I would choose a throng of demons and imps. All different colors, pointy things, tails who knows what.
posted to Ask Metafilter by that girl at 6:52 AM on October 10, 2008

So, you are an English(at least)-speaking person in Japan who can't speak, who plans to sponsor Sofie for a Japanese school, by being a host or helping pay her tuition?

Do they require sponsors to be Japanese speakers, or just expect them to be so, since they have to be in Japan?
posted to Ask Metafilter by that girl at 6:07 AM on October 7, 2008

I always preferred top-corner. I went to camp somewhere Very Sandy, so a bottom bunk meant Sandy Bed Time.

Top corner with window ledge==excellence. But, as you can see, this is a very personal thing. Top bunks also sometimes have rafters for hiding/hanging stuff from, depending on the locale.
posted to Ask Metafilter by that girl at 7:27 PM on October 6, 2008

I think it's great to want to be near your family. I'm currently having the internal conflict of wanting to go somewhere far and exciting (Lands Abroad!) but still wanting to be close to my family. I think my solution is to go for Far and Exciting, but limit it, timewise, with the plans to later return to not-so-far-from-family for when I settle down and such.

I definitely agree with the others about setting yourself a timeline that isn't too short, to give yourself a... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by that girl at 6:43 AM on October 5, 2008

Dr. Knupp may be hard to get appointments with--she was when I tried, but I am happy with Dr. Recalde, and he works in the same office.
posted to Ask Metafilter by that girl at 10:42 AM on October 3, 2008

This under-loved government employee probably wouldn't do it for free (or a box of donuts). Never mind that, since you're dealing with a large area of space (multiple counties), your local regional planning GIS person may not even have all of the data readily available (I'm a city employee and barely have information on the county). Our GIS department (of four) has policies and procedures for doing outside work.

You can probably get the data for free relatively easily... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by that girl at 3:07 PM on September 30, 2008

Watch out for pipes bursting in the winter? Burst pipes are not very fun, and if they paid a mint to keep it in the fifties, I'm guessing you're getting below freezing enough for this to be a concern.

I'd personally try to convince them to think again about not paying for heat. Work to seal off drafts and insulate the best you can. Plastic up the windows, get draft stoppers for the doors, check your furnace/boiler and the filters. Make sure things are working right, and... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by that girl at 5:55 AM on September 23, 2008

The oven is not quick heating.

You can stick your hands into a hot oven, right? You don't put things in the oven and come out with hands burnt to peeling, or even hurting. Think about the difference of putting your hand into boiling water and putting your hand into a 450 degree oven--where are you going to get the worse burn?
posted to Ask Metafilter by that girl at 12:09 PM on September 22, 2008

The guy who made puTTY, everyone's favorite windows telnet/SSH program*, made a bunch of tiny little puzzle games that take minimal processor and memory. My favorite is Map.

They probably fall into the realm of the solitaire-type, that you open when you're very bored and play mindlessly for a while, although they do require a little more brains than solitaire.

*not necessarily everyone's favorite
posted to Ask Metafilter by that girl at 11:08 AM on September 13, 2008

Okay, various responses and information.

I have a 21-speed hybrid step-through bike which certainly isn't the lightest thing in the world. My saddle is high enough that I just barely can get my foot on the ground when I'm stopped. I know about shifting, and even in the lowest of the low gears where I'm pedaling at about 90 rpm I can't make it. I am very extremely out of shape, and not steady enough at biking to not weave around like a drunkard at those speeds. I think my... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by that girl at 10:39 AM on September 8, 2008

So, do people think it would be worth it for me to just bite the bullet and actually start commuting via bike instead of bus (I own no car for convenient parking)? It seems like it would be the best way for me to get in the practice every day.

Even though I can't make it up the hill, I guess I can work at it, and I am always capable of pushing my bike.

The other issue is that the a good portion of the steep part of the way home is a relatively... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by that girl at 4:52 PM on September 8, 2008

My fitness level is pathetically low, turbodog. I know this for a glorious fact. I am gifted with a productive metabolism but I am really out of shape. I'm also not convinced that I need STUFF, just more ability to successfully get my body to Do Things. I think it's closer to the 3/4 mile, and it's probably closer to 2/3 mile at about 6% and the rest at closer to $STEEP.

I really believe the best solution is for me to GET MORE EXERCISE, but I'm trying to figure out what... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by that girl at 7:33 PM on September 10, 2008

I would argue that macbooks and macbookpro laptops are heavy. I have a MB, and I don't really like carrying it around, and wouldn't any more than I have to. College generally involves a lot of walking around, and it's not worth it to have a hurting back or shoulder.

5 or 7 pounds is a lot. Never mind the extra weight of the bag, power adapter, and any other materials you have to take with you. Do you really want to be carrying around that much weight around all of the time?
posted to Ask Metafilter by that girl at 8:26 PM on September 9, 2008

I wear glasses for distance but not for anything close (computer-y, reading, within that meter radius).

I mostly just wear the distance glasses when I need them for distance, just like you would wear the reading glasses only for reading-like-activities. Wear them for driving, or for watching a show, but just don't the rest of the time?
posted to Ask Metafilter by that girl at 8:41 AM on September 5, 2008

I would also suggest Small Gods. Pyramids and Moving Pictures are also equally kind of unrelated to other things.

I'm a fan of the books with Susan in (the Death series, generally), and also tend to think that the wizards are among the weakest of the bunch (but still good).
posted to Ask Metafilter by that girl at 7:46 AM on September 4, 2008

Volleyball? Both indoor and outdoor viable, but requires possibly harder-to-find equipment. Our school gym had the equipment available for indoors play.
posted to Ask Metafilter by that girl at 5:23 AM on September 2, 2008

High school is okay for being bored in academics.

Just make sure she gets involved in interesting things. Volleyball, band, debate, soccer, literary magazine, volunteering outside of school, that variety.

I did the IB programme in Florida, which does the "segregate the students almost entirely" option for magnet programs. The academics largely bored me stiff, even at the accelerated pace of IB, and the good classes were more the fault... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by that girl at 1:23 PM on August 27, 2008

I go for the minimalist versions of win-r on XP, win-(pause) on Vista, and command-space on a Mac. I don't need to append to text files or anything particularly special.
posted to Ask Metafilter by that girl at 11:23 AM on August 27, 2008

You'll find guys who are totally turned on by your brainsiness. Don't get into drinking and awkward hookup sex if you don't want to.

However, there are the cute awesome nerdy guys who either a) don't get indirect flirtiness or b) are used to being turned down by the cute awesome nerdy girls. These need help and encouragement. More touching (not necessarily of the heavy petting type, just the hand-on-knee or cuddling up type) will help, as will being more forward about... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by that girl at 8:09 AM on August 25, 2008

If you're willing to take a 1-hour each way train ride from Fukuoka (with possible transferring involved), you can go to Yoshinogari Historical Park, at the Yoshinogari Historical Park train station. It's more a reconstruction than actual excavation of ruins, but it shows the older Yayoi history of Japan, the beginnings of real settlements and civilization. It's in the middle of rural Kyushu, and the (relatively short) walk from the train station is through active rice fields.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by that girl at 10:45 AM on August 23, 2008

Put it off until you really need it, and make sure you make backups so that you don't lose everything from when your laptop hard drive eventually craps out.
posted to Ask Metafilter by that girl at 6:07 AM on August 17, 2008

I can imagine that the person wouldn't want to reveal the Real Fetish if the phobia/fetish were specific enough that the boyfriend could immediately go "Oh man, I'm irrationally afeard of pork chops! Does that mean my SO has a fetish for pork chops? omgomgomg"

How important is this to you? Is it a really deep fetish, or is it just a turn-on? If you can get worked up fine without it, it may be okay to leave it alone and fantasize about it on your own time. If... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by that girl at 6:04 AM on August 17, 2008

I think my public library offers books in epub format, though it may have some weird authentication procedure . . . Does your library offer ebooks?
posted to Ask Metafilter by that girl at 5:05 AM on August 15, 2008

Also thought modern dance.
posted to Ask Metafilter by that girl at 10:11 AM on August 12, 2008

Give it a couple weeks. There's definitely an adjustment period, and the last pair of glasses I got (a little over a month ago now) gave me that same weird feeling for about a week annahalf, and I don't even wear my glasses most of the time.
posted to Ask Metafilter by that girl at 6:58 AM on August 8, 2008

What about 無印良品, the lovely store full of things without any brand labeling?
posted to Ask Metafilter by that girl at 6:55 AM on August 8, 2008

I would suggest against Goren, as most people in competitive duplicate bridge have moved away from that. The Audrey Grant bridge series is the one generally taught in ACBL(American Contract Bridge League)-oriented courses. I would suggest poking around acbl.org, and seeing what they have to offer. I'm pretty sure I have a couple extra copies of "Bidding," the first Audrey Grant book, lying about. If you're interested, you could memail me and we could see about getting one to... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by that girl at 11:15 AM on August 5, 2008

I tend to go against the grain of credit card-ery, and think they're perfectly fine to have.

However, I treat my credit card like a convenient form of cash--if I don't have it, it doesn't get spent. If she treats her credit card the same way she treats her debit card, she shouldn't have any problems. Credit cards are not free money, and as long as she knows that, and if she treats it as something to pay off every month in full, it can help with her credit. If she gets a... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by that girl at 9:06 AM on August 5, 2008

I participated in a physics research project as a computer science undergraduate at Carnegie Mellon. Carnegie Mellon is definitely very research-oriented in the whole science and engineering section, and I believe that you can find research projects to work on as long as you look for them.

There are some very good teachers (Helmut Vogel is one of my favorite teachers ever), and some less wonderful ones, as well. My lab partner from transistor frying^W^Welectronics went... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by that girl at 2:46 PM on August 3, 2008

I'm not sure about your chances of transferring in to CMU, or about it's reputation in Physics. The physics website has this page for people interested in undergrad to visit the physics department. I would ask these people point blank about reputation and where students go to graduate school, they should be happy to boast about all of the places their students have gone, and you have nothing to lose by asking them.

REUs are probably a great idea for you, too, if you're... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by that girl at 5:45 AM on August 4, 2008

What about something like a poker tournament? Give all attendees some amount of chips to start with, have some prizes of varying worth (maybe restaurant gift certificates for nearby tasty places, a big prize of something else who knows), and go at it from there? I guess the issue with that is that it doesn't give much of a free come-and-go atmosphere, but you could generalize it to a "casino night" with a specific tournament for those who choose to enter, and more social other tables.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by that girl at 11:42 AM on July 30, 2008

You can actually cook rice, wrap it up in plastic wrap (individual portions) while it's still warm, dump it in the freezer, and heat it back up in the microwave later on. It doesn't dry out like it seems to tend to do in the refrigerator if you do it this way.
posted to Ask Metafilter by that girl at 2:37 PM on July 28, 2008 marked best answer

I got taught a game apparently called Briscas (I tend to remember game mechanics better than game names), a Puerto Rican card game (or at least one played by some people from Puerto Rico).
posted to Ask Metafilter by that girl at 11:53 AM on July 27, 2008

Pizzicato Polka by Johann Strauss. I always imagined it as Strauss's rebellion against the seeming hundreds of polkas he wrote.
posted to Ask Metafilter by that girl at 2:55 PM on July 24, 2008

Get an alarm clock without a snooze option. I've been falling back into the snooze habit now that I have the option, but when I didn't, it was easier to actually get up. When there's the chance of oversleeping because that alarm isn't there, I'm more likely to actually get up when the alarm goes off.

Otherwise, I'd suggest working on getting the same amount of sleep (approximately) every night. If you're trying to wake up by seven, get in bed by eleven. Every Night. I... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by that girl at 5:45 AM on July 18, 2008

For super-peppy j-pop boyband glory: Arashi's Happiness. Painfully upbeat and bouncy.

Other Japanese summer-cheerful-glory song: Zenryoku Shonen by Sukima Switch.
posted to Ask Metafilter by that girl at 8:12 PM on July 16, 2008

I would go to one of (or all of) the better department stores and ask for help from one of the women standing around to help you. Tell them what you're looking for, and the occasions you'll be wearing the dress, and they should be able to help you find something that you look awesome in. I think this is one of those occasions where you could just go to a high-end mall or shopping area, and try on everything that appeals to you in the slightest. Even better, find someone else (a friend, a clerk),... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by that girl at 5:48 PM on July 15, 2008

Also--don't be afraid to ask about tailoring (If you're spending that much on a dress, tailoring is worth it for a perfect fit).
posted to Ask Metafilter by that girl at 5:51 PM on July 15, 2008

You could do the 88 Temple Pilgrimage on Shikoku (or you could do the mini-one in Nagasaki), probably completely doable on a bicycle, as it's supposed to be a 60-day walking trip.
posted to Ask Metafilter by that girl at 5:30 AM on July 14, 2008

Augh. That's what I get for not previewing.
posted to Ask Metafilter by that girl at 5:31 AM on July 14, 2008

It has nothing to do with Vista (I get it in XP and firefox and everything else), I think it's a recent YouTube thing, that cleverly makes videos not work at random. Sometimes going to the YouTube page helps, and if I load up firefox with tabs from a previous session, it seems more likely to happen.
posted to Ask Metafilter by that girl at 8:12 AM on July 11, 2008

My reaction is dependent on the situation. For example, I regularly speak with a Japanese man who is working in the US temporarily (our conversations are generally a strange melange of English and Japanese). I definitely change the cadence of my English some for him, and I wouldn't be surprised if he speaks Japanese to me in a slightly different-than-normal way for him. He also is knowingly unaware of some US cultural things, so I'll clarify things for him (Christmas and New Year's custom... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by that girl at 6:07 AM on July 10, 2008

At least in the Tampa, Florida area, there is a subset of the genre called a "Cuban Sandwich," generally made with infinitely delicious Cuban bread (The contents are apparently arguable, but generally pork and mustard and perhaps salami or not). Miami has something similar, but different.
posted to Ask Metafilter by that girl at 10:33 AM on July 8, 2008

Let me encourage the Aubrey/Maturin series. It is a good mix of serious and ridiculous, and don't mind not knowing the terminology--neither does Stephen.
posted to Ask Metafilter by that girl at 9:19 AM on June 15, 2008

I am a morning person, but would probably still stare at you a little bit.

I would suggest Sing, which is very . . . appropriate feeling, to me.
posted to Ask Metafilter by that girl at 5:42 AM on June 13, 2008

For keeping things cold, instead of putting ice in the drinks, can you put the drinks (the barrels) in ice? I'm thinking of the metal tubs that you can just fill with ice, and then set the vitroleros in them to help keep them cold.
posted to Ask Metafilter by that girl at 8:30 AM on June 12, 2008

I think timsteil means that it seems to only buffer a certain amount of the video instead of just trying to preload the whole thing, so instead of the progress bar showing how much has actually been downloaded, it's now a mysterious thing that doesn't mean much of anything.

Instead of the video just stopping when it gets further than the download (as measured by the nice little light-red bar), it will stop at some place which seems arbitrary and brings up the little swirly dots.
posted to Ask Metafilter by that girl at 11:18 AM on June 6, 2008

4 people in a room is a squeeze, even with a suite. Your smoking relatives will most likely be able to get away with smoking on the balcony, but two people sharing a couch bed will be a pain. They are not that comfortable, and tend to sag in the middle, so for people who don't necessarily want to be cuddling, it'll be a challenge.

On the other hand, inside rooms in an old ship will be small and stuffy and not too exciting, and being in connecting rooms means you'll... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by that girl at 10:19 AM on June 4, 2008

Bactrim can have pretty wretched side-effects. You don't want to take it (or a generic equivalent) unless you actually have to.

Some people are lucky and don't react at all, but the one time I took it I mostly felt that someone had approximately kicked me in the head and spun me around in circles. Plus anxiety. I had to take a day off of work because it was so bad.
posted to Ask Metafilter by that girl at 5:23 AM on June 4, 2008

If you keep rebuying it, it's not worth throwing it out to begin with. If your primary habits are dormant and will stay so for a while, get rid of that stuff.

Keep only the essential books that you use all the time or that have information you can't get elsewhere. Fiction is rarely essential. I would try for a foot-cubed box of books only. As for the big books, I wouldn't ever box them, and just use them as space filler to fit in and around your other boxes as you put... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by that girl at 8:50 AM on June 3, 2008 marked best answer