I guess as a follow up it's worth adding I'd like to use full names and proper nouns and I'm just nervous about the security of it all.

If you want something completely secure and private you're better off just typing in a Word doc (password protect it) and if you want to use it wherever you go, put it on a flashdrive on your keychain.

But seriously, LiveJournal is an easy way to keep a private online journal and also share... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by donovan at 12:52 PM on July 22, 2008

I end up in Vegas a couple times a year on business and have to say that I've been consistently disappointed by the high-end brand-name chef restaurants so my advice is just skip'em altogether. On my last trip this Spring, though, three different set of people (including a friends who owns a restaurant in NYC) RAVED about the food at Social House at "TI" (formerly Treasure Island).

And I tell everyone that they must go to the Peppermill Fireside Lounge for a... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by donovan at 11:00 AM on July 22, 2008

Have used the hollowed out book method, which I think works if you have lots of books.

A true story of successfully hiding other types of "valuables" . . . a friend of a friend works as a pro domme and would often travel with a fairly expensive set of gear (which I'll leave to your imagination). After having had gear pilfered from her checked luggage, she resorted to this trick: before leaving, gear was placed in a bag marked "dirty" and latex toys... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by donovan at 1:30 PM on July 21, 2008

I know you're ostensibly looking for advice on grad schools, but you've probably noted from the responses that the thing people are keying in on is your current state of being . . . which I think should be noted.

Based on what you shared, I'll share the following and hope that it's helpful in some fashion: I think we'd probably get along, or at least recognize each other. It sounds like you're a Black Belt in helping others and in making everything OK (or as OK as... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by donovan at 10:21 PM on July 15, 2008 marked best answer

Have you also checked out what Ning offers as a hosted service?
posted to Ask Metafilter by donovan at 12:50 PM on July 2, 2008

The less you wear your suit the longer it will last. There are two ways that your suit gets wear.

(1) Wearing it: You may perspire and this (I'm told) takes a toll over time on the fabric, etc. It also makes it dirty which leasds to:

(2) Dry cleaning. The chemicals and the heat also take a toll. Especially if the dry cleaner is doing things at too high a temp, you'll get shrinkage of the lining (which is a synthetic fabric on off the rack... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by donovan at 1:48 PM on July 1, 2008

Twice in the last month I've visited my parents who have lived in San Diego for the past 30+ years and unprompted, on each visit, they've just gone off about how dangerous Tijuana and Baja have become in the past year or so. They say the local news has been filled with stories of tourists being robbed at gun point in areas where that just never happened (like Rosarito). There always used to be some crime adn you could expect to have to pay off a cop issuing you a ticket for no reason, but... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by donovan at 11:32 PM on June 27, 2008

I work with and am interviewed by various media types--print, online, video/tv--regularly and completely here your concerns . . . I'm often stuck by the sense that I'm bald and overweight and *damn* I hate the way I look. But that's my inner voice and nobody I know has ever seen a pix or video of me and had the same reaction. So point #1: realize you're your own worse critique. So breath deep and be kind to yourself.

You published a book! AWESOME!... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by donovan at 9:06 PM on June 26, 2008

grrrr I "hear" your concerns, in case you were wondering. ;-)
posted to Ask Metafilter by donovan at 9:08 PM on June 26, 2008

I'd say cool your heels and wait for the App store in a few weeks--the game demos I've seen are mindblowing and are gonna beat hands down what you can do in a browser or what's going to be available for jailbroken(?) phones.
posted to Ask Metafilter by donovan at 1:07 PM on June 19, 2008

I'd suggest the Elysian Fields--best microbrew in Seattle, centrally located in Pioneer Square, large space which they do reserve for groups.
posted to Ask Metafilter by donovan at 11:09 AM on June 17, 2008

Look into an around the world air ticket, and then start heading in one direction. Given where fuel prices are headed this would be one way to lock in fares. As noted, Europe is now crushingly expensive for Americans (even if you're not a budget traveler), so I'd suggest SE Asia and India. If you want to get knocked your moorings and plunge into a very different set of cultures/cities/peoples/food, that's a great way to do it. (And I'll note was what I did before I went to grad school--best... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by donovan at 4:43 PM on June 14, 2008

You might give Access Line a look which has the kind of virtual pbx action that deepscene mentions. If I recall correctly you can even access vmail on your computer so it's kinda like Apple/AT&T's visual voicemail.
posted to Ask Metafilter by donovan at 1:39 PM on June 3, 2008 marked best answer

I used to work at a company that had "R&R" week--basically a free week of vacation, either the week before Labor Day or the week between Christmas and New Years. You could take one or the other. This resulted in two guaranteed slow weeks a year for the whole company and I thought it awesome.
posted to Ask Metafilter by donovan at 7:12 PM on May 30, 2008

Atlantis? Yosemite?
posted to Ask Metafilter by donovan at 10:49 AM on May 27, 2008

All.star has a great idea--try and assess your audience and their needs ahead of time. Hopefully that's possible.

Regardless, I think you'd be well served if you can bucket the various features you want to show off into logical/memorable/useful categories. In my experience, if you structure the presentation around features people will get glazed-eyed and might tune out. So rather than say "pivot tables" maybe have a section on "Analyzing data" in... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by donovan at 10:47 AM on May 27, 2008

heavenstobetsy and squid patrol have it. If you use your AT&T sim in Europe they'll slam you with charges (oh, I know) . . . if you've unlocked the device and put in, for example, a pre-paid sim from an EU carrier AT&T will no nothing about it.
posted to Ask Metafilter by donovan at 10:39 AM on May 27, 2008

The Whitney Biennial is on. For food in mid-town, I'm a fan of Becco.
posted to Ask Metafilter by donovan at 6:24 PM on May 22, 2008

I've lived in the Central District, which is typically considered the sketchiest neighborhood by Seattle standards, for ten years. As others have pointed out, nothing's terribly sketch in Seattle.

Seconding the bahn mi at Saigon Deli. You're also near fantastic coffee at Stumptown on 12th, which is next door to my favorite place of late, Cafe Presse.
posted to Ask Metafilter by donovan at 11:40 AM on May 22, 2008

It's totally reasonable for you to have wanted to save $1000 on what will be your single biggest expense of the trip.

You also should feel completely comfortable setting a budget you're comfortable with and sticking to it. This probably won't be news to you, but with the dollar where it's at these days Europe is shockingly expensive so you should feel no guilt or shame in being budget conscious.

I've travel abroad with someone similar (petty,... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by donovan at 10:20 PM on May 11, 2008

I'm gonna guess this was the "Viva Las Xmas" talk. Some other talks can be found here.
posted to Ask Metafilter by donovan at 1:02 PM on May 8, 2008

Whoops, missed the more inside saying you'd probably looked at these. I cited Viva Las Xmas since it's one of the most frequently referenced talks he's made . . . any other hints? The notion that the "default world" is anti-community is a pretty standard part of Harvey's talks.
posted to Ask Metafilter by donovan at 1:06 PM on May 8, 2008

I second kindall's suggestion to get the hell out of the Eastside. It's my urban bias, to be sure, but despite a lot more trees the "urban" part of the Eastside (Bellevue, Redmond) is about as exciting as a strip mall in Orange County, CA. (Downtown Kirkland and the waterfront there is kinda cute.)

If you don't have a car, then King County Transit is your friend.

In Seattle the touristy stuff is absolutely worth doing--as noted the... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by donovan at 6:04 PM on May 2, 2008

I also do not use my tongue, and find the idea a bit off-turning

Well I think that hotness is a two-way street and you might want to rethink your above statement as one possible way to increase said hotness which might improve the odds of things being "excellent." Just a thought.
posted to Ask Metafilter by donovan at 4:32 PM on May 2, 2008

If you give anal, just make sure she's experienced.

And you read up on it, go slow, and use lots--LOTS--of lube.
posted to Ask Metafilter by donovan at 5:24 PM on May 2, 2008

Well someone has gotta mention it: Burning Man, the mother of all arts happenings and also a "festival" that's been the subject of academic research and is chock full of art installations, performances, and technology.
posted to Ask Metafilter by donovan at 6:18 PM on April 30, 2008

Make sure you have a huge metal fan at the party.
posted to Ask Metafilter by donovan at 9:41 AM on April 15, 2008

I made this recipe and substituted spelt and it was good.

See also this spelt-specific riff on mac & cheese.
posted to Ask Metafilter by donovan at 11:40 AM on March 27, 2008

The Tilt is the refresh for the 8525.
posted to Ask Metafilter by donovan at 2:53 PM on March 26, 2008

Whoops, sorry you said 8125.
posted to Ask Metafilter by donovan at 2:54 PM on March 26, 2008

Kuhlman
Le Frock
posted to Ask Metafilter by donovan at 10:22 AM on March 23, 2008

Vid of the crow in question.

Holy crap!
posted to Ask Metafilter by donovan at 5:43 PM on March 22, 2008

I avoid building charts and graphs in PPT at all costs. My preferred method is to build them in Excel and then Paste --> Paste Special --> As Picture.

This gives you a static image for the chart with formatting that can't be messed with, though of course you can resize it.

As a bonus, you're not storing all the data used to the generate a PPT chart so it keeps the overall size of your PPT file down, which can make a difference if you... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by donovan at 2:19 PM on March 11, 2008

Cace Pollard, protagonist of William Gibson's excellent novel Pattern Recognition, spend much of the book jetlagged, which is gorgeously described.
posted to Ask Metafilter by donovan at 12:03 PM on March 4, 2008

Years ago I did five months in SE Asia with a backpack and the advice to not overpack is sound. Since that trip I've discovered Ex Officio underwear which are now an essential part of my travel kit. They may seem pricey but you could get away with just two pairs (three might be better)--they breath, resist odor, wash easily in a sink, and dry very quickly.
posted to Ask Metafilter by donovan at 2:44 PM on February 27, 2008

5%
posted to Ask Metafilter by donovan at 12:01 PM on February 26, 2008

Craig Venter is invariably described as a "ex-surfer."
posted to Ask Metafilter by donovan at 1:31 PM on February 25, 2008

My wife and I went through a bunch of horrible whole wheat pasta before agreeing that the Whole Foods house brand is very tasty. Even the penne and rigatoni.
posted to Ask Metafilter by donovan at 11:06 AM on February 21, 2008 marked best answer

When you're in the midst of a great 1:1 conversation with her, pause, look deeply into her eyes as you move a tad closer and say "I really want to kiss you" . . . your forthrightness will be appreciated and if she's at all inclined will seem hot, if she's uncomfortable then you haven't invade her space but have opened up the nature of your relationship as a conversation point.
posted to Ask Metafilter by donovan at 8:55 AM on January 23, 2008

RE: The Clipper . . . possibly the scariest and ugliest eight hours of my life was spent on the Victoria Clipper enroute to Seattle in March or April in the middle of a storm. Horrific. As in water coming in through the seams in the windows and >50% of passengers and guests throwing up. I would recommend the Clipper in the summer months but stay the hell away rom it in the story months. YMMV.

On a happier note, I'd enthusiastically recommend The Inn at Langley.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by donovan at 8:49 AM on January 23, 2008

It seems to me that the answer may be project specific.

Since you are a writer, writing an article about a topic (like your ReadyMade example) can establish you as an expert/authority and that could lead to further pick up and quotage.

But having written the definitive book on alternative weddings, I'd think that the best case would be for someone else to write, for example, an NYT article about quirky weddings and quote you--you've already... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by donovan at 5:17 PM on January 22, 2008 marked best answer

Years ago I filled a tube sock with rice, tied the top closed with a string, and voila! Never have had a problem with smells or mold and this "Rice Rat" when heated in the microwave is good for both muscle issues and fantastic for clearing your sinuses when fighting a cold.
posted to Ask Metafilter by donovan at 11:11 AM on January 22, 2008

Mexico City is fantastic. If you're looking for a beach, you could fly into Cancun and then take the ferry to Isla Mujeres.
posted to Ask Metafilter by donovan at 2:48 PM on January 17, 2008

I know two superb LMPs in Seattle (one in Ballard, the other in West Seattle) that do extraordinary therapeutic massage. My email is in my profile if you'd like the deets.
posted to Ask Metafilter by donovan at 7:28 PM on January 15, 2008

I was totally in "Zoom mode" which until this moment I didn't know existed. Thank you!
posted to Ask Metafilter by donovan at 1:04 PM on January 14, 2008

So maybe you really can't over think a plate of beans?
posted to Ask Metafilter by donovan at 5:27 PM on January 11, 2008

Sounds like you need to get sick a couple days before going on vacation . . .
posted to Ask Metafilter by donovan at 3:44 PM on January 7, 2008

You might check out the Swing NW events calendar and/or contact one of the swing troupes in the area, like this one, since I bet they have a bead on bands.
posted to Ask Metafilter by donovan at 3:42 PM on January 7, 2008

Steven Gilliard, B. 1964 D. 2007
Invisible Blogger
posted to Ask Metafilter by donovan at 11:40 PM on January 3, 2008

I'm a frequent flyer on United and I think vacapinta and ubiquity may be on to something. Typically they'll dole out upgrades to frequent flyers based on fare class and status level, which has the added property of opening more economy seats. They want to make sure the pampering is aimed at repeat customers. I'm surprised you got snubbed at the First Class check in line 'cause that's supposed to be for First Class (any fare) or 1K (and sometimes Premium Exec). The weirdness is that your... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by donovan at 2:44 PM on January 3, 2008 marked best answer