I know it's dorky but I always like these OMG $STAR IS GAY stories when the actual content of the story is people talking to the friends and them saying "Yeah, who cares?" That's a surprisingly candid article with him talking about his marriage, how and when he decided to come out, and all the grappling he's been doing with all the conflicting ideas in his head. Good on him for doing this before someone did it for him.
posted to MetaFilter by jessamyn at 12:28 PM on December 19, 2009

[fixed title of book in fpp]
posted to MetaFilter by jessamyn at 11:30 AM on December 19, 2009

it's proper spllengi.

teh fizxed!
posted to MetaFilter by jessamyn at 2:35 PM on December 18, 2009

Wow, look at all those guys in the second video just running around in speedos. I don't know if it's "times they are a changing" or if kids are different or if my lawn, it is so terribly crowded....

I enjoyed both of these a lot.
posted to MetaFilter by jessamyn at 3:10 PM on December 18, 2009

such as the "mens swim team."

The guys in my high school wouldn't have been caught dead in their speedos anywhere but the pool, is what I'm saying. I mean they're clearly the swim team but they're just ... standing there!
posted to MetaFilter by jessamyn at 3:36 PM on December 18, 2009

Fun fact: Marty Ballew is the nephew of Chris Ballew from The Presidents of the United States of America.
posted to MetaFilter by jessamyn at 8:56 AM on December 19, 2009

I fixed the post typos. The lulzy stuff seems not so great. As with most things no one can make everyone take everything totally seriously, but it might be a better discussion for MeTa than more HURF DURF JEWS jokes during Hanukkah. Your choice.
posted to MetaFilter by jessamyn at 1:17 PM on December 18, 2009

What the? Was stuff removed from this thread?

FYI, nope.
posted to MetaFilter by jessamyn at 2:50 PM on December 18, 2009

Just check the self-righteousness about something you've only read about

I think the point is that for a lot of us it isn't just something we've read about. Again I'm shruggo on jokes for the most part but I'd literally have a larger family if the Holocaust hadn't happened. There's also a good chance some of my relatives would have never come to the US, etc etc. Things affect people in different ways but yeah, this is within recent memory for a lot... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jessamyn at 5:13 PM on December 18, 2009

yes, that's shitty and does make light of the dead.

That's all I was saying. You want to call it "emotional badgering" that's your right but that may be a rant you want to take to MetaTalk.
posted to MetaFilter by jessamyn at 6:58 PM on December 18, 2009

Does this work with mouse fur?
posted to MetaFilter by jessamyn at 4:47 PM on December 18, 2009

Fixed the link.
posted to MetaFilter by jessamyn at 3:55 PM on December 18, 2009

[few comments removed - I am sorry if your holidaytime is not going your way, please do not take it out on MetaFilter or a thread about how to cook prime rib. Please keep any further name calling out of here, thank you.]
posted to MetaFilter by jessamyn at 3:29 PM on December 18, 2009

I grabbed a wad

You mean a folded pile of paper right? Right?

I mean I guess I don't care, you're not my bathroom-sharer but I remember when I found out a boyfriend of mine in college was wiping his ass with wadded up paper I felt

- no wonder his ass isn't clean
- that seems like something a six year old does

But I guess a lot of people don't really evolve their... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jessamyn at 12:05 PM on December 16, 2009

my theory has always been: more folds, more penetration, more surface area.

That's your brain not your butt.
posted to MetaFilter by jessamyn at 2:19 PM on December 16, 2009

they're actually rectangles

NOT IN AMERICA!!!

When I lived in Romania not only did the toilets have the little shelves in them which I thought was weird, but the toilet paper was basically like those brown paper towels you see in old fashioned rest rooms. Not perforated. On the bright side, it cost like three cents a roll. On the downside, it was scratchy. That said every public toilet in Romania in 1995 seemed to have had... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jessamyn at 7:19 PM on December 16, 2009

Really?

Pretty close. My local roll of Shit-Begone is 4.5 in x 4.4 in.

Foot flushers are insane.
posted to MetaFilter by jessamyn at 8:02 PM on December 16, 2009

SITTER[X] or STANDER
FOLDER[X] or WADDER
FACING THE BOWL or FACING AWAY FROM THE BOWL [do not understand this, what?]
BACK TO FRONT or FRONT TO BACK [X]
BETWEEN THE LEGS or AROUND THE SIDE [X]
GRAB A CHEEK TO LIFT or WIGGLE AND BALANCE [I think I missed this day in butt class... what?]
LEFT HAND or RIGHT HAND [X]

I'd also add

PUBLIC TOILETS: #1 ONLY or #2 OKAY or OH HELLZ... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jessamyn at 10:05 AM on December 17, 2009

#2 WHENEVER/WHEREVER or #2 ONLY AT CERTAIN TIME/PLACE

It would never occur to me that I could choose. I just go when I have to go. Also apparently I can wipe while seated (my general preference) by just leaning forward (i.e. no stand, no squat, no contortions). I did not know this before, but I guess that's how it works for me.
posted to MetaFilter by jessamyn at 3:39 PM on December 17, 2009

you don't have the urge to poop shortly after waking up, then you need more fiber. Seriously. You're gonna get colon cancer, probably.

Some people poop before bed.

The fascinating thing about manners is that people don't agree on them.

But don't take my word for anything, I'm not even a handwasher (And there's no lock on my bathroom door! And there's a drinking cup in there! And I touch my butt with... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jessamyn at 11:45 AM on December 18, 2009

I like how it says /dev/null is equal to nirvana.
posted to MetaFilter by jessamyn at 9:24 AM on December 18, 2009

I met my neighbors via MeFi, seriously. I think of this as more kill -9 and less the sad awful painful reality that is actual suicide.
posted to MetaFilter by jessamyn at 9:48 AM on December 18, 2009

thanks the bricabrac man, I replaced it.
posted to MetaFilter by jessamyn at 11:47 AM on December 17, 2009

"the profile on my facebook resembles Humpty-Dumpty..." ha!
posted to MetaFilter by jessamyn at 8:49 AM on December 16, 2009

[comment removed - talk about your dick elsewhere]
posted to MetaFilter by jessamyn at 9:46 PM on December 15, 2009

God that guy in the Gloria Steinem clip is a tool.

I was watching that whole clip and thinking the same thing. However I read up on him a little bit and his background is sort of interesting. Not that he wasn't sort of wincingly.... weird about Gloria Steinem [really, ironing during an interview?] but he seems like a generally accomplished and respectable guy.
posted to MetaFilter by jessamyn at 8:05 PM on December 15, 2009

[few comments removed - I know you think your "but is she hot?" comments are the height of comedy. I assure you they are not. Please go straight ot metatalk or try again. thank you.]
posted to MetaFilter by jessamyn at 4:14 PM on December 15, 2009

My AT&T cell phone which is not an iphone or any other smart-ish phone sometimes doesn't work pretty much all day on Sunday. Like I get a signal, from my home. Except Sundays. AT&T doesn't even try to make sense of this. Occasionally I'll get a dropped call when I'm talking to someone and the running joke is "Oh sorry about that, it's like we're all on a party line in Vermont. Someone else must have had to make a phone call"
posted to MetaFilter by jessamyn at 3:03 PM on December 13, 2009

[few comments removed - save the lulzy omg comments for metatalk pls]
posted to MetaFilter by jessamyn at 9:21 PM on December 12, 2009

[comment removed - if you have a specific structural problem with the site or one specific member, those go to email or metatalk, thank you.]
posted to MetaFilter by jessamyn at 12:25 PM on December 8, 2009

There is nothing remotely approaching universal participation in democracy in the US, or Canada. Not. Even. Close.

At a federal level this is more or less true, but at a local level the New England style town meeting is a much closer approximation. Particpation isn't mandatory [as it is in Australia which comes with its own set of downsides] but it's much more clear that your direct involvement is the chance you have to make a difference that you... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jessamyn at 10:34 AM on December 12, 2009

[comment removed - profile page info needs to stay on profile pages, sorry.]
posted to MetaFilter by jessamyn at 10:25 AM on December 12, 2009

To be fair, they have a ton of different gift guides. But back to the eyeroll, they think a frugal traveller would appreciate a $164 foldable bike. Ha!
posted to MetaFilter by jessamyn at 5:01 PM on December 10, 2009

Here's the bloggish outline of what happened when. Unredacted copy of the document downloadable here (zip file from cryptome).
posted to MetaFilter by jessamyn at 9:22 AM on December 9, 2009

[fixed my own link....]
posted to MetaFilter by jessamyn at 9:35 AM on December 9, 2009

"this story is getting nowhere near the press that the WH party-crashers story has"

My feeling is also because it had to do with computers and technology and requires more than a twitter-level explanation of the really interesting parts of this, and why this was such a cock-up. The party-crashers is mroe basic and can be explained to someone in a news-type soundbyte. Also because I think more people agree that "party crashing the White... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jessamyn at 9:58 AM on December 9, 2009

Also I've walked through airport security with an underwire bra maybe thirty or forty times in 2009 and I've never set the alamr off. Just more anecdata.
posted to MetaFilter by jessamyn at 4:02 PM on December 10, 2009

"Sorry foreigners. We will be with you and your charming accents soon."

o_O
posted to MetaFilter by jessamyn at 12:17 PM on December 9, 2009

[few comments removed - I understand that you are angry. you may need to go to MetaTalk. days are getting shorter, as is my patience with people who think the guidelines somehow don't apply to them. thanks.]
posted to MetaFilter by jessamyn at 4:10 PM on December 7, 2009

Thanks for this. The COINTELPRO project was one of the more fucked up things the US Government has admitted to doing in this country in the past century. Their systematic attempt to discredit popular activist movements was nothing short of obnoxious thuggery. Not that the Black Panther Party was all tea and petitfours, but to go on an all out attack on them to the point where the party was being infiltrated with provocateurs and then this.... the whole thing is just a chilling indictment of... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jessamyn at 9:41 PM on December 6, 2009

Is this the place where I should say that people fighting for civil rights actually want them at the expense of white people and also it turns out that the FBI wasn't wrong about Fred Hampton being violent?

No, it's not actually.
posted to MetaFilter by jessamyn at 7:51 AM on December 7, 2009

I used to love listening to him singing with Tommy Makem when I was a kid. Thanks for this.
posted to MetaFilter by jessamyn at 8:55 AM on December 6, 2009

Somehow I don't see this thread going anywhere good.

If that's the case, it's because of your contributions. If you have an axe to grind with this particular topic and just want to fight with everyone on MetaFilter, please go to MetaTalk. Otherwise you're displaying a problematic lack of understanding of how this community works and what it's for. Further derails and attacks on other members will be removed. Attacks on pla will be removed - people... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jessamyn at 8:53 AM on December 6, 2009

My tips

- paperbackswap.com
- cake in a jar
- write letters - nice looking stamps don't cost more

I tried #23 and mice invaded and ate all my acorns. Yay for #39.
posted to MetaFilter by jessamyn at 7:58 PM on December 3, 2009

How does not being a Christian or ignoring religious holidays save me money during the celebration of the return of the Sun after the winter solstice?

A la Meatbomb, if you ostentatiously burn last year's gifts in the Solstice Bonfire, people will think twice about getting you gifts this year.
posted to MetaFilter by jessamyn at 8:25 AM on December 4, 2009

[few comments removed - no more of this. Go to metatalk if you absolutely positively must be hateful on this site. Otherwise, just take a walk please, thank you.]
posted to MetaFilter by jessamyn at 7:35 PM on December 2, 2009

[comments removed - metatalk is your option.]
posted to MetaFilter by jessamyn at 3:35 PM on December 3, 2009

I clicked on #2 and got punished!!
posted to MetaFilter by jessamyn at 3:40 PM on December 1, 2009

Got this piece of email that I thought people might like: "Colin was my father and it touched me to see that people still remembered him. I'm not a member of your site (and don't wish to be) but I'd be glad if someone could post a follow-up comment to this post, letting people know I'd seen it, and appreciated the sentiments."
posted to MetaFilter by jessamyn at 1:14 PM on December 1, 2009

[comments removed - if you want, take silverlight derail to metatalk]
posted to MetaFilter by jessamyn at 5:49 PM on November 28, 2009