I also have a male maine coone who can be needy and annoying. Here are my tricks:

Cat in a bag: When he's being a pain I put him in a fabric sack (pillowcase, duvet cover, or down the leg of my yoga pants) and loosely tie the end shut. Leave it on the floor so he doesn't bumble off the bed or anything. My guy actually likes it- he sits in it purring for 20 minutes or so, then starts worming around til he gets the loose knots out and frees himself. Then he stares at... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by pseudostrabismus at 1:42 PM on October 5, 2008

Wait, is the cat actually hungry, or just needy? Is he eating all the dry food every day? From your Q, it sounds more like he's bored than actually hungry. Hungry for attention, maybe.

Oh, one more strategy:

Grow some grass for him (basically just sprouted oats or barley, sold as "catgrass"). Keep it on a high shelf. Put it on the floor as you begin to cook, so he has his own little fun thing to play with and snuffle in. Put it up... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by pseudostrabismus at 1:46 PM on October 5, 2008

Harper is Malvolio, for sure- I thought so too, winston.
Layton has hints of Puck, or maybe Mercutio?
posted to Ask Metafilter by pseudostrabismus at 10:20 AM on October 5, 2008

I read a recent article suggesting that MS & MS like symptoms can be exacerbated by lack of Vitamin D. I see you addressed that nutritionally, but the article was specific about getting Vitamin D from sunshine. Is it possible that when you travel you're getting more sun, and that's why you feel better?
posted to Ask Metafilter by pseudostrabismus at 11:58 AM on October 2, 2008

Apply some sort of cosmetic "rust" to the exterior- maybe latex-based "scab" makeup, but coloured more brown/orange to look like rust?

Put trash in it to make it look like the owner has a "cheap" or unhealthy lifestyle: cigarette butts overflowing the ashtray, fast-food wrappers, coffee cups, etc.

Put a gross-looking baby seat from Goodwill in the back, and beside it put stuff babies shouldn't have access to- adult... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by pseudostrabismus at 11:43 AM on October 2, 2008 marked best answer

Enlist her girlfriend to probe her for opinions (perhaps as though the girlfriend was seeking advice to buy for herself). Have friend turn up with catalogues or internet, or take your girlfriend to a jewelry store, and in half an hour or so you'll definitively know what your lady likes.
posted to Ask Metafilter by pseudostrabismus at 9:11 AM on September 30, 2008

Try rubbing a thin dusting of cornstarch or baby powder into the sticky paint- it may "eat up" the stickiness. Even if it fails, neither substance will wreck your clothes.
posted to Ask Metafilter by pseudostrabismus at 8:54 AM on September 30, 2008

I know two women who got pregnant by boyfriends (not the same guy!) who both thought they were infertile because of injury/illness. I'd keep the condoms just in case.
posted to Ask Metafilter by pseudostrabismus at 8:49 AM on September 30, 2008

Do something nice for her instead. Take her out for a coffee or lunch (if you can swing that without being too suspicious) and have a nice chat about non-work stuff, so at least she leaves feeling like someone at work liked her. Later if she asks you if you knew, say you heard a rumor but didn't know for sure, and it just made you realize you wanted to show her some appreciation either way.
posted to Ask Metafilter by pseudostrabismus at 8:44 AM on September 30, 2008

Rokusan's reference letter is a great idea. Do that for sure. I'd mail it in a couple days, though, in case she goes waving it around someone's office on the way out as proof that she was unjustly let go.
posted to Ask Metafilter by pseudostrabismus at 8:46 AM on September 30, 2008

To my eye/ear, the ones that work best in North American English are:

BOYS:
Richen
Khetsun / Ketson
Seldon (although ppl will mis-hear it as "Seldom" a lot)
Kelden
Paldon

GIRLS:
Shenlha (if spelling is flexible, might wanna cut that last H- Shenla is easier to read)
Tselha
Tempa

Names that end with A (Telsa, Tempa,... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by pseudostrabismus at 11:47 PM on September 29, 2008

Rich and White.
posted to Ask Metafilter by pseudostrabismus at 11:59 PM on September 29, 2008

Might be able to find one if you search for "Robin Hood" wig.
The style is called a "pageboy", which might also be a bhelpful keyword.
posted to Ask Metafilter by pseudostrabismus at 10:36 PM on September 29, 2008

It's not quite a bowl cut because of the curled-under ends, which will be hard to achieve with a self-cut wig- the cut ends will be straight and you can't curl a synthetic wig. So yeah, search "pageboy" wigs, and then put on the wig & style it by sweeping the bangs to the side with a bit of regular hair gel and a tucked-under bobby pin.
posted to Ask Metafilter by pseudostrabismus at 10:38 PM on September 29, 2008

For sure, write her a long list of things you love about her, ranging from the profound to the asinine. Maybe with diagrammed photos of her, and her stuff and your home, nostalgic stuff, things you've done together. Maybe form it as a book that can be added to later, give her part of it now, and parts later. You could include snippets of old email conversations with or about her, and mementoes from dates or past events if you have them, etc.

You could also record a... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by pseudostrabismus at 3:14 PM on September 29, 2008

CN Tower in Toronto, Canada
posted to Ask Metafilter by pseudostrabismus at 3:03 PM on September 29, 2008

Last summer me & a friend drove from NOLA to NYC over 5 days. We did not go insane. In fact, it was a great trip.

We avoided the interstates entirely, because interstates mean boring scenery and crappy road food. Instead, we drove on smaller roads- usually 2-lane highways- through interesting scenery- farms, small towns. We avoided capital/major cities unless there was some reason to hit one- I think we only stopped in New Orleans and DC before we hit Manhattan.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by pseudostrabismus at 11:37 AM on September 29, 2008 marked best answer

Oh, I just saw the gay thing. We actually met a lot of gay men driving through the south. Every male waiter we had seemed to have plucked eyebrows and a flamboyant disposition. It was nice.

Also, my pal and I were a bit of a sight in the South- we are different ethnicities, so people took us for a mixed-race couple, which is uncommon in some of the smaller towns, for instance. And both of us are visibly members of minority groups that are unusual in the region. In... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by pseudostrabismus at 11:53 AM on September 29, 2008

Melted ice cream
Nut-butter java smoothies. Blend: coffee + milk-of-choice (i like chocolate almond milk) + banana + peanut or almond butter + cocoa powder.
Drinking chocolate- melt a good bittersweet chocolate bar in gently warmed whole milk on the stove. Nom nom nom.
Thinned custard
Baby food isn't bad. Apricot is the best flavour, with prune in a distant and surprising second place.
Hot buttered rum (melt brown sugar + butter... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by pseudostrabismus at 7:44 PM on September 28, 2008 marked best answer

I've ridden an 8-speed shaft drive bike very similar to this one. It was a smooth ride, the bike looked hella cool, and I loved the fact that the chain would never catch my pants leg. It was heavy, though, and not good for the 5K hilly trail I rode it on. That model specifically would be a good commuter bike in a pretty flat city.
posted to Ask Metafilter by pseudostrabismus at 10:02 AM on September 22, 2008

I find it really helpful if the person gives me a little mnemonic: for instance,

My aquainence Sanjay (which is frequently mispronounced as SANjay when it should actually be SUNjay) signs his nametags with a little sun drawing and a letter J.

I met a Birgit, and kept thinking it was Bridge-eet, until she announced that it was actually Beer-Git, as in "go Git me a Beer".

Canadian media personality Sook-Yin... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by pseudostrabismus at 9:49 AM on September 22, 2008

Producer / writer on a children's TV show.
posted to Ask Metafilter by pseudostrabismus at 9:38 AM on September 22, 2008

Hipster yes, but certainly doesn't have to be hipster. I would include When Harry Met Sally & Annie Hall- I mean, I guess they were the hipsters of their day, but you take my point. I'm very film illiterate about Rock Hudson & Doris Day, but from what I've heard, I have a feeling those movies might fit too.
posted to Ask Metafilter by pseudostrabismus at 8:54 PM on September 15, 2008

I wash all my dishes by hand- here's my method:

First of all, minimize how many dishes you need to use in a day- re-use non-dirty dishes, and cups- one day won't kill you. If a plate or cup can be just rinsed instead of a full wash (it only had something dry or watery on it, like cracker crumbs, or watermelon juice, etc), i just rinse it & put it away immediately.

Otherwise, I stack dirty dishes in the sink, as space-efficiently as possible... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by pseudostrabismus at 5:24 PM on September 3, 2008

I'm with spec80, I was sure you were Chinese as soon as I read the question.

They snoop because they love. My Chinese mom would totally, positively, snoop too.

That's why she doesn't get a key to my place.

Ever.

If your folks are at all like mine, you've probably already realized that Asian parents will never see you as a fellow adult the way Western parents would. But at least they don't... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by pseudostrabismus at 1:52 AM on August 23, 2008

Blogger Amy Corbett Storch had similar concerns about her son, who at 18 months barely spoke. He turned out to have a sensory processing disorder which, with some intervention, seems to have pretty much cleared up. Although your kid sounds different than hers, I though you might be interested in reading about her experience. Here are all her posts tagged with "speech delay"- read from the bottom up.
posted to Ask Metafilter by pseudostrabismus at 12:25 AM on July 27, 2008

Trumbo. An unusual documentary about Dalton Trumbo, who at one point was the top screenwriter in Hollywood- he wrote Roman Holiday & Spartacus. He was tried as a Communist and blacklisted from 1947 - 1960. The film includes a bit of documentary footage, but the bulk of it is a series of A-list actors reading Trumbo's exquisitely-written letters- Paul Giamatti, Nathan Lane, Michael Douglas, Liam Neeson, more. It ends up being more than one person... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by pseudostrabismus at 9:19 PM on July 21, 2008

You could take fridge magnet letters from the dollar store and spraypaint them white, if you decide to go that route.
posted to Ask Metafilter by pseudostrabismus at 7:00 PM on July 19, 2008

In theatre or live TV, sometimes actors need to change costumes backstage very quickly. To facilitate this, the wardrobe mistress sews snap buttons or velcro into the cuff, then sews the regular button on the top of the cuff, over the buttonhole (as if it were buttoned through the hole). The result is a cuff that actually snaps or velcroes closed, but still looks like a real button in a buttonhole.
Sometimes they put velcro right down the front of the shirt too,... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by pseudostrabismus at 11:22 PM on July 14, 2008 marked best answer

Data point: it looks like Charon/Styx/boat fulla dead guys to me too.
posted to Ask Metafilter by pseudostrabismus at 11:14 PM on July 14, 2008

Manhattan is soooooooooooo safe, all day and all night. Seriously. I mean, you could use common sense like "stay out of obvious dark alleyways and don't go through Central Park in the dead of night", but even if you did you'd be fine. Besides, you're never more than 4 feet from a taxi in Manhattan. So, although you do not need this for your safety, because you are SAFE, -- here is a small idea for peace of mind: keep $40 in your shoe. If you ever get scared, flag a taxi & use... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by pseudostrabismus at 11:11 PM on July 14, 2008

Don't take clothes off the hangers- bundle them loosely around the hangers & transport them in marked trash bags, or throw a trash bag over a handful of hangers, like at the dry cleaners, and tie off the bottom (don't worry if you have to scrunch the clothes up to accomodate their length, one day isn't gonna wrinkle them that badly.

If you're moving stuff yourself, milk crates are good for packing books and kincknacks, as their size means they only hold a manageable... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by pseudostrabismus at 4:32 PM on June 28, 2008

Notes are now enabled on the flickr page - thanks for pointing that out, impactorange.
posted to Ask Metafilter by pseudostrabismus at 2:04 PM on June 2, 2008

I work in television and have helped cast child actors; I agree that you don't need pro headshots for kids under about 8 years old. In fact agencies who recommend pro headshots may well be scamming you- some disreputable agents will send eager parents to specific overpriced photographers and take a cut. Plus, as young children grow so fast, they'd need headshots all the time- it really adds up. (Adult actors only get new headshots every 3-5 years, or after major hair or weight changes.) I'd... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by pseudostrabismus at 11:54 AM on May 31, 2008 marked best answer

OP here- I found a brand of boxed wine I could stomach- it's not my favourite wine ever, but it came in an airtight box, it's cheap, and it tastes okay. It's been almost a week since I tapped my little cardboard keg, and so far, so good on the sour front. Thanks for the suggestions, all!
posted to Ask Metafilter by pseudostrabismus at 9:19 PM on April 26, 2008

Barenaked Ladies have a ballad about a window washer called When I Fall.
posted to Ask Metafilter by pseudostrabismus at 8:23 AM on April 18, 2008

seconding gumtree for the UK.
posted to Ask Metafilter by pseudostrabismus at 2:34 PM on April 14, 2008

A couple tablespoons of plain wheat bran is a killer fibre addition and doesn't really affect the taste.
You could also go the savoury route and add cheddar, hot sauce, diced chicken, and diced tomato.
posted to Ask Metafilter by pseudostrabismus at 8:43 AM on April 9, 2008

You could try taking him swimming, maybe the chlorine would burn some of it away.
posted to Ask Metafilter by pseudostrabismus at 5:04 PM on April 8, 2008

I've been in several live TV studios and it's lots of fun. When you get there, they'll escort you to a big holding room for a while before the taping, it's kind of boring, so just mingle and be friendly. Probably there'll be snacks. Once you get into the studio there's more waiting, but at that point, usually there's a person hired as the "audience wrangler" (often an aspiring standup comic or improviser) who will keep the crowd entertained with goofy stories, crowd games, or prize... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by pseudostrabismus at 9:09 PM on April 7, 2008

onshi, i'm trying to post to craigslist in what i assume is the same city as you (and in the media jobs category), and mine isn't appearing on the main page either, although i too can find mine via the direct link. hmm.
posted to Ask Metafilter by pseudostrabismus at 8:32 AM on April 1, 2008

Big Red is the only non-fake-sweetener stuff I've found that doesn't make my mouth all sour and furry (as sugary gums are wont to do).
posted to Ask Metafilter by pseudostrabismus at 11:24 AM on March 24, 2008

Oh, I've been there. It sucks. it does get better, though!

- Organize old photos, maybe have them brought from your relatives' houses?
- Start a blog?
- Re-read high school diary, post best/worst entries on the blog?
- Organize tax receipts by expenditure and month (no thinking, just mindless sorting). Put in envelopes & label.
- Learn a new language on CD? Or learn to speak English with an accent?
-... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by pseudostrabismus at 8:13 AM on March 20, 2008

Not to be that metafilter person who diagnoses everything as being on the autism spectrum, but I agree that some of the affect you describe sound like some behaviours that are consistent with the autism spectrum. The part about the falling leaves put me in mind of this really interesting YouTube thing I found, a very intelligent, nonverbal austic woman describing and demonstrating her perceptions & interactions with the world- it's called In My Language". Look around on YouTube while... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by pseudostrabismus at 11:36 AM on March 19, 2008

Oh, I meant to add, your behaviour does sound atypical, but the fact that you treat everyone as a peer sounds atypically awesome-- I've been trying to do that all my life!
posted to Ask Metafilter by pseudostrabismus at 11:38 AM on March 19, 2008

Oh, and, ha ha, Facebook-stalk people from your adolesence.
posted to Ask Metafilter by pseudostrabismus at 9:32 AM on March 17, 2008

I think that in general, only babies and lovers want to make direct, lingering eye contact for more than 3 seconds at a time. With strangers it's uncomfortable, and even with friends it's a bit weird to stare into one another's eyes in a conversation. Bad actors do this all the time- lock eyes with each other when they talk- and it makes the scenes so awkward!

I'm an acting teacher, and one of the "rules of acting" I teach is the 90-10 rule:... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by pseudostrabismus at 9:25 AM on March 17, 2008

They'll be totally fine. Enjoy!
posted to Ask Metafilter by pseudostrabismus at 2:55 PM on March 14, 2008

Loo & Placido.
posted to Ask Metafilter by pseudostrabismus at 6:40 PM on March 12, 2008 marked best answer

Chase it with white wine, and swish it a bit.
posted to Ask Metafilter by pseudostrabismus at 6:37 PM on March 12, 2008