I think Wikipedia has a list of fictional drinks. Ah, here it is.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Powerful Religious Baby at 3:59 PM on May 4, 2008

I can second The Blue Castle, A Room with a View, Possession, and would further recommend a few old-school classics like Gene Stratton Porter's Freckles and A Girl of the Limberlost. Dodie Smith's I Capture the Castle might also fit your needs. Do you read graphic novels? Craig Thompson's Blankets is almost insanely romantic, though a bit bittersweet.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Powerful Religious Baby at 12:35 PM on April 21, 2008

Benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome.

I don't agree that it's just a psychological dependence. I was prescribed a high dose of clonazepam when I was in my teens, and I had no idea that it was considered to be a habituating drug. (In other words, you won't necessarily need more and more of it, but you will become habituated to its effects, and you may experience some level of withdrawal when you stop taking it.) I tapered quickly off the medication several times within the... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Powerful Religious Baby at 1:37 PM on March 21, 2008

Physical dependence is needing something to function. We're all physically dependent on air, water, food-- and some need antidepressants, blood pressure meds, many other things to function best. This doesn't mean those things are addictive. If you want to equate physical dependence with addiction then diabetics are insulin addicts, people with high blood pressure are blood pressure medication addicts, people with organ transplants are anti-rejection medication addicts, people with HIV... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Powerful Religious Baby at 8:11 PM on March 21, 2008

I was a fifteen-year-old girl as well, and I never ever noticed a single instance of the supposedly superabundant adolescent male erection. Then again, I also labored under the delusion that erections stuck straight out--it made sense at the time--so I always wondered why no one around me ever had one.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Powerful Religious Baby at 1:32 PM on March 8, 2008

As far as I know, schroedinger and needs more cowbell are mistaken about the uterine lining building up over long periods of time. From The Well-Timed Period, which was linked above:

"a) Fluctuations in hormone levels cause the changes in the uterine lining. If your hormone levels don't fluctuate, the uterine lining will not thicken, and it will not shed (there's no need to shed it since it's not thick). No shedding means no menstrual period.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Powerful Religious Baby at 4:07 PM on February 27, 2008

The first one sounds like Among Friends, by Caroline Cooney. I had a copy of it back in the day; the cover was lavender and pictured several girls grouped together, with the ringleader, Jennie Quint, at front and center.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Powerful Religious Baby at 11:53 AM on February 17, 2008

thefreedictionary has a separate idiom search. Their regular dictionary also lists words and phrases containing the searched-for word, and if you scroll down to the bottom and look at the full browser, which shows your term in its alphabetic context, you'll often find a few more.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Powerful Religious Baby at 1:11 PM on February 5, 2008

Was it perhaps The Young Unicorns? It doesn't have much in common with your description except the death ray part, but I thought I'd throw it out there.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Powerful Religious Baby at 12:48 PM on November 26, 2007

My understanding is this: liquids don't cook off in a crockpot because the lid stays on the whole time, so any liquid you put in to start with stays, and any liquid that leaches out of the food accumulates. Unless you're cooking on HIGH for long periods of time with no liquid in the pot, your food should neither dry out nor scald regardless of the size of the batch. Small batches will, however, probably cook faster than you expect. When using a crockpot, you're advised to place the ingredients... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Powerful Religious Baby at 8:15 PM on November 10, 2007

That's strange--I remember reading once upon a time that the color yellow can induce feelings of irritability, but in the course of googling for more information I stumbled on this hilarity: "apparently there is too much black and blue in the western world and that is why so many people are depressed."
posted to Ask Metafilter by Powerful Religious Baby at 8:03 PM on October 11, 2007

What kind of host might have such an exoskeleton, I wonder? I don't think it's a horsehair worm--the movement looks all wrong. The movement of this worm was more like a caterpillar's: s t r e t c h, FAT, s t r e t c h, FAT.

(In the course of my searching, I found an amazing site called the Bay Area Bug Eating Society. Recommended to any and all. Sample comment: "I like bamboo grubs a lot, and since I am a Cancer and I'm dating an Aquarius, I really get into... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Powerful Religious Baby at 5:06 PM on September 21, 2007

Ooo! I think I cracked the case. I googled "tiny black caterpillar dragging a shell," and What's That Bug matches my description:

You have Case-Bearing Moth larvae. The small larvae carry a noticeable case made of fine sand and debris. The case, which is about a quarter to half an inch long, is flattened on top and bottom, expanded at its center and tapered at both ends. They are often found on walls (both outside and inside) of houses and other... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Powerful Religious Baby at 5:19 PM on September 21, 2007

Was it the Bach/Gounod version? If so, Gounod wrote a few operas. Operating on the assumption that it was the Gounod, you might also enjoy Menotti's The Medium, which includes a couple of gorgeous, floatingly lyric arias. Sweeney Todd, though labeled a musical more often than not, also fits into this profile. Or--ooo!--how about some Benjamin Britten? Turn of the Screw, maybe? Aaron Copland's The Tender... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Powerful Religious Baby at 6:37 PM on August 9, 2007

nebulawindphone has it. Slippery elm lozenges are what you want. They taste totally nasty, but they work. Avoid dairy, which will make you froggy, and avoid lemon juice, which has a drying effect. Absolutely avoid menthol. Listen to triv's and xueexueg's advice, also, which is smart and sound. Good luck!
posted to Ask Metafilter by Powerful Religious Baby at 11:55 AM on May 6, 2007

This might not be allowed, but could two people read it? One student could, for example, read the main body of the poem, and the other could interrupt to recite the parentheticals. This would be a good way to illustrate how independent voices can operate in the same poem, even in the absence of traditional narrators or speakers. Good luck!
posted to Ask Metafilter by Powerful Religious Baby at 1:10 PM on April 26, 2007

Maybe you should try thinking about music in terms other than "good" and "bad"-- a kind of categorizing which refuses to acknowledge that music-makers have different intents, tastes, talents, influences, and audiences. Strike the word "bad" from your assessments and instead replace it with "ridiculous," "unaware," "incoherent," "masturbatory," etc. It is difficult to appreciate bad music, but it is so, so easy to appreciate... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Powerful Religious Baby at 8:48 PM on March 18, 2007 marked best answer

A point of clarification: I am not advocating that crinklebat laugh at her boyfriend or his taste in music, which is why I included the remark about ironic enjoyment often being odious. I am advocating that she learn to take a genuine, though slant, pleasure in his music for what it is, and for what he and other people see in it.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Powerful Religious Baby at 2:07 PM on March 19, 2007

Scanning and emailing articles doesn't seem to have the proper spirit of liveliness for a contest, I think. When I hold contests at my poetry-themed bloeg, I give people a few lines and ask them to interpret the lines in a comic or drawing. It is massively fun; I really recommend it--though things might be a little trickier for a poet like Reed, who people like to think of somberly when they think of him at all. Fascinating enterprise you have going there, by the way. I'll... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Powerful Religious Baby at 12:08 PM on February 4, 2007 marked best answer

Aw, cool. Tell you what: I'll do a Reed cartoon sometime, and link to whatever kind of contest you choose to do. I like perpetualstroll's idea a lot, actually--academic articles are some of my favorite sources for found poems.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Powerful Religious Baby at 7:33 PM on February 4, 2007

My instincts scream no; I have the feeling that extremes of temperature in either direction could damage the nacre. This guy seems to agree, though he does say that in his research, nacre showed more resilience in the face of temperature changes than one would expect. One way to settle the question: you could always throw a few damaged, cheap, or unusable pearls in the freezer for a while and see what happens. In fact, I have a couple unusable ones around--you want I should throw them in the... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Powerful Religious Baby at 3:16 PM on January 18, 2007 marked best answer

No problem. Will report back!
posted to Ask Metafilter by Powerful Religious Baby at 3:39 PM on January 18, 2007

Okay, so I put an assortment of pearls (both dyed and undyed, since that could theoretically affect their reactions) in a plastic bag and threw it into the freezer. I don't have a camera, else I would have taken a picture of the pearls before they were frozen for comparison, but I'll just compare them to their unfrozen brethren when I take them out.

That is terrible about the robberies. I second exlotuseater's idea about false-bottom safes, and also... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Powerful Religious Baby at 9:49 AM on January 19, 2007

My Instincts: 0
Reality: 1

Okay, so I went ahead and left the pearls in the freezer for nearly a full two weeks--whenever I checked on them they seemed to be totally fine, but I kept uneasily waiting for a shoe of doom to drop, so the experiment ended up taking longer than I expected. Anyway, after two weeks, I see no change whatsoever in the pearls: no change in color, texture, shape, or size. I even tapped one with a little hammer to see if it had gone... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Powerful Religious Baby at 10:35 AM on February 2, 2007

*turns on title-generating machine inside her mind, begins to take faithful dictation of spewed-forth nonsense*

Multicolored Man Confetti--or you could just take it that single step further and call it Manfetti

The Invention of Left and Right Shoes

If Wishes Were Horses, Prepubescent Girls Would Subconsciously Want to Have Sex with Them

Giddy Babies Pull Purple... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Powerful Religious Baby at 6:24 PM on December 8, 2006

Thanks, LobsterMitten! The article was probably a review of that book, or possibly an excerpt. The idea that silent reading became possible only when spacing was introduced really struck me at the time.

popcassady, the wikipedia link says that "Claudius also tried to revive the old custom of putting dots between different words." I wonder where that custom originated?
posted to Ask Metafilter by Powerful Religious Baby at 10:04 AM on November 18, 2006

Sorry, jamjam, I didn't see your answer--anyway, I'm hoping Saenger's book will tell me whether or not that idea is plausible, as it occurred to me as well.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Powerful Religious Baby at 8:21 PM on November 20, 2006

mr_roboto is correct. It should be noted, however, that the baking soda and boiling water method shouldn't be used if the jewelry in question incorporates pearls, turquoise, opals, or other soft stones. It can dissolve, crack, or otherwise ruin them. It can also leach out color from dyed stones. On plain sterling, though, it works great.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Powerful Religious Baby at 5:38 PM on October 28, 2006

Based on your shortlisted favorites, I can highly recommend Gould's Book of Fish: A Novel in Twelve Fish, by Richard Flanagan. It's one of the wittiest and most involving books I've read in years.

booth: I recommend Autobiography of Red to anyone who will listen. It's fantastic.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Powerful Religious Baby at 10:23 AM on October 27, 2006 marked best answer

Risotto and paella are both endlessly adaptable, and should certainly be soft enough for him to chew. Also delicious.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Powerful Religious Baby at 3:29 PM on October 26, 2006

Cruddy, by Lynda Barry would be an excellent choice.What else--if short stories aren't out of the question, maybe someone like Amy Hempel or Lydia Davis would serve your purposes. A.M. Homes might also be a good bet--The End of Alice. The Secret History, by Donna Tartt, though I am one of the few people on the face of the earth who hated that book so much that the pure force of my hatred made my hair grow a little faster for a few days after I was done with it.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Powerful Religious Baby at 9:52 PM on October 25, 2006

I forgot to add--Francine Prose's The Blue Angel would be great for this too.

GaelFC: maybe I should try it again. At the time, I remember being weirdly put off by the ponderous tone, not to mention the fact that the author inexplicably used the phrase "to my utter, utter surprise" not once but TWICE in the space of ten pages. Still, I'll reiterate that it's perfectly suited for this contest.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Powerful Religious Baby at 10:06 PM on October 25, 2006

Great site, rhapsodie, thank you. I had forgotten all about the disease descriptions. And 1988 sounds right--I would have been six or seven.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Powerful Religious Baby at 9:42 PM on October 19, 2006

Thanks, everybody! lodev--that is most definitely one. Those test-tubes were unmistakable. I don't think I ever had the orange one, though; my favorite was a blue one with huge pink lips.

ducksauce, I am terribly jealous of you.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Powerful Religious Baby at 1:47 PM on October 20, 2006

Have you tried A.S. Byatt? Not just Possession, although that novel is great--I'm rereading the Potter family quartet and am once again struck by her precise cataloguing of interior and exterior landscapes.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Powerful Religious Baby at 7:26 PM on October 16, 2006

I second How Does a Poem Mean.

Poetry in Theory might also be useful; it's an anthology of theory and criticism, which might be a good place to begin. It only covers the 20th century, but it would give you a running start.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Powerful Religious Baby at 1:05 PM on October 13, 2006

Speaking of "The Emperor of Ice Cream"--if you're interested in poetry, interpretation, and theory, I'm currently throwing a birthday party for Wallace Stevens that addresses those things in a lighthearted and mildly nsfw way. The link's in my profile if you want to check it out.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Powerful Religious Baby at 1:29 PM on October 13, 2006

Mary Oliver's Rules of the Dance might be a good place to start. I'm not a huge fan of Oliver's poetry, but she writes a mean handbook.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Powerful Religious Baby at 1:05 PM on September 15, 2006 marked best answer

Any mollusk that produces nacre is capable of creating pearls to deal with irritants, so it's quite likely that you'll encounter pearls from time to time in oysters you eat. Edible oysters do generate pearls, but these pearls have no value; valuable (meaning large) pearls come from Pearl Oysters, which belong to the family Pteriidae. Edible oysters belong to the family Ostreidae.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Powerful Religious Baby at 9:21 PM on September 14, 2006

paulsc, he would have been referring to pearl oysters, not to edible ones. The families Pteriidae and Ostreidae aren't even all that closely related, if I recall.

longsleeves, I assumed that the poster's friends were eating oysters on the shell, in which case they would be raw--either way, a pearl's value has nothing to do with whether or not it has been cooked, and everything to do with size, shape, and luster.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Powerful Religious Baby at 9:26 PM on September 14, 2006 marked best answer

paulsc: right, but in response to a question about BC oysters, the distinction between Pearl and Edible oysters is an important one to make. When I wrote earlier that your quote was not referring to edible oysters, I wasn't making a value judgment or casting aspersions on the edibility of Pearl Oysters--I simply meant that it wasn't referring to the same kind of oyster that the poster specified he has been eating.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Powerful Religious Baby at 10:05 AM on September 15, 2006

That'll teach me to compose answers very late at night without double-checking my sources. Let's try this again:

What I originally meant to say was that any mollusk that secretes a shell is capable of producing pearls. However, the pearls you will find in restaurant oysters diverge in chemical composition from nacreous pearls. The shells of edible oysters are made of calcite and do not secrete nacre, so the "pearls" they produce are... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Powerful Religious Baby at 12:35 PM on September 15, 2006

Right--I remembered that perching ducks roost in trees, and they also have webbed feet, so I wondered if it would be possible for a swan.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Powerful Religious Baby at 6:05 PM on September 10, 2006

Red-footed boobies also grip branches with webbed feet, though this seems to be atypical...
posted to Ask Metafilter by Powerful Religious Baby at 6:18 PM on September 10, 2006

Ho, I wish, LarryC.

I have the saddest feeling that HuronBob is probably correct, though.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Powerful Religious Baby at 6:33 PM on September 10, 2006

Hee, yeti. Thanks, guys--I figured out a swan alternative.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Powerful Religious Baby at 8:07 PM on September 10, 2006

Whoa, porpoise, did you see the hairy pony on that page? I want that pony to be my mom.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Powerful Religious Baby at 8:10 PM on September 10, 2006

Aww, moonshine, I was just reading that page the other day, as part of an ongoing quest to learn everything I can about Hard Rain: Animal Edition!

Poor cat??? She loves nothing so much as a good disguise; and loves to make my Richard Nixon mask walk the floor like...like a big wicked face with a cat inside it.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Powerful Religious Baby at 8:25 PM on September 10, 2006

rmless, this is what I'm talking about. I knew there was a way.

Croops*, porpoise, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be so chatty. Is a question like this not appropriate to post?

*crap+whoops
posted to Ask Metafilter by Powerful Religious Baby at 8:51 PM on September 10, 2006

Maybe a product containing retinol would be helpful to him--moderate amounts of retinol are proven to be effective in smoothing the texture of the skin. I like this stuff. It's available in stronger concentrations of retinol--I use the 2x version, I've linked to the 1x--but the neck is a fairly sensitive area, so he might want to start off with something less powerful. Good luck!
posted to Ask Metafilter by Powerful Religious Baby at 6:58 PM on September 10, 2006 marked best answer