 2008

Peter, I was being sarcastic. Apparently I faked you out.
posted to MetaFilter by hermitosis at 6:51 AM on February 17, 2008

Tom Green is an unfunny idiot.

Stating things baldly for effect should not be mistaken for participation.
posted to MetaFilter by hermitosis at 6:27 AM on February 15, 2008

What a moody thread full of whingers. The music is free! Who cares if it's any good?
posted to MetaFilter by hermitosis at 10:10 PM on February 13, 2008

She's the new queen of incredibly banal stock photography.
posted to MetaFilter by hermitosis at 11:39 AM on February 13, 2008

"This amazing photograph gives whole new meaning to the phrase 'May God strike me with lightning if...'"


It was really selfish of them to keep whatever the meaning was to themselves.
posted to MetaFilter by hermitosis at 1:30 PM on February 12, 2008

There are so many kinds of cancer! We probably need to break up our calendar into more months.
posted to MetaFilter by hermitosis at 5:46 PM on February 10, 2008

If 500 people favorite this comment, I'll disable my account.
posted to MetaFilter by hermitosis at 3:54 PM on February 10, 2008

I really will disable my account permanently if 500 people favorite that comment. Although, it's been just a few minutes and there are already a dozen, so this may have been a higher-stakes game than I thought I was playing.
posted to MetaFilter by hermitosis at 4:13 PM on February 10, 2008

I'm currently at the 10% mark. One thing they never tell you about attention-whoring, is how weirdly unfulfilling the attention feels when you have to whore for it. Really, the favorites better keep pouring in to kill me off, because otherwise there'll be no living with me after this!
posted to MetaFilter by hermitosis at 5:34 PM on February 10, 2008

Seriously, procreation is totally optional. When you start getting those insane baby urges, you need to keep your legs crossed, get a good shrink, and buy a fucking cat.
posted to MetaFilter by hermitosis at 11:44 AM on February 10, 2008

Pretty much none of my straight male friends have hangups about crying or showing emotion.

What adult ridicules other adults for crying? I don't understand.
posted to MetaFilter by hermitosis at 12:55 PM on February 9, 2008

Because they do things like replacing Cary Grant with Seth Rogen.

Remember in North By Northwest where suddenly that plane started chasing him?? And he was all like "OOPS!! WTF??"
posted to MetaFilter by hermitosis at 7:59 AM on February 8, 2008

The irony is that he got paid to write this.
posted to MetaFilter by hermitosis at 11:43 AM on February 5, 2008

"Our combined income when we arrived here was about $45,000, and yet we didn’t sit around our table at night wondering, when the time came, which of the cats we would eat first."

This was the first sign for me that however hard the author was flagellating himself, it wasn't hard enough.
posted to MetaFilter by hermitosis at 11:50 AM on February 5, 2008

He's not upper class, I'd say he's solidly middle-class (for New York). I think the problem is consumerism more than it is class. The entire article is practically just a list of the things he and his wife buy. They define themselves by the ability to buy these things effortlessly, versus what it would take real effort to afford. And yet, those effortless things would all be considered reckless indulgences to the majority of Americans.

Since consumerism saturates... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by hermitosis at 12:10 PM on February 5, 2008

But after that, I'm going to take some of my money, and I'm going to buy some nice things. And I'm not going to apologize.

Clearly those nice things aren't enough to keep you as busy and happy as you think, because instead of just personally enjoying them you chose to come in here and feel embattled and defensive. Not only that, rather than joining a thoughtful conversation, you came in and talked about your shirts. So clearly you have... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by hermitosis at 2:27 PM on February 5, 2008

Can anyone tell me the source of that Margaret Atwood quote?
posted to MetaFilter by hermitosis at 2:21 PM on February 5, 2008

Thanks for helping me hit my saturation point. I feel I can now not vote with an entirely clean conscience.
posted to MetaFilter by hermitosis at 7:06 AM on February 5, 2008

We all win. Fantastic!
posted to MetaFilter by hermitosis at 3:01 PM on February 4, 2008

Just another example of religion stifling progress.

Mr_Zero, that's apparently all you see happening over there, isn't it?
posted to MetaFilter by hermitosis at 9:56 PM on February 2, 2008

Try harder.
posted to MetaFilter by hermitosis at 11:14 PM on February 1, 2008

OMG I got to see Link's underwear!

*swoon*
posted to MetaFilter by hermitosis at 6:39 AM on January 31, 2008

Yes?
posted to MetaFilter by hermitosis at 1:47 PM on January 31, 2008

Who's that ugly dwarf with his hand in your [more inside]
posted to MetaFilter by hermitosis at 12:18 PM on January 31, 2008

Something tells me Brad Pitt is the Brad Pitt of smell. Even straight guys would totally sniff his pillowcase if no one was around.
posted to MetaFilter by hermitosis at 6:44 AM on January 31, 2008

I'm not LOLLING at them, I'm LOLLING with someone who's LOLLING at them.
posted to MetaFilter by hermitosis at 10:20 AM on January 30, 2008

Thank you for your thoughtful comment, Mister Cheese. I too wonder what Normal Bob really thinks about what's going on here-- though I suspect he shoots first and thinks thoughts later.

As someone with a great respect for genuinely religious people, my rule of thumb is that if a person doesn't have a sense of humor about their religion, they don't really have any religion at all.
posted to MetaFilter by hermitosis at 1:00 PM on January 30, 2008

Agreed, this is fantastic, and usable. Only one real complaint: the Hermit totally deserves better.

Still, I'll never look at Barbie the same way again.
posted to MetaFilter by hermitosis at 6:45 AM on January 29, 2008

Oh yeah, he was a eugenics proponent popenoenent, too.
posted to MetaFilter by hermitosis at 7:08 PM on January 28, 2008

Crap post. Salvia is a complex drug, and a complex issue in the world of drug enforcement. This is the best you could do?
posted to MetaFilter by hermitosis at 11:56 AM on January 25, 2008

Rabin is a decent writer in need of a good editor. His digressions are sometimes amusing or relevant, but they are usually just digressions. I've read almost all of these as they've been posted, because I too have a deep and abiding love for horrible fiascoes and secret successes, but only about half his pieces wound up doing their subjects justice, and considering the plum choices on this list, that really says it all about MYOF.

Failure, Fiasco, or Secret Success?... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by hermitosis at 9:54 PM on January 24, 2008