I found my geek friends through board games nights originally organized through Livejournal. Look for the busiest LJ community for your city.
posted to Ask Metafilter by divabat at 3:42 PM on July 3, 2008

I second Sophie's World. I first read it when I was about 10 and I grasped some things - obviously I would understand more of it now. But that's the beauty of it; everytime you read it you learn something new.
posted to Ask Metafilter by divabat at 3:04 PM on July 3, 2008

Aww honey. I've been in your sweetie's shoes. Nearly wrecked our relationship. Hugs to the both of you.

I'll point my boy to this thread, but there are plenty of resources, including books, at the Black Dog Institute.
posted to Ask Metafilter by divabat at 7:17 AM on July 3, 2008

Could you IM your family/friends/partner while you're doing other stuff on the computer? That's how my boyfriend and I keep in touch when I'm overseas on holiday - he's at work, I'm at home, we chat online. Doesn't take up too much mental energy, but it still works.
posted to Ask Metafilter by divabat at 9:44 PM on July 2, 2008

mdonley: Oh I'm not cutting out staying in Australia as an option; indeed, I quite like Brisbane. I just don't want to be forced into it and not be able to consider other stuff.

nanojath: I spent 8 months and 3 attempts to get into one of the KaosPilots schools, all unsuccessfully. I didn't mention it here because I've mentioned it before on other AskMefi questions and I think people are sick of me saying it over and over :P
posted to Ask Metafilter by divabat at 6:01 PM on July 1, 2008

Hello, me!

I have the same problem. A lot of my opportunities aren't exactly something I can guarantee months in advance. I've been working on being a KaosPilot for 8 months and am still not successful - there goes Plan A. (Well, really more Plan C, because the other two plans didn't work either!) Also, I'm still trying to figure out what my options ARE, and which are feasible and which aren't - so whenever my parents pressure me for a plan I'm often flummoxed.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by divabat at 2:15 AM on June 30, 2008

I second Nemo. It is made of AWESOME.
posted to Ask Metafilter by divabat at 6:49 PM on June 27, 2008

If you want an unusual nemesis, you're better off trying to ask for things people won't normally consider as evil.

I nominate water bottles.
posted to Ask Metafilter by divabat at 9:32 PM on June 26, 2008

This isn't exactly the same case, but for a uni project (Bachelor's level in Australia) I made up some badges with interesting slogans. The slogans were based on course lectures, but the designs were created by me.

The lady who made them into badges for me were quite interested in my designs and suggested I sell them. I asked my lecturer about it and he said it was fine for me to sell them if I wish, just to do it after assessment.

Our Student... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by divabat at 3:16 AM on June 26, 2008

I've been in a similar situation to your girlfriend, though my sister would have had a closer experience. Bangladeshi parentage + moving to ultraliberal country + dating whiteys = OI TROUBLE.

I told my parents straight out about my boyfriend. Honestly, I was so smitten, I didn't even think of hiding it! My parents keep telling me "don't move in with a guy!", which caused SO MANY issues because I had to find a new place to live and there weren't any good... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by divabat at 7:28 PM on June 25, 2008

When my relatives (including my sister) obtained new citizenship, there was a stamp on their passport that allowed them visa-free access into their home country (Bangladesh) for life. I know this for a fact for British citizens, and I'm guessing it's the same for US, Australia, and Canada (since I have newly-citizenized relatives there).

That said, having a US passport generally allows you visa-free entry to most places, so I don't think it would be an issue for her to... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by divabat at 8:37 PM on June 24, 2008

I've carried prescription pills across all sorts of routes, including into the US and EU, and I've never been asked about them. In Australia you have to declare them, but they mainly give it a cursory glance. However, carrying a doctor's letter (use jayder's fax suggestion) would be quite helpful in case anything pops up.
posted to Ask Metafilter by divabat at 11:20 AM on June 22, 2008

Unlike Nelsormensch, I'm a big advocate for breaks and delays. I've done what you did and now I'm just a semester away (though by this point I am already totally disinterested in academia - thank goodness my final semester is all practical).

If you're not ready for it, and need a breather, absolutely take the breather. The year at work may show you what you really want to know - and you may end up changing careers, which is fine. I personally don't see what the great... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by divabat at 10:30 PM on June 16, 2008

I shaved my head for Shave For A Cure, an Australia-wide charity event that supports research and care for leaukimia. I signed on as part of my college group.

SFAC was very helpful with giving us all the information - they had profiles for each participant online that took credit card donations, and gave us receipt books for donations in hand. Our coordinator took those books and money afterwards and banked them in.

Initially it was a little... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by divabat at 3:31 PM on June 16, 2008

Just as an important point: the quote above the fold (about ripping off customers) comes from this discussion about Australian banks, not Carrotmob. But it is a sentiment I'd heard in many other places.
posted to Ask Metafilter by divabat at 3:56 PM on June 13, 2008

UbuRovias: the people I've heard this from come from Western nations - mainly US, UK, and Australia. Seems to be common with the far-left "socialist revolution!" types.
posted to Ask Metafilter by divabat at 5:30 PM on June 13, 2008

Try Etsy, particularly the Asian sellers - there's quite a few that make their own sarongs.
posted to Ask Metafilter by divabat at 9:05 PM on June 12, 2008 marked best answer

Bookmarks? That's the joke my boyfriend (named Mark) and I often run into unintentionally ("hey, do you have a bookmark?" "BookMARK! Har har!" "dur...").
posted to Ask Metafilter by divabat at 6:42 PM on June 11, 2008

I don't know if this is necessarily healthy, but I do pace around quite a bit.
posted to Ask Metafilter by divabat at 6:09 AM on June 10, 2008

My boyfriend would like to suggest Smashing Magazine.
posted to Ask Metafilter by divabat at 4:22 PM on June 7, 2008

pocams: I've got a plan already - ExpressionEngine has a handy Pro Network quote form that helps with this.

SuperSquirrel: The irony is that I'm a uni student. haha. I can try asking, good call.

rhizome: Not easy to do. Malaysia doesn't have a straight-forward system of doing this, and it takes YEARS. As it is, the Malaysian government has a weird relationship with blogs, my blog could be misconstrued as "anti-government" (due to a few... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by divabat at 5:33 PM on June 6, 2008

Would "How To Build A Time Machine" by Darren Hayes work? He doesn't actually explicitly describe how to build such a device, but it's an interesting song.
posted to Ask Metafilter by divabat at 1:56 PM on June 6, 2008

Isn't this what a lot of comic book producers (Batman, Spiderman, etc) are often accused of doing? Indeed, isn't ret-con a comic fandom term?

There was a lot of hubbub around the releases of Harry Potter 6 and 7 that smashed a lot of people's perceptions about the characters' love lives, with a lot of people claiming character changes all round.
posted to Ask Metafilter by divabat at 5:59 AM on June 5, 2008

It depends on how the program is and what you get out of it. I've been in such programs which have a fancy name/affiliation but really did not achieve anything, and I've been in others which were lots more interesting and productive.

I wouldn't necessarily recommend them just to get brownie points. The people who go into those programs just to impress someone often don't contribute as much as those who go in because they have a genuine interest in leadership and want to... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by divabat at 12:19 AM on June 2, 2008

I used to work at a TV station and we'd get free tickets to concerts and movie premieres. My boyfriend works with a performing arts company and I get free performance tix off him.
posted to Ask Metafilter by divabat at 3:13 PM on June 1, 2008

Continuing on Savage Garden - look for Darren Hayes's solo stuff.
posted to Ask Metafilter by divabat at 3:06 PM on June 1, 2008

I'd say "read", as in "read this to mean blah".
posted to Ask Metafilter by divabat at 7:00 PM on May 29, 2008

I'm a bit like your friend - I have trust issues, but to the outside world it could seem like I don't. I have about 500+ friends on Facebook, but they're not all "friends" in the literal sense; most are acquaintances or people I've met in different circumstances. I'm pretty open about things that others may consider personal - my family issues, my depression, etc. I don't see much point in holding that back (but I don't make a habit of spilling it out unless I'm prompted to). I'd also... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by divabat at 6:51 PM on May 28, 2008

Hmm, in between writing that long comment and posting it, a few more insights have surfaced. I wouldn't necessarily suggest that the only way to gain her trust is to sacrifice; rather, it could be that she's never really sure if you're trustable until you do something that she thinks of as big, and then in her mind she could be thinking "oh! If they're willing to do that for me than they must be trustworthy!".

It's not the greatest logical argument in the world,... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by divabat at 6:56 PM on May 28, 2008

Oh goodness, that might be it. I'll send the link to my dad and see if any of that sounds familiar. Thank you.
posted to Ask Metafilter by divabat at 6:12 PM on May 21, 2008

OK, I just got off the phone with Dad, and he said that the other factor besides the song was an actress on Mutiny on the Bounty apparently named Tiare. I looked at the cast list and there's no Tiare, but there's a character named Tehani.

hmm!
posted to Ask Metafilter by divabat at 6:49 PM on May 21, 2008

LOL, well I know my name isn't exact anyway - according to my dad, it's one part Mutiny on the Bounty, one part Tiare Tahiti, and "then some Tiara and some Bangla".
posted to Ask Metafilter by divabat at 9:49 PM on May 21, 2008

My sister always wanted to do art, and originally was aiming for architecture. She got talked out of it, so she went for science instead. She went all up to a PhD in Biotechnology, and worked for a few years in cancer research. She hated it, and her art bug was coming back to bite her. She tried a course in science communication, which was fun, but she still couldn't get anywhere.

After about 20+ years of non-stop schooling (since kindergarden) she shocked the whole... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by divabat at 3:21 PM on May 20, 2008

Also keep in mind that it's possible that this person does feel like they're drowning and didn't understand the material but managed to do well in the course anyway. Stranger things have been known to happen.

This happened to me twice. The first time was a film class where the lecturer announced from the very beginning that he was a strict marker. It was utterly difficult, made many of us cry, and I failed one of the major assessments. I was completely... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by divabat at 11:42 PM on May 19, 2008

In Bangladeshi culture children are often called "ma" (or I suppose "abba" if they're male). My parents would call me "ma" very often.

I often got confused by that, so when I asked my parents about it they said that it's considered something of a compliment because you love your parents and you love your children equally! or something along those lines.
posted to Ask Metafilter by divabat at 11:19 PM on May 19, 2008

The Brisneyland Livejournal Community has been really good with organizing a whole lot of things.
posted to Ask Metafilter by divabat at 3:59 PM on May 19, 2008 marked best answer

I bought a second-hand bike off someone to learn cycling. I'm nearly there - I just need to get riding for more than 20 seconds.
posted to Ask Metafilter by divabat at 3:58 PM on May 19, 2008

Paper planes!
posted to Ask Metafilter by divabat at 2:34 AM on May 19, 2008

Buy The Quick Strike Today?
posted to Ask Metafilter by divabat at 2:02 AM on May 18, 2008

The head of department will be able to help you, as she knew of your plans and would have more clout. I've found that in Australia they can sometimes be quite flexible.
posted to Ask Metafilter by divabat at 11:03 PM on May 16, 2008

Well here in Brisbane there doesn't seem to be any logic to the crossing - one time we had to wait about 10 minutes to cross, and this was just across the road without any intersections. There was another cross behind us and it went twice.

I personally found that if you tap on the button three times quick, the lights change in your favour very quickly, compared to if you just press it once. Works about 80% of the time. Does this happen elsewhere?
posted to Ask Metafilter by divabat at 5:28 PM on May 14, 2008

Gracefully telling anyone you kill animals for a spiritual world that they don't believe exists will not go over well.

that's a pretty goofy domain and method of worship you've selected for yourself there, poster.

Islam has animal sacrifice too.

But anyway. I'm in a similar boat to you. I've tried explaining but it didn't go down well. At this point, I just keep it quiet, and when my... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by divabat at 7:48 PM on May 12, 2008

Rice porridge. It used to be the only thing I could digest when I was sick. Now I can never eat it. One time my friend's mother helpfully made a big bowl of it for breakfast. I couldn't turn her down, but damn was it hard to swallow.
posted to Ask Metafilter by divabat at 6:44 PM on May 12, 2008

Some non-profits (particularly youth ones, at least here) don't care about your degree.
posted to Ask Metafilter by divabat at 12:09 AM on May 12, 2008

You're a Winner!
posted to Ask Metafilter by divabat at 8:48 PM on May 7, 2008

Does this help at all?
posted to Ask Metafilter by divabat at 6:50 PM on May 7, 2008

couldn't you do this with categories?
posted to Ask Metafilter by divabat at 5:02 PM on May 7, 2008

Heh, we had such a thing happening in our group. When we had our group dinner, I passed down a plate of food to my secret pal, and someone (might have been me too, I can't remember) passed a bottle of wine.
posted to Ask Metafilter by divabat at 3:41 PM on May 7, 2008

I worked as a production assistant for a TV channel without a degree. I know of some other jobs with non-profits/social orgs that don't require degrees too - what they're more after is passion and determination. In Australia, some jobs let you gain a certificate through work.
posted to Ask Metafilter by divabat at 3:38 PM on May 7, 2008

I think I can relate to those who say it's a matter of "out of context" - suddenly seeing someone in an unexpected situation. I sometimes feel really awkward too when I see my teachers at the supermarket or the guy who works at the college cafeteria walking around uni, or even my friend from one place suddenly appearing in another. "You're not supposed to be here!" (I'm just an awkward person, hey)

I definitely don't look down on people with service... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by divabat at 1:17 PM on May 7, 2008