I second the idea of organizing outings yourself. Then you have control over what kind of activity you're taking on and how bad it will be financially. Depending on where you are, lots of cities have free museum nights, free movie nights, free concerts, and more. You might also be able to host movie nights with DVDs borrowed from your library (and check that library for free tickets to other activities).
posted to Ask Metafilter by cadge at 1:19 PM on July 14, 2008

I learned a lot about men's fashion from AskMen.com presents the Style Bible, including lots of basic wardrobe information and how to compensate for various body types.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cadge at 1:13 PM on July 14, 2008

The first things that jump out at me are a good haircut that frames your face and a nice outfit that works with your figure. Exercise and body care are the next step but a change in hair is something that you can tackle right away and will be immediately noticeable to everyone. Plus that kind of change can be a springboard - it's like you've taken the first big step in committing to self-improvement.

Clothes - I really appreciated reading The Pocket Stylist - it has... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by cadge at 6:56 PM on June 19, 2008

The march from Henry Purcell's Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary is staggeringly haunting and sad. (The only thing is, it was covered for the title theme from A Clockwork Orange, so it is a pretty recognizable tune. I don't know if relative obscurity is a factor for you.)
posted to Ask Metafilter by cadge at 12:17 AM on June 3, 2008

I was introduced to cognitive therapy by this book: Feeling Good. I found it extremely helpful for identifying my bad thinking patterns and working through/around them. I haven't reread it in a few years but I remember it touching on several of the thoughts described in this thread.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cadge at 9:02 PM on May 30, 2008

@zeek321 - Hey, that's the same guy who wrote Feeling Good! Thanks for the tip that he's written another book on CBT. I'm going to check that out.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cadge at 5:52 PM on May 31, 2008

You can get married without facing social dilemma about changing your name (choose not to change it and your family/friends might hassle you; choose to change it and it's a lot of work).

If you're a writer, you can use your own full name without worrying if your gender will affect sales (see J.K. Rowling).

As a white person, it's easier for you to find greeting cards that reflect images of you and your family.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cadge at 6:50 PM on May 29, 2008

He decides to use this new, amazing, nearly unlimited power source to.... BUILD A BIGGER WEAPON

This bugged me too. I rationalize it to myself by pointing out that Tony is just perfecting a pilot suit at first, and then it takes on more of a warrior purpose when he discovers Stark weapons being sold around the world behind his back; now he can use the suit to fly around putting a stop to that (all the stuff he said to Pepper about there being nothing but the mission now).
posted to Ask Metafilter by cadge at 9:05 PM on May 24, 2008

If you're looking for organized volunteering, you might like YAVA, a volunteering/social group.

If you're looking for activities, check out Bostonist for current events. It has a lot of great listings for music, readings at local bookstores, bizarre performances, and more. Plus it's a good source for local news.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cadge at 5:49 PM on May 19, 2008

Like people mentioned above, nobody cares at all if you can't dance-dance. They'll all be too busy taking photos and smiling and grinning. You can just hold each other and shuffle through the song. Yay!

If you're really keen on dancing, though, I agree with otherworldlyglow that "Just the Way You Are" is not a very danceable song. It's very slow and doesn't really have a good beat for a ballroom dance. I think you could do tai chi to that song rather than dance... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by cadge at 12:32 PM on May 19, 2008

I think it might help if you could explore what you yourself really want to do in life. Therapy might help in this, or maybe reading some self-help books if that's not your thing.

I have been in a similar position for a while - loads of accolades at school without all that much effort, and then after finishing school, feeling aimless and worthless because school provided goals and feedback in the form of grades and awards. I'd never really given much thought to what I... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by cadge at 9:21 AM on May 18, 2008

Gift certificate for two for a fancy-pants restaurant? Technically it's food-related but it's not perishable.

Also, chiming in on the very heartfelt thank-you card.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cadge at 4:53 PM on May 17, 2008

It's not an online reference, but I've found that Lonely Planet's guidebooks are usually reliable for listing events and festivals in places I'm thinking of visiting. I've used them a lot for planning my travel around big happenings.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cadge at 4:57 AM on May 13, 2008

I agree with the people who say that you should study as much as you humanly can. Your exams sound immensely important and they should be your top priority and job.

Outside of that, I'd say go for activities that are social, low-commitment, and flexible. In your shoes I wouldn't want to get involved in clubs with mandatory attendance, gaming that can get addictive, or hobbies requiring lots of practice time that could get distracting. I'd go for things like yoga and... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by cadge at 7:22 PM on May 12, 2008

Could you get a tackle box and then cover it with nice fabric/wallpaper/stickers/decoupage? The compartments of tackle boxes are so damned convenient and appropriate for a sewing box.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cadge at 2:53 PM on May 9, 2008 marked best answer

Never Eat Alone for networking. I just finished this and I was amazed at how much it reframed the subject for me. My old impression of networking was all about cheesy Brylcreemed salesmen or desperate people shoving their resumes at you. This book totally turned my head around on that.

A few good communications books - Tongue Fu and Difficult Conversations.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by cadge at 6:16 AM on April 20, 2008

Spell out something funny/rude in gummi bears stuck to the windshield.

Caveat: I think that these are easy to remove by dumping hot water on them, but I might be misremembering what I heard from my friend who had this done to her car.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cadge at 5:51 PM on April 12, 2008

Sorry - clarification: I know that the US doesn't have an equivalent of the actual BBC. I just really like the BBC's news website (its format, breadth of coverage, and seriousness), and I'm hoping to find something like that but focused on American news. This could also include American newspapers with online presences like the New York Times.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cadge at 6:46 PM on April 10, 2008

Sweet - thanks for these pointers, everyone! This is exactly the kind of info I was thinking about.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cadge at 7:43 AM on April 11, 2008

Seconding what Miko said - I have had good experiences putting Burt's Bees Coconut Foot Creme on my cracked, crusty hands overnight.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cadge at 8:36 PM on April 6, 2008

Queen's "Princes of the Universe!
posted to Ask Metafilter by cadge at 6:09 PM on April 4, 2008

I agree with the "try it out" advice, but man, speaking from my own personal experience, my sleep cycle is just shot, and I think a big part is the after-work exhaustion nap. When I wake up from it, I'm revitalized so much that I don't go to sleep at a good time, and then I stay up too late and wind up groggy and unhappy the next day ... and in need of an exhaustion nap after work. :( For me, at least, it's like spoiling your dinner by snacking.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cadge at 6:49 PM on April 1, 2008

Thanks so much for your suggestions, everyone! This is really helpful and brings me a lot of hope. I think that between all these recommendations and the copy of Time Management for Systems Administrators that I'm making my way through right now, I should be able to get a better handle on things.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cadge at 6:39 AM on April 1, 2008

I have this experience too - I love who I am on caffeine. I'm glib, fast-thinking, and entertaining. Woo!

I recommend trying healthier sources of caffeine, like tea. I especially recommend green tea - full of health benefits, and I find that the energy is more slow-burning and lasts much longer (plus you aren't hit with as much of it all at once). Coffee and energy/soda drinks work for me in the short-term but make me crash horribly later in the day.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cadge at 7:21 PM on March 30, 2008

Cindy Crawford started out as a chemical engineering major (but dropped out to pursue modeling).
posted to Ask Metafilter by cadge at 4:58 PM on March 23, 2008

In Brimstone, a late 90's TV series with a very similar premise to Reaper, the Devil is also a tormenting boss to the main character, who has been returned to Earth to catch escaped souls for him.

I thought that the party-kidnapping in Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell was done by faeries, not the Devil?
posted to Ask Metafilter by cadge at 12:54 PM on March 21, 2008

Total amateur opinion here, but I think that part of it might also be male screenwriters defaulting to male characters and father/son conflicts in their storytelling.

I see this in movies like Ratatouille - the story is driven by the stories of Remy and his father and Linguini living up to his father's potential and image. Not only are the mothers unseen, hardly any female characters are featured, period.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cadge at 12:43 PM on March 12, 2008

Bedtime Bear from the Care Bears
posted to Ask Metafilter by cadge at 12:10 PM on March 4, 2008

I agree with the posters above who advise that the best thing to do is give him time to absorb this revelation and hope that things settle down. You've thought about this for a while but he was just hit out of nowhere by it.

In his shoes, I might be freaking out not about my friend exaggerating sexual experience but about my friend spinning lies to me about his life for a while. I would wonder, What else has he lied about? Does he lie about _me_ to others? Especially... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by cadge at 8:05 PM on February 20, 2008

The Finder comic series by Carla Speed McNeil is incredible and involves a lot of detail-rich worldbuilding. I can't recommend it enough.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cadge at 11:10 AM on February 8, 2008

Thanks for these suggestions, everyone!

-harlequin-, I love your idea of scanning the stories and getting a print-on-demand book made. I'm going to investigate that.

My goal here is to keep the stories I like, and in an easily readable format. I don't really care about the original newsprint itself - I just want the content. Sorry forany confusion and if I gave the impression that I want to keep it all in the original printed format - for some... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by cadge at 2:13 PM on January 8, 2008

Life is Sweet? It's not specifically about food, but it has several food-and-eating-related themes (one character is a chef, one character is trying to open a restaurant, one character is a bulimic with food fetishes).
posted to Ask Metafilter by cadge at 2:57 PM on January 5, 2008

Go for the books that are in good condition but are also easy to replace (bestsellers and always-popular books, not out-of-print volumes or books with inscriptions). Make a list of them so that you don't forget them - you can always go back and repurchase them later when you live in a bigger space. Then donate these good quality books to somewhere like your local hospital's bookcart or a prison reading program, somewhere where you will feel good about them going to a good cause and improving... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by cadge at 3:47 PM on December 15, 2007

Ever since I bought new flannel sheets and an absurdly cozy comforter, I actually really look forward to going to bed! It makes going to sleep a positive thing rather than something I reluctantly do at the end of the day, which has improved my sleep habits a lot.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cadge at 3:44 PM on December 15, 2007

Somewhat contemporary - The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole and all its sequels were great funny reading when I was younger. They are set in England starting in the 1980's.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cadge at 5:44 PM on December 12, 2007

<dorkfilter>
Was this a Dungeons and Dragons adventure? I remember reading a module in Dungeon called "Granite Mountain Prison" that had this exact same premise. The author may have borrowed it from whatever story you read, though.
</dorkfilter>
posted to Ask Metafilter by cadge at 6:59 PM on December 11, 2007

Sorry to be all "that story reminds me of a similar story!" this evening - the story you mentioned about a village strapping themselves together to fight another village sounds like Clive Barker's "In the Hills, In the Cities" from one of his *Books of Blood* collections. Don't know if he wrote any stories like the prison one, though.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cadge at 8:42 PM on December 11, 2007

It is not just you, hells no. I could've written this post - I was nodding with every paragraph. I'm going through the late 20's disjointed feeling of having loads of friends following "the script" (marriage, suburbs, house, kids). Me not so much, and it feels alienating and lonely, especially when they drift off to do their thing and I can't offer a cute double-dating experience as a means of spending time together.

It really helps to get out into social... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by cadge at 7:51 PM on December 4, 2007

Nice! Thanks for these recommendations, everyone! Any resource along these lines is helpful - I'm not looking for "only Anarchists-with-capital-A". I cited anarchism in my post because that's the only thing I'm familiar with that uses this kind of facilitated group decision making. I'm looking for methodology behind decision making without relying on hierarchical systems, and I wasn't sure how to describe "group discussion" without making it sound like support groups or... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by cadge at 6:11 AM on November 27, 2007

MeTooFilter: This happens to me too! It feels like my bed is shaking under me, though I don't hear a thing and it isn't actually moving. I wish I had some advice to offer, but I don't. :( It sounds like it might be related to the hypnic jerk.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cadge at 5:53 PM on November 26, 2007

It's not quite the same setup, but you might enjoy the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen comics, which give storytime to lots of literary and cultural secondary characters (note: the comics, not the movie! The movie's poo). The Anno Dracula books do a similar literary/cultural mashup with lots of primary and secondary characters.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cadge at 7:14 PM on November 20, 2007

What's the context of your question? Are you going there yourself, are you trying to find entertainment for a young friend, are you trying to create a "come to London" travel video (and if so, for whom? Study Abroad students, teens traveling with their families, etc.)?
posted to Ask Metafilter by cadge at 8:51 AM on November 17, 2007

Follow-up to this question: I went on the bike tour that rsk recommended and it was fantastic. If you're in Tokyo, definitely check this out!
posted to Ask Metafilter by cadge at 10:14 PM on November 9, 2007

Do you have an idea of what your guests would enjoy at the reception? They might not go dancing in their regular lives, but they may be looking forward to dancing at your wedding.

I'm a bit biased because I do love dancing. I am pretty disappointed when I attend a wedding with no dancing. Here are some reasons:

- I dressed myself up especially for this occasion in a lovely dress and heels, and it'd suck if I had to hide them by sitting at a table... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by cadge at 1:41 AM on November 7, 2007

@ceri richard - was the book Organizing Plain and Simple? I swear by that book. If I remember right it also had good advice on a "tickler" file reminder method like this.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cadge at 11:02 AM on October 25, 2007

something going pear-shaped (i.e. going wrong)
buying a lemon (bad car)
Limeys (the British)
going up the apples and pears (Cockney slang for stairs)
"Oranges and lemons sing the bells of St. Clemens" (children's song)
posted to Ask Metafilter by cadge at 10:17 AM on October 23, 2007

Double Nthing the "please don't quote" advice. Quotes can be funny, but it's awkward to be the quote recipient - what do you say after a quote? In my experience, quotes can often bring conversation to a halt - they don't tend to prompt further questions. Also, there's the double-awkwardness if the recipient doesn't recognize the source.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cadge at 6:59 PM on October 17, 2007

I'm with you - I've had my license for years, but I don't drive much - I live in Boston and don't own a car, and I'm kind of freaked out by the speed and capacity for damage.

I just recently signed up for Zipcar and have been driving in the city. It's true what people say above - the more you do it, the more you grow accustomed to it, and the better your safety reactions get.

It helps me to remember that there are tons of people out there doing... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by cadge at 9:32 PM on October 12, 2007

Handwritten thank-you notes

Hospitality - cleaning your house for visitors and having snacks/drinks on-hand for them

Not being loudly judgmental about other people (especially because you don't always know their circumstances)

Listening to other people and not making "Oh you're wrong here's why" the first thing you say after they finish talking. Ditto not attaching too much importance to proving other people wrong in conversation.
posted to Ask Metafilter by cadge at 11:14 AM on October 6, 2007

I recommend this book - I picked it up while in school and it was a great help (especially since I wasn't much of a cook at all before that and I had barely any equipment).

The Healthy College Cookbook
posted to Ask Metafilter by cadge at 8:35 PM on October 2, 2007