We had a thing like that witch's hat, but instead of a inverted cone to hang onto, it only had metal handles on loose chains attached to the rotating piece at the top. I was a really small kid and got thrown off that thing so many times. I was short, so the first one to get lifted so high that my feet couldn't touch the ground, I had about zero upper body strength. It was also pretty easy to get beaned by the unused handles flying through the air. Kept trying, though. My dad taught at the... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by lilywing13 at 8:23 PM on July 21, 2008

nathan_teske, that's exactly the thing I was talking about! We even called it the maypole, now that I'm remembering. It lived in the 1st and 2nd grade playground of a little private Catholic school. Definitely a character-building torture device.
posted to MetaFilter by lilywing13 at 9:11 PM on July 21, 2008

I spent a couple hours catching up on this thread tonight.
Just adding to the LongBoing at this point.
posted to MetaFilter by lilywing13 at 8:12 PM on July 21, 2008

I'm chiming in late here. I live in Fayetteville, and the first I'd even heard of all this was when I saw the national edition of the New York Times at work this morning. Frankly, I'm appalled. The public schools here have a supposedly very strict anti-bullying policy. There are signs up all over my kids' school proclaiming it (almost as many as signs for the no peanuts rule, but I digress). I've got the handbook right here that every parent and student is required to sign in agreement... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by lilywing13 at 4:32 PM on March 24, 2008

As Atreides says, this is generally a very nice and open-minded town. We have a wonderful, diverse international community, thanks to the university. The whole town is about as green as it can be. I find it somewhat embarrassing that I hadn't heard one word about this until it was in the national news. It's not something that is typical of the place.

Screw going to Waffle House, though, at least until after we all go for beers. There is a great brewpub down on... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by lilywing13 at 4:46 PM on March 24, 2008

Loq, I've eaten SPAM both raw and cooked and I hear ya, brother. Cooked is much better and I hear it's very popular in Hawaii. I've also done the Greyhound rides and was once protected by a biker guy who set down a clanking bag of probable weaponry by my side to keep me safe in Montgomery, Alabama at 2am when I was 20 years old. He also offered to get me stoned at the Memphis stop before that, but that's another story.

People make fun of other people sometimes.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by lilywing13 at 12:20 AM on March 11, 2008

I have never liked the color pink very much. I can't really say why.

I dressed my daughter in my son's outgrown clothes when she was born. I had known from ultrasound that I would be having a boy the first time; that's how we ended up with anything but white, yellow, and green for him. Still, most infant clothing is very neutral.

As soon as she could have any opinion of her own, she chose that awful pepto-pink as her favorite color EVAR.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by lilywing13 at 11:43 PM on February 12, 2008

First, I'd like to say that I've been taking the writer's strike seriously and find their requests reasonable. If you write something that gets put on the internet and not on TV, well, you should still be paid for it. Especially if everyone else is making money off of it time and time again from advertisers. Please excuse me if I'm oversimplifying things, but that's my basic understanding as a layperson. There isn't a lot I watch on TV regularly, but I am missing my favorite shows. Thank... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by lilywing13 at 10:46 PM on January 14, 2008

Oh good grief.

I saw this on the local news the other night here, too, and hoped it would slip under the radar. It's bad enough that Arkansans have to deal with the fallout from Mike Huckabee's and Hillary Clinton's (although she's chosen to be New York state's responsibility now) bids for president.

Please don't hold any of them against the white southern contingent and spare us of the usual "dumb Arkies" comments. OK?
posted to MetaFilter by lilywing13 at 11:02 PM on November 26, 2007

Also, even the locals in his town say he's a nutball.
I just don't want his nutballness to reflect on the rest of us in the region.
posted to MetaFilter by lilywing13 at 11:04 PM on November 26, 2007

Ah, Henry. I'm glad to know who you are from MonkeyFilter.
posted to MetaFilter by lilywing13 at 11:44 PM on November 26, 2007

No worries, amyms.
That mayor guy mostly likely just has a case of the crazies.
I was only throwing in the local disclaimer statement.
posted to MetaFilter by lilywing13 at 12:00 AM on November 27, 2007

Chiming in late, here.

I view all advertising with total cynicism and a degree of awe in the design. I'm not particularly shocked by much, especially anything that doesn't need a NSFW label. For what it's worth, I'm a 40-ish woman, if that's important in this discussion.

I think we can complain all we want when we feel offended, but I have doubts on how much that would change anything. Advertisements are very carefully and cleverly designed... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by lilywing13 at 9:31 PM on October 20, 2007

last comment? (wink)
posted to MetaFilter by lilywing13 at 11:15 PM on October 19, 2007

Yeah, part of my job is that I must be subscribed to a listserv. I'd rather skip it, but it is required. So, every semester (and I've been guilty of this, too), someone hits the reply button without realizing it's going to everyone or whoever is replying just forgets.

The general response is a stern warning from the list admin (that we also all receive) or a fair amount of jokes (too much jocularity can also land you in the admin's office, come to find out... whoops).... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by lilywing13 at 12:17 AM on October 4, 2007

My parents took me to see Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show when I was 3, because they couldn't get a sitter and figured they could get me in for free. (They did, I have NO idea how.) I spent most of the concert sitting on my dad's shoulders. I remember bits.

They also took me to see the late Harry Chapin when I was 9. I actually remember that one. Afterwards, he was coming out of a restroom and pretty much trampled me on his way back to the autograph table (signing... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by lilywing13 at 10:22 PM on October 1, 2007

You people all effing rawk.

My biggest shameful, most absolute fun concerts where Def Leppard, just pre- and post- the drummer losing his arm.

My loudest was Metallica in about '93-94. (That was a year of much liquor and pot, and my two best friends got into the Snake Pit, so we sat where we could see them... right in front of some huge speakers. Much to our aural damage.) I couldn't hear correctly for days after. It was well before any copyright nonsense.
posted to MetaFilter by lilywing13 at 12:02 AM on October 2, 2007

languagehat, thank you for including that link. I knew I had forgotten something.
posted to MetaFilter by lilywing13 at 1:11 PM on June 18, 2007

I recently checked out "Wild Ducks Flying Backward: The Short Writings of Tom Robbins" from the public library. It has what appear to be crinklings on the bottom edges of the pages (I'm guessing a bong spill incident, as would be likely most appropriate), and the bookmark left in it was a very pink, intact packet of Sweet n Low.

Considering that the first short work was "Canyon of the Vaginas," I intend to leave it as I found it.
posted to MetaFilter by lilywing13 at 12:22 AM on May 10, 2007

Amen to all the Harry Chapin, Joni Mitchell, Cat Stevens, and Simon and Garfunkel songs mentioned here. (I guess I'm showing my age, but those are the songs I grew up with.)

Also, Peter Gabriel, along with "Don't Give Up" wrote some other doozies, including, for me anyway, "Red Rain."
posted to MetaFilter by lilywing13 at 12:06 AM on May 10, 2007

nickyskye, Michael Hedges was a musical sculptor to be sure. I was lucky enough to see the man live 4 (maybe 5) years in a row in a small venue. His performances were gorgeous and I still miss him. His all-to-brief collection of music is worth having.
posted to MetaFilter by lilywing13 at 8:24 PM on December 21, 2006