I think that I shall never see a Thread as lovely as the Free
March 28, 2022 8:17 AM Subscribe
That's right, Monday people, it's time for the Free Thread! For discussion of trees, shrubs, mosses, fungi, carnivorous plants, and -- well -- let's not get too caught up on botany here, let's just talk about stuff!
(Sorry Tokyo and points east, I think it's already Tuesday there, but time zones are hard and I am Very Bad At Them. Like "show up for a zoom meeting three hours in the wrong direction" bad. So hello Monday AND TUESDAY people! (Or possibly Sunday people?))
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 8:19 AM on March 28, 2022
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 8:19 AM on March 28, 2022
All the Monday people
Where do they all come from?
All the Tuesday people
What time zone are they in?
posted by nubs at 8:31 AM on March 28, 2022 [9 favorites]
Where do they all come from?
All the Tuesday people
What time zone are they in?
posted by nubs at 8:31 AM on March 28, 2022 [9 favorites]
The natural phenomenon of most relevance to me right now is goose poop. The pup wants to eat it like there's no tomorrow, and she wants to make friends with the geese. You don't make friends with Canada geese.
It's not enough for a full thread, but there's an Instagram account that I thought would amuse people here: filming_in_mcdonaldland. All the puppetry and costuming and hard work involving in making the waking nightmares that were the McDonaldland commercials.
posted by Countess Elena at 8:39 AM on March 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
It's not enough for a full thread, but there's an Instagram account that I thought would amuse people here: filming_in_mcdonaldland. All the puppetry and costuming and hard work involving in making the waking nightmares that were the McDonaldland commercials.
posted by Countess Elena at 8:39 AM on March 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
No discussion of Will Smith / Chris Rock yet? My verdict is toxic masculinity all around.
posted by Ben Trismegistus at 8:39 AM on March 28, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by Ben Trismegistus at 8:39 AM on March 28, 2022 [4 favorites]
Monday Man, Monday Man
Garfield Man hates Monday Man
They have a fight, Garfield wins
Garfield Man
posted by Eideteker at 8:40 AM on March 28, 2022 [8 favorites]
Garfield Man hates Monday Man
They have a fight, Garfield wins
Garfield Man
posted by Eideteker at 8:40 AM on March 28, 2022 [8 favorites]
Only slightly related to botany, but I got a plot in my local community garden this year, and was super excited! Until they restaked the plots over the weekend and I ended up 2 more feet (turns out my plot was undersized) of my neighbor's plot, right where she'd planted her prize rhubarb. Which she has put stakes around since the restaking, I guess to tell me not to pull it up. I don't know if she plans on moving it, or if, like another neighbor who stopped by to warn me not to do anything permanent in the new area because she complained about the restaking to the committee and hoped that it would be rolled back or corrected, she hopes she'll get the space back.
I just wanted to garden, and now I have community garden drama. Whyyyyyyyyy.
posted by bridgebury at 8:40 AM on March 28, 2022 [13 favorites]
I just wanted to garden, and now I have community garden drama. Whyyyyyyyyy.
posted by bridgebury at 8:40 AM on March 28, 2022 [13 favorites]
No discussion of Will Smith / Chris Rock yet? My verdict is toxic masculinity all around.
My normal set of implicit expectations about a Free Thread are "no arguing about war or the pandemic" but I feel like "...or last night's Oscars show" should probably get tacked on today as well.
posted by cortex at 8:41 AM on March 28, 2022 [26 favorites]
My normal set of implicit expectations about a Free Thread are "no arguing about war or the pandemic" but I feel like "...or last night's Oscars show" should probably get tacked on today as well.
posted by cortex at 8:41 AM on March 28, 2022 [26 favorites]
No discussion of Will Smith / Chris Rock yet?
Can we not? I especially don't want to hear takes from white people.
posted by Eideteker at 8:41 AM on March 28, 2022 [21 favorites]
Can we not? I especially don't want to hear takes from white people.
posted by Eideteker at 8:41 AM on March 28, 2022 [21 favorites]
so BT, there was an early morning chat from a team-member "did anyone watch the Oscars last night" so I already caught a whiff that *something* happened between Chris Rock and Will Smith, now you've mentioned it, and I have no doubt the moment I step into (other) social media I will be immersed in (something?).
But Canada advanced to the World Cup for the first time since '86, and I watched Korea come shy of a gold medal in Women's Curling, so I had no time for the Oscars
Countess Elena, that's a first for me.. your pup will either die trying to befriend a Canada Goose, or we have the makings of the next Disney blockbuster.. when my partner's son comes to visit with their little furball he sneaks down to the cat's litterbox and treats it like his own Pot of Gold and it's just gross
(edit for clarity: it's the furball that steals cat turds, not my partner's son, thank god)
posted by elkevelvet at 8:45 AM on March 28, 2022
But Canada advanced to the World Cup for the first time since '86, and I watched Korea come shy of a gold medal in Women's Curling, so I had no time for the Oscars
Countess Elena, that's a first for me.. your pup will either die trying to befriend a Canada Goose, or we have the makings of the next Disney blockbuster.. when my partner's son comes to visit with their little furball he sneaks down to the cat's litterbox and treats it like his own Pot of Gold and it's just gross
(edit for clarity: it's the furball that steals cat turds, not my partner's son, thank god)
posted by elkevelvet at 8:45 AM on March 28, 2022
Feral cat colony update: A couple of days ago, I finally trapped the elusive Mystery Kitty. I've been after her for months now, whenever my health has allowed, and she's been astonishingly difficult to catch. She's amazingly adept at getting out of cages; twice I went out to a closed cage to find it empty. I was pretty sure she was the mother cat for the two litters of feral kittens who appeared in my neighborhood in the past few months, so catching her before kitten season was a high priority.
So imagine my surprise when I found her in the trap one evening, neat as you please. She was, of course, a ball of claws and teeth and pupils, but once she was covered up and had food and water, she spent a nice quiet night in my garage.
Tucson is incredibly fortunate to have a couple of amazing organizations dealing with our stray cat issues, the Humane Society and a local clinic that does free neutering/spaying. So I dropped Mystery Kitty off at the clinic the next morning, and went about my day. And the day after that, I went to pick her up.
It usually takes maybe ten minutes to do a pickup, but I was waiting a while longer than that. I asked a veterinary assistant what was going on, and she told me that Mystery Kitty had gotten out of her cage, and was loose in the building somewhere. And at that exact moment, Mystery Kitty flew out of the back office and across the lobby, pursued by three of the office staff armed with nets, snares, and I think a trash can, in a completely perfect Keystone Cops/Marx Brothers moment. The cat skidded across the linoleum, rocketed across the lobby and into the back room again, medical personnel following.
"It'll be a few more minutes," said the veterinary assistant.
And it was. Mystery Kitty is fine, recovering nicely, and is actually a tom cat, as it turns out. And now I've got just one kitten left to trap, plus the theoretical mama cat, who I've never seen. But the colony is healthy and happy, eating well and enjoying the spring weather and their new scratching post.
posted by MrVisible at 8:47 AM on March 28, 2022 [37 favorites]
So imagine my surprise when I found her in the trap one evening, neat as you please. She was, of course, a ball of claws and teeth and pupils, but once she was covered up and had food and water, she spent a nice quiet night in my garage.
Tucson is incredibly fortunate to have a couple of amazing organizations dealing with our stray cat issues, the Humane Society and a local clinic that does free neutering/spaying. So I dropped Mystery Kitty off at the clinic the next morning, and went about my day. And the day after that, I went to pick her up.
It usually takes maybe ten minutes to do a pickup, but I was waiting a while longer than that. I asked a veterinary assistant what was going on, and she told me that Mystery Kitty had gotten out of her cage, and was loose in the building somewhere. And at that exact moment, Mystery Kitty flew out of the back office and across the lobby, pursued by three of the office staff armed with nets, snares, and I think a trash can, in a completely perfect Keystone Cops/Marx Brothers moment. The cat skidded across the linoleum, rocketed across the lobby and into the back room again, medical personnel following.
"It'll be a few more minutes," said the veterinary assistant.
And it was. Mystery Kitty is fine, recovering nicely, and is actually a tom cat, as it turns out. And now I've got just one kitten left to trap, plus the theoretical mama cat, who I've never seen. But the colony is healthy and happy, eating well and enjoying the spring weather and their new scratching post.
posted by MrVisible at 8:47 AM on March 28, 2022 [37 favorites]
I'm delighted that the Oscars have finally ascended to the level of the Real Housewives Series.
posted by srboisvert at 8:49 AM on March 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by srboisvert at 8:49 AM on March 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
How often do folks read the news? I confine myself to a single big newspaper, and I still find daily to be too much. Is reading the news even worthwhile beyond a weekly update? Maybe even less frequently? Random, I know, but this is a random thread, and I'm curious what the generally well-read (or better read than me :-)) folks here do.
posted by smidgen at 8:51 AM on March 28, 2022
posted by smidgen at 8:51 AM on March 28, 2022
I just need the internet to do a smash cut with the "welcome to earth" alien punch from ID4 so I can watch it and then I can wash my hands of this whole to-do.
posted by phunniemee at 8:51 AM on March 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by phunniemee at 8:51 AM on March 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
I just want to see more white actors brawl at the next Oscars. Angelina Jolie and Leonardo DiCaprio? Tom Hanks and Nicolas Cage? Johnny Dep and Tom Cruise? Dick Van Dike and Patrick Stewart?
posted by eotvos at 8:53 AM on March 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by eotvos at 8:53 AM on March 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
bridgebury, I just sent out a flyer inviting all my fellow community gardeners to get together in a couple of weeks. I KNOW there is garden drama (last year someone got kicked out of their plot in the shadiest of fashions) and yet here I am inviting it into my life. [clenched teeth emoji]
We are going to try to calm the waters with free onion sets, snacks, and positive vibes. Me, I just want to find out how everyone likes to amend their soil, how often they come and pick japanese beetles off their brassicas, what the inside scoop is on everything. It's my second year doing it and I'm very inexperienced, but have been talking with a couple of my fellows and we think something low-stakes and social might help us all enjoy the space more.
posted by Lawn Beaver at 8:53 AM on March 28, 2022 [4 favorites]
We are going to try to calm the waters with free onion sets, snacks, and positive vibes. Me, I just want to find out how everyone likes to amend their soil, how often they come and pick japanese beetles off their brassicas, what the inside scoop is on everything. It's my second year doing it and I'm very inexperienced, but have been talking with a couple of my fellows and we think something low-stakes and social might help us all enjoy the space more.
posted by Lawn Beaver at 8:53 AM on March 28, 2022 [4 favorites]
Elsewhere online, I am pointedly talking up other stuff from the Oscars that got undeservedly overshadowed. Like this:
Last year's Best Supporting Actress winner was Korean actress Youn Yuh-Jung, and she stole the show with an adorably witty acceptance speech. One of the jokes she made then was to gently chide the English-speaking media and other actors for mispronouncing her name a lot. So - when she took the stage to present the Best Supporting Actor award last night, she began with a self-deprecating joke about how now the shoe was on the other foot - and how SHE now ran the risk of mispronouncing OTHER people's names.
But she didn't. In fact, she went above and beyond; when she finally opened the envelope and saw the winner's name, she paused a moment first and made a hand gesture before reading the name. That gesture was actually Oscar Winner Troy Kotsur's name in ASL - so, in essence, she had gone out of her way to pronounce his name properly, in his own language. She also had the presence of mind to offer to hold his statuette for him while he made his speech - because he needed free hands to do so. But she stood close by so he would have it in his peripheral vision the whole time.
Kotsur's speech itself was also, in turns, funny and moving - he started with jokes about how he had toured the White House along with the rest of the CODA cast, and had been very, very tempted to teach President Biden some ASL curse words. He also gave a shout-out to the Glouscester, Massachusetts fishermen who'd helped them on location during filming - making a Popeye joke as well and reminding them to eat their spinach.
And then he turned serious - thanking the many deaf theater companies throughout the country for fostering his career, and thanking Marlee Matlin for insisting that CODA be cast with deaf actors (apparently they tried not to, but Matlin threatened to quit if they did so). His ASL interpreter was in tears himself by the end of Kotsur's speech. And - delightfully, the whole audience applauded him in ASL throughout.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:09 AM on March 28, 2022 [66 favorites]
Last year's Best Supporting Actress winner was Korean actress Youn Yuh-Jung, and she stole the show with an adorably witty acceptance speech. One of the jokes she made then was to gently chide the English-speaking media and other actors for mispronouncing her name a lot. So - when she took the stage to present the Best Supporting Actor award last night, she began with a self-deprecating joke about how now the shoe was on the other foot - and how SHE now ran the risk of mispronouncing OTHER people's names.
But she didn't. In fact, she went above and beyond; when she finally opened the envelope and saw the winner's name, she paused a moment first and made a hand gesture before reading the name. That gesture was actually Oscar Winner Troy Kotsur's name in ASL - so, in essence, she had gone out of her way to pronounce his name properly, in his own language. She also had the presence of mind to offer to hold his statuette for him while he made his speech - because he needed free hands to do so. But she stood close by so he would have it in his peripheral vision the whole time.
Kotsur's speech itself was also, in turns, funny and moving - he started with jokes about how he had toured the White House along with the rest of the CODA cast, and had been very, very tempted to teach President Biden some ASL curse words. He also gave a shout-out to the Glouscester, Massachusetts fishermen who'd helped them on location during filming - making a Popeye joke as well and reminding them to eat their spinach.
And then he turned serious - thanking the many deaf theater companies throughout the country for fostering his career, and thanking Marlee Matlin for insisting that CODA be cast with deaf actors (apparently they tried not to, but Matlin threatened to quit if they did so). His ASL interpreter was in tears himself by the end of Kotsur's speech. And - delightfully, the whole audience applauded him in ASL throughout.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:09 AM on March 28, 2022 [66 favorites]
Foster cat update:
Cha Cha is basically ready to enter the adoption pipeline as soon as we confirm her skin issues have fully resolved. She actively seeks out human interaction now and even curled up next to me on my bed last night briefly. It only took six months!
Grace continues to increase her exploration a bit, but still not so much with people stuff. Six months is not quite enough for her, apparently.
Aura, a resident of the dwindling population of the main Hoard storage location, we just took in late last week. She is meant to be one of the more promising and tractable of the remainders, but she’s still at the stink eye stage and just lurks in the back of her covered bed in her kennel. It’s only been a few days, but she’s eating and pooping fine, so far so good. We hope to get her out of the kennel and exploring the foster room this week.
posted by notoriety public at 9:13 AM on March 28, 2022 [8 favorites]
Cha Cha is basically ready to enter the adoption pipeline as soon as we confirm her skin issues have fully resolved. She actively seeks out human interaction now and even curled up next to me on my bed last night briefly. It only took six months!
Grace continues to increase her exploration a bit, but still not so much with people stuff. Six months is not quite enough for her, apparently.
Aura, a resident of the dwindling population of the main Hoard storage location, we just took in late last week. She is meant to be one of the more promising and tractable of the remainders, but she’s still at the stink eye stage and just lurks in the back of her covered bed in her kennel. It’s only been a few days, but she’s eating and pooping fine, so far so good. We hope to get her out of the kennel and exploring the foster room this week.
posted by notoriety public at 9:13 AM on March 28, 2022 [8 favorites]
MeFi: eating and pooping fine, so far so good
posted by elkevelvet at 9:18 AM on March 28, 2022 [14 favorites]
posted by elkevelvet at 9:18 AM on March 28, 2022 [14 favorites]
My everbearing strawberries are doing quite well, thank you for asking.
posted by SPrintF at 9:18 AM on March 28, 2022 [9 favorites]
posted by SPrintF at 9:18 AM on March 28, 2022 [9 favorites]
Carrying over from a couple previous threads: I continue to love on my ukulele, practicing pretty much every day. I can pick out a melody line I know and slowly sight read, but cannot yet reliably pick two notes at the same time. Can reliably recall about 15-18 chords, but am still working on fingering them at speed -- usually by running through a few standard chord progressions in various keys. I'm about at the end of my first instructional book, so have ordered its second volume plus a book of dexterity exercises.
The Randomlet has stopped playing theirs, but at one point this weekend, they looked at me as I did a I-vi-ii-V with a syncopated rhythm, and said, "That sounds nice," before returning to their Switch game.
That felt good.
posted by Quasirandom at 9:20 AM on March 28, 2022 [5 favorites]
The Randomlet has stopped playing theirs, but at one point this weekend, they looked at me as I did a I-vi-ii-V with a syncopated rhythm, and said, "That sounds nice," before returning to their Switch game.
That felt good.
posted by Quasirandom at 9:20 AM on March 28, 2022 [5 favorites]
Rain commute seemed to keep most other drivers off the highway! Yay rain commute!!!
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 9:31 AM on March 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 9:31 AM on March 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
Spring is sproinging down here in Texas: the birds are yelling “Let’s Get It Oooonnn, KThxBai” and the trees are using sinuses like a cheap freeway sex romp hotel. Turns out, face masks aren’t just for the Virus Averse.
I’m pretty sure Othello, the Hawk Who Feels Strongly Committed To Things is back, though I haven’t heard her today. Barry, the Three AM Fuckboi Bird is not back and for that, I am grateful, cos Barry was Loud As Fuck.
I gave a down-on-his-luck guy three slices of pizza and $10 last nite. His name is George and his wife, Maria, is in a care facility. Please think happy thoughts in their direction, as I am. I think it’s important that he has a name, as opposed to being some random faceless, nameless, homeless dude on the street. I don’t know where you are now, George, but I hope your day is a bit better and that tomorrow is a bit better than that, and so on until you are whole in spirit again.
OK. Back to grumping.
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 9:35 AM on March 28, 2022 [19 favorites]
I’m pretty sure Othello, the Hawk Who Feels Strongly Committed To Things is back, though I haven’t heard her today. Barry, the Three AM Fuckboi Bird is not back and for that, I am grateful, cos Barry was Loud As Fuck.
I gave a down-on-his-luck guy three slices of pizza and $10 last nite. His name is George and his wife, Maria, is in a care facility. Please think happy thoughts in their direction, as I am. I think it’s important that he has a name, as opposed to being some random faceless, nameless, homeless dude on the street. I don’t know where you are now, George, but I hope your day is a bit better and that tomorrow is a bit better than that, and so on until you are whole in spirit again.
OK. Back to grumping.
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 9:35 AM on March 28, 2022 [19 favorites]
Snowing in Baltimore - not much but more than I want post-vernal equinox.
Feeling sorry for the birds and bunnies and daffodils and hellebores that have been enjoying our recently milder weather.
posted by the primroses were over at 9:35 AM on March 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
Feeling sorry for the birds and bunnies and daffodils and hellebores that have been enjoying our recently milder weather.
posted by the primroses were over at 9:35 AM on March 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
Oh EmpressCallipygos that's all just so freaking lovely.
posted by obfuscation at 9:38 AM on March 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by obfuscation at 9:38 AM on March 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
I've been feeling pretty unfocused and unmotivated (can't imagine why) so I am trying out using a Trello board as a personal kanban. It's been pretty fun to move cards, so maybe that's enough to get me doing some stuff.
I've also almost completed all the single lane achievements on Rogue Tower, so it may be time to start working on the doubles.
posted by ivey at 9:41 AM on March 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
I've also almost completed all the single lane achievements on Rogue Tower, so it may be time to start working on the doubles.
posted by ivey at 9:41 AM on March 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
I took my potted plant home from the office to nurse it back to health and because I feel like having one minimalist space in my life.
But now I have nowhere to put the remainder of the water I force myself to attempt to drink between coffees.
posted by The Monster at the End of this Thread at 9:42 AM on March 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
But now I have nowhere to put the remainder of the water I force myself to attempt to drink between coffees.
posted by The Monster at the End of this Thread at 9:42 AM on March 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
are we all just going to ignore the scandalous indulgence of the mods in coming up with these free thread titles
calling it now: the 1 year anniversary of free threads will require a compilation of titles
posted by elkevelvet at 9:47 AM on March 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
calling it now: the 1 year anniversary of free threads will require a compilation of titles
posted by elkevelvet at 9:47 AM on March 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
This thread title brought to you by this meme, that I'm still giggling about days later.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 10:00 AM on March 28, 2022 [9 favorites]
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 10:00 AM on March 28, 2022 [9 favorites]
I learned recently that, to a botanist*, there is no such thing as a vegetable. Although it made perfect sense when explained, it also blew my mind.
Pretty good conversation starter when you tell someone that vegetables aren't actually a thing.
*botanists, feel free to tell me why this is nonsense. I didn't do much research beyond whatever top Google result confirmed this "fact."
posted by bondcliff at 10:01 AM on March 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
Pretty good conversation starter when you tell someone that vegetables aren't actually a thing.
*botanists, feel free to tell me why this is nonsense. I didn't do much research beyond whatever top Google result confirmed this "fact."
posted by bondcliff at 10:01 AM on March 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
Hubby and I filmed our first music video yesterday. The director and DP stayed over at our place so we could get up at 4AM to drive out to a cliff face overlooking a rocky beach path which leads to the remains of a shipwreck. The shoot ran long, as they tend to do, and we arrived home with barely time to shower, feed the cats, and head out again to a long evening reviewing 500+ photos from a location shoot two weeks ago. Today I felt so gross and run-down that I woke up at 5am and rescheduled my annual physical.
I guess I could spend an AskMe on this, but ... what do other people do to prep for their physicals? I've always assumed that you aren't supposed to do anything out of the ordinary, as they're supposed to be a snapshot of your typical behaviors at that time. But yesterday we ate like total garbage from being tied up in creative obligations all day: basically starvation and bagged snacks from 4am-2pm, then a desperate ravenous spot of fast food for the hour-long drive home, followed by a deep dish/red wine celebration with our photographer for dinner ... and I figured my blood work today would be spiked in all kinds of directions that are not reflective of my regular level of discipline (I've lost 30 pounds over the last year).
So that got me reading about all the other things you're not supposed to do before a physical. Some sources say you aren't supposed to undertake exercise immediately prior ... and I routinely work out 4-5 mornings a week, including an epic weekly 60-mile / 3000 kcal cycling ride that forms the bedrock of my ongoing weight loss. I know enough about myself to know the answer to "Am I overthinking this?", but I'm not sure if I'm legit supposed to give up exercising for some chunk of days to put my body at some artificial baseline that doesn't reflect the reality of my existence. It feels like not brushing your teeth before the dentist when you normally floss three times a day: maybe that one day doesn't matter in the scheme of otherwise model behavior, but I want to see the concrete results of my hard work, damn it.
posted by mykescipark at 10:01 AM on March 28, 2022 [4 favorites]
I guess I could spend an AskMe on this, but ... what do other people do to prep for their physicals? I've always assumed that you aren't supposed to do anything out of the ordinary, as they're supposed to be a snapshot of your typical behaviors at that time. But yesterday we ate like total garbage from being tied up in creative obligations all day: basically starvation and bagged snacks from 4am-2pm, then a desperate ravenous spot of fast food for the hour-long drive home, followed by a deep dish/red wine celebration with our photographer for dinner ... and I figured my blood work today would be spiked in all kinds of directions that are not reflective of my regular level of discipline (I've lost 30 pounds over the last year).
So that got me reading about all the other things you're not supposed to do before a physical. Some sources say you aren't supposed to undertake exercise immediately prior ... and I routinely work out 4-5 mornings a week, including an epic weekly 60-mile / 3000 kcal cycling ride that forms the bedrock of my ongoing weight loss. I know enough about myself to know the answer to "Am I overthinking this?", but I'm not sure if I'm legit supposed to give up exercising for some chunk of days to put my body at some artificial baseline that doesn't reflect the reality of my existence. It feels like not brushing your teeth before the dentist when you normally floss three times a day: maybe that one day doesn't matter in the scheme of otherwise model behavior, but I want to see the concrete results of my hard work, damn it.
posted by mykescipark at 10:01 AM on March 28, 2022 [4 favorites]
he sneaks down to the cat's litterbox and treats it like his own Pot of Gold
The doggie version of Tootsie Rolls
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:06 AM on March 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
The doggie version of Tootsie Rolls
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:06 AM on March 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
How often do folks read the news? I confine myself to a single big newspaper, and I still find daily to be too much. Is reading the news even worthwhile beyond a weekly update? Maybe even less frequently? Random, I know, but this is a random thread, and I'm curious what the generally well-read (or better read than me :-)) folks here do.
I've migrated, over the last few years, from constant consumption to the Sunday NYT only*, supplemented by links to individual articles from sites I'm following via RSS. Right now it's striking the right balance between being usefully informed + overwhelmed/kinda despairing.
* This week's issue had v. interesting articles about the Parapsychology Foundation's research library and Anaïs Nin's time capsule house.
let's just talk about stuff!
I went to Houston for the 1st time last week, and sort of fell in love with its bus system, art museums, and incredible collection of low rent mid-century apartment buildings. I didn't expect to see upsides to zero zoning city planning, but there they were. A quick trip for a wedding turned into an unexpected exercise in the mind-expanding possibilities of travel.
posted by ryanshepard at 10:12 AM on March 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
I've migrated, over the last few years, from constant consumption to the Sunday NYT only*, supplemented by links to individual articles from sites I'm following via RSS. Right now it's striking the right balance between being usefully informed + overwhelmed/kinda despairing.
* This week's issue had v. interesting articles about the Parapsychology Foundation's research library and Anaïs Nin's time capsule house.
let's just talk about stuff!
I went to Houston for the 1st time last week, and sort of fell in love with its bus system, art museums, and incredible collection of low rent mid-century apartment buildings. I didn't expect to see upsides to zero zoning city planning, but there they were. A quick trip for a wedding turned into an unexpected exercise in the mind-expanding possibilities of travel.
posted by ryanshepard at 10:12 AM on March 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
Some friends and I are having a Jello Salad cookoff for our Facebook group, so yesterday I made a recipe from 1923 that is essentially cole slaw mixed with lemon Jello. I didn't think it would actually jell, but when I inverted the mold this morning, the contents did no t immediately schlump to the bottom, so there's a chance it might have worked.
posted by briank at 10:16 AM on March 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by briank at 10:16 AM on March 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
briank, I'd say the Jello Salad cookbook should be fired into the sun but I don't know that the sun could withstand that level of gelatinous horror. do people eat their creations? I thought the world agreed in 2000 to Make Jello Salad a 20th Century Thing, and move on
who's with me
posted by elkevelvet at 10:21 AM on March 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
who's with me
posted by elkevelvet at 10:21 AM on March 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
First time I've caught one of these early-ish! Hello! Hah!
Speaking of plants, this weekend I scaped my second planted aquarium. It's hobby I have gotten into this past year and I'm so flipping hype. In a meme-like response my wife was like, "Cool you have two aquariums and no fish so... slow down." I got into this through the plants anyway... so many plants... aaaahhhhh... Literally as planned I'm looking at them both from my desk in my home-office right now :)
posted by wellifyouinsist at 10:22 AM on March 28, 2022 [4 favorites]
Speaking of plants, this weekend I scaped my second planted aquarium. It's hobby I have gotten into this past year and I'm so flipping hype. In a meme-like response my wife was like, "Cool you have two aquariums and no fish so... slow down." I got into this through the plants anyway... so many plants... aaaahhhhh... Literally as planned I'm looking at them both from my desk in my home-office right now :)
posted by wellifyouinsist at 10:22 AM on March 28, 2022 [4 favorites]
People wanting hot takes on the Oscars slapping can find them over here.
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:26 AM on March 28, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:26 AM on March 28, 2022 [4 favorites]
I need to find some plants or shrubs that are (1) happy in a container; (2) good with 6-8 hours hot sun a day; (3) puppy safe; (4) don't need a lot of babysitting; (5) grow in zone 7a; (6) as a bonus, look nice year round. But I suppose that's more of an ask me question, so hopefully I get myself motivated enough to ask this over there!
posted by twelve cent archie at 10:30 AM on March 28, 2022
posted by twelve cent archie at 10:30 AM on March 28, 2022
Last week I built and put up four bluebird houses from this Gilwood plan and one of them had a nest (looked like it was built by a bluebird) in it by the second day!
posted by achrise at 10:32 AM on March 28, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by achrise at 10:32 AM on March 28, 2022 [5 favorites]
I started looking for a new dog once the weather got less wretched and today Zara came home with me. 10 months old, a little shy, sweet-tempered.
Trying to decide if she should get a new name.
posted by theora55 at 10:43 AM on March 28, 2022 [15 favorites]
Trying to decide if she should get a new name.
posted by theora55 at 10:43 AM on March 28, 2022 [15 favorites]
let your heart and the dog guide you on that one, theora55.. the only dog my household renamed came to us as "Dumbo" and we switched it to "Jimbo" so she (a mature nervous dog) wouldn't get too confused
posted by elkevelvet at 10:47 AM on March 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by elkevelvet at 10:47 AM on March 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
I walked by a public telephone, I guess they're kinda rare now, and I noticed that they don't accept coins any more. All the public phones in Australia are now free to use. They've been free since october and I never noticed.
I haven't used a payphone in over ten years. I remember when there were whole banks of them in malls and train stations. That's all gone and the ones left are free!
posted by adept256 at 10:48 AM on March 28, 2022 [6 favorites]
I haven't used a payphone in over ten years. I remember when there were whole banks of them in malls and train stations. That's all gone and the ones left are free!
posted by adept256 at 10:48 AM on March 28, 2022 [6 favorites]
Oh, she's beautiful theora55!
posted by bridgebury at 10:48 AM on March 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by bridgebury at 10:48 AM on March 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
Warm days are slamming me with seasonal allergies, which may be getting worse year over year. I mentioned to a medical student that I've always taken Claritin, but never feel like it works well, and she told me that Claritin/loratadine just doesn't work for 40% of people?? Is this known? Years of my life wasted in a wet itchy haze...
posted by little onion at 10:51 AM on March 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by little onion at 10:51 AM on March 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
My hero came to work today.
Rolled up in his ratty old Subaru, opened the back, and went to work.
All I can imagine was the time, years ago, when he was playing frisbee with his dog. Thinking "I don't want to go to work, I want to play with my dog. If only there was a way to get paid for this."
And then the divine spark struck, when he noticed that:
geese hate being chased.
And
His boss hated goose poop all over the company lawn.
He launched his new business that day, getting his dog to run off these horrible poop machines.
Now he gets paid to play frisbee with his pal, while I watch in envy.
posted by Marky at 10:57 AM on March 28, 2022 [14 favorites]
Rolled up in his ratty old Subaru, opened the back, and went to work.
All I can imagine was the time, years ago, when he was playing frisbee with his dog. Thinking "I don't want to go to work, I want to play with my dog. If only there was a way to get paid for this."
And then the divine spark struck, when he noticed that:
geese hate being chased.
And
His boss hated goose poop all over the company lawn.
He launched his new business that day, getting his dog to run off these horrible poop machines.
Now he gets paid to play frisbee with his pal, while I watch in envy.
posted by Marky at 10:57 AM on March 28, 2022 [14 favorites]
little onion, the only version of Claritin that ever helped me was Claritin-D, which is loratidine plus pseudoephedrine — so it was quite startling to discover my childhood sniffliness had only been kept in check by good, old-fashioned Sudafed.
posted by lumensimus at 10:59 AM on March 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by lumensimus at 10:59 AM on March 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
Trying to decide if she should get a new name.
About six months ago, we adopted a three-pawed street dog of indeterminate age who came to us from the rescue with the name Audrey Hepburn, which seemed to fit, so we kept it. Now I can't imagine her as anything but an Audrey.
posted by uncleozzy at 11:03 AM on March 28, 2022 [4 favorites]
About six months ago, we adopted a three-pawed street dog of indeterminate age who came to us from the rescue with the name Audrey Hepburn, which seemed to fit, so we kept it. Now I can't imagine her as anything but an Audrey.
posted by uncleozzy at 11:03 AM on March 28, 2022 [4 favorites]
The number of African Four-Striped mice I've transported from my kitchen to the nearby nature reserve is now 13.
I saw 2 in the back yard today, which is where I hope they will stay. I need to find a way of blocking the kitchen door so they can't get in so easily.
They didn't use to come inside so much, which makes me wonder if they leave scent trails for one another. "This way to the peanut butter trap and bicycle ride".
posted by Zumbador at 11:06 AM on March 28, 2022 [6 favorites]
I saw 2 in the back yard today, which is where I hope they will stay. I need to find a way of blocking the kitchen door so they can't get in so easily.
They didn't use to come inside so much, which makes me wonder if they leave scent trails for one another. "This way to the peanut butter trap and bicycle ride".
posted by Zumbador at 11:06 AM on March 28, 2022 [6 favorites]
Went to a spring snow festival near me (Subaru Fest) over the weekend and won a coffee prize pack for my spouse through my advanced knowledge of Subaru trivia (the Subaru dog family are the Barkley’s!)
But more interestingly, there were a lot of Tesla’s parked up on chargers…..and you could see the owner’s body language change when a couple of Rivian electric pickups rolled in and the Tesla owners realized they may as well have been in ten year old Nissan Leaf’s - everyone was checking out the Rivian’s. Kind of hilarious. But still sticking on keeping my Outback till the heat-death of the universe (not dunking either on the Nissan Leaf - I’m a former owner of one - just live somewhere it’s not practical to have one now - way too many mountains and snow).
posted by inflatablekiwi at 11:10 AM on March 28, 2022
But more interestingly, there were a lot of Tesla’s parked up on chargers…..and you could see the owner’s body language change when a couple of Rivian electric pickups rolled in and the Tesla owners realized they may as well have been in ten year old Nissan Leaf’s - everyone was checking out the Rivian’s. Kind of hilarious. But still sticking on keeping my Outback till the heat-death of the universe (not dunking either on the Nissan Leaf - I’m a former owner of one - just live somewhere it’s not practical to have one now - way too many mountains and snow).
posted by inflatablekiwi at 11:10 AM on March 28, 2022
I got a client out of a potentially life-changing conflict this morning in a way I didn't think was going to be possible, especially without having to put both sides (and their kid) through more trauma for years to come.
I often question the choices I've made and the road I've gone down, but today is a good day. And maybe I'll even sleep tonight.
posted by snuffleupagus at 11:12 AM on March 28, 2022 [17 favorites]
I often question the choices I've made and the road I've gone down, but today is a good day. And maybe I'll even sleep tonight.
posted by snuffleupagus at 11:12 AM on March 28, 2022 [17 favorites]
Eyebrows, that tree is...yes, please replace my boring nightmares of former jobs!
Final phase of March cards is happening; I have this process (that involves being really late getting them finished) where I have to figure out a color, a shape, and a quote. After that it's cluttering up the table and leaving tiny scraps of paper and stickers everywhere. I'm enjoying myself.
What Oscars? This makes me laugh, being as I'm from there, I worked that show once, have/had friends work on films/get nominated...and I just don't care at all anymore.
I also maybe bought a bag of Starburst jellybeans, why I don't know as there is still Halloween candy lurking in desk drawers. I just wanted to know what they would be like. They're less like Starburst candies and more like jellybeans, I'm kinda let down.
posted by winesong at 11:24 AM on March 28, 2022
Final phase of March cards is happening; I have this process (that involves being really late getting them finished) where I have to figure out a color, a shape, and a quote. After that it's cluttering up the table and leaving tiny scraps of paper and stickers everywhere. I'm enjoying myself.
What Oscars? This makes me laugh, being as I'm from there, I worked that show once, have/had friends work on films/get nominated...and I just don't care at all anymore.
I also maybe bought a bag of Starburst jellybeans, why I don't know as there is still Halloween candy lurking in desk drawers. I just wanted to know what they would be like. They're less like Starburst candies and more like jellybeans, I'm kinda let down.
posted by winesong at 11:24 AM on March 28, 2022
The pun in the title of this thread makes me very happy.
posted by straight at 11:25 AM on March 28, 2022
posted by straight at 11:25 AM on March 28, 2022
I had a greasy burrito stain on my cool Andy Warhol shirt and some Dawn dishwashing liquid took it out. I've thrown out clothing because of grease stains in the past.
posted by mecran01 at 11:31 AM on March 28, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by mecran01 at 11:31 AM on March 28, 2022 [5 favorites]
Warm days are slamming me with seasonal allergies, which may be getting worse year over year. I mentioned to a medical student that I've always taken Claritin, but never feel like it works well, and she told me that Claritin/loratadine just doesn't work for 40% of people?? Is this known? Years of my life wasted in a wet itchy haze...
There are lots of options for you to try! I've been riding a cetirizine pony for 10 years now. Keeps my very bad cat allergies and medium hay fever at bay.
The only thing is that to experiment you have to endure suffering through the ones that don't work as well for you as you have to take them for a couple of days at least to find out (and you have to be confident that your experimental conditions have held constant other than the medication - which is hard to do with allergies)..
the only version of Claritin that ever helped me was Claritin-D, which is loratidine plus pseudoephedrine — so it was quite startling to discover my childhood sniffliness had only been kept in check by good, old-fashioned Sudafed.
Pseudoephedrine is amazing but the side effects end up being worse than the problems it cures for me. I end up shaking bad and not sleeping for days after using anything with Pseudo in it for more than a couple of days. It is pretty much speed/meth light so it's not really a surprise. I will take it if I have a really severe head cold and have to power through it for some reason though. It postpones the dysfunction but at a cost.
posted by srboisvert at 11:40 AM on March 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
There are lots of options for you to try! I've been riding a cetirizine pony for 10 years now. Keeps my very bad cat allergies and medium hay fever at bay.
The only thing is that to experiment you have to endure suffering through the ones that don't work as well for you as you have to take them for a couple of days at least to find out (and you have to be confident that your experimental conditions have held constant other than the medication - which is hard to do with allergies)..
the only version of Claritin that ever helped me was Claritin-D, which is loratidine plus pseudoephedrine — so it was quite startling to discover my childhood sniffliness had only been kept in check by good, old-fashioned Sudafed.
Pseudoephedrine is amazing but the side effects end up being worse than the problems it cures for me. I end up shaking bad and not sleeping for days after using anything with Pseudo in it for more than a couple of days. It is pretty much speed/meth light so it's not really a surprise. I will take it if I have a really severe head cold and have to power through it for some reason though. It postpones the dysfunction but at a cost.
posted by srboisvert at 11:40 AM on March 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
Claritin/loratadine just doesn't work for 40% of people?? Is this known? Years of my life wasted in a wet itchy haze...
I never (realized I) had allergies until I completely lost my voice in the late summer of 2020 and had an endoscopy (without any anesthetic! because pandemic!) where the ENT diagnosed "really bad allergies." I started taking daily loratadine. I also started having super weird, vivid, sleep-disturbing dreams, which I attributed to ... [waves hands at everything].
I switched to cetirizine (Zyrtec) when my wife switched (on the advice of her allergist). I took a single Claritin a few weeks ago because we ran out of Zyrtec and ... weird dreams!
Coincidence? Maybe? But also maybe not.
posted by uncleozzy at 11:47 AM on March 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
I never (realized I) had allergies until I completely lost my voice in the late summer of 2020 and had an endoscopy (without any anesthetic! because pandemic!) where the ENT diagnosed "really bad allergies." I started taking daily loratadine. I also started having super weird, vivid, sleep-disturbing dreams, which I attributed to ... [waves hands at everything].
I switched to cetirizine (Zyrtec) when my wife switched (on the advice of her allergist). I took a single Claritin a few weeks ago because we ran out of Zyrtec and ... weird dreams!
Coincidence? Maybe? But also maybe not.
posted by uncleozzy at 11:47 AM on March 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
Pseudoephedrine works for me during the day but I can't take it at night. It just keeps me awake. What do people use at night? Every morning I wake up clogged and feeling slightly nauseous from mucus that has been dripping down my throat all night long. Nyquil and Benadryl don't seem to do much. And I don't even need the grogginess to help my sleep. It's just waking up in the morning and blowing my nose for the first few hours I can't stand.
posted by downtohisturtles at 11:55 AM on March 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by downtohisturtles at 11:55 AM on March 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
I've sung its praises enough that I feel almost obnoxious whenever I bring it up, but I started using Flonase nose spray a few years ago and it ended up being life-changingly effective after being allergic to (it turned out after getting an allergy test in my mid-30s) almost literally everything and constantly being stuffed up as long as I can remember. Different stuff works for different people so the most I can say is it worked for me in a way I would not have expected and if you haven't given it a go, do so. I had an absolutely useless experience with nose spray when I was a kid so I was skeptical as hell and expecting to try a long expensive course of allergy shots instead of dropping a hundred bucks on a couple packs of generics at CostCo every year.
posted by cortex at 12:00 PM on March 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by cortex at 12:00 PM on March 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
Fellow Flonase fan here. It has made a dramatic change in my life.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 12:02 PM on March 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by The Underpants Monster at 12:02 PM on March 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
Threads are made by you and me,
But only Mods can make them free.
posted by mono blanco at 12:03 PM on March 28, 2022 [4 favorites]
But only Mods can make them free.
posted by mono blanco at 12:03 PM on March 28, 2022 [4 favorites]
My allergies are weirdly infrequent and mild, and pills didn't ever seem to work on them - because I always felt like I was taking whatever pill too late, once I already had the symptoms, and that seemed to defeat the purpose and I ended up taking the pill and then waiting a couple hours for it to kick in. So I tried nasal sprays like Flonase and that worked better; it seems to suit my "as-needed" needs better. Plus - Flonase has this sort of floral aftertaste that has become my signal for "I've sniffed in a sufficient amount" (i.e., if I do one spray in each nostril, but don't taste it, that's my cue for "okay I need two sprays per nostril this time").
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:04 PM on March 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:04 PM on March 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
Zara looks like THE BEST GIRL!!! theora55!
Is she a standard? Can't tell size from the pic
posted by Windopaene at 12:05 PM on March 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
Is she a standard? Can't tell size from the pic
posted by Windopaene at 12:05 PM on March 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
has anyone tried Sinus Plumber? because it looks like a prank that got away from us. I have met exactly one person who "swears by it" but when I acquired some for my partner, she gave it one shot and I have never lived it down.
posted by elkevelvet at 12:07 PM on March 28, 2022
posted by elkevelvet at 12:07 PM on March 28, 2022
Nth-ing the cetirizine, it's the only one I've tried so far (haven't tried Flonase) that works for me and doesn't also make me loopy and dumb.
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:07 PM on March 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:07 PM on March 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
Sort of tangentially related to Troy Kotsur:
If you haven't seen it, this clip from an interview Marlee Matlin had with Stephen Colbert has two absolutely delightful moments:
1. At one point there's some teasing back and forth about fitting into clothes from one's younger days. Marlee asks to see photos of Stephen as a younger man - and Stephen not only says, but gives the ASL sign for "later". And Marlee calls everything to a halt to ask "wait - did you just sign?" And does a mock firing of her interpreter because clearly Stephen can handle things on his own.
2. At another point, Marlee ends a story by saying "Karma's a bitch" - and then a second after, apologizes and asks "can I say 'Bitch' on TV"? Stephen says it's fine - and then hastily adds not to get TOO carried away when he sees the evil gleam in her eye. "We wouldn't want to blur your hands or anything," he says. But then he hesitates and turns to his director. "Hang on - WOULD we blur her hands? Is that actually what they'd do?"
"There's only one way to find out," the director calls from off stage.
And a second later, Marlee Matlin grins broadly - and gleefully signs "FUCK YOU!" ....Then spends several seconds teaching Stephen the sign in question.
(And yes, they blur her hands.)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:26 PM on March 28, 2022 [17 favorites]
If you haven't seen it, this clip from an interview Marlee Matlin had with Stephen Colbert has two absolutely delightful moments:
1. At one point there's some teasing back and forth about fitting into clothes from one's younger days. Marlee asks to see photos of Stephen as a younger man - and Stephen not only says, but gives the ASL sign for "later". And Marlee calls everything to a halt to ask "wait - did you just sign?" And does a mock firing of her interpreter because clearly Stephen can handle things on his own.
2. At another point, Marlee ends a story by saying "Karma's a bitch" - and then a second after, apologizes and asks "can I say 'Bitch' on TV"? Stephen says it's fine - and then hastily adds not to get TOO carried away when he sees the evil gleam in her eye. "We wouldn't want to blur your hands or anything," he says. But then he hesitates and turns to his director. "Hang on - WOULD we blur her hands? Is that actually what they'd do?"
"There's only one way to find out," the director calls from off stage.
And a second later, Marlee Matlin grins broadly - and gleefully signs "FUCK YOU!" ....Then spends several seconds teaching Stephen the sign in question.
(And yes, they blur her hands.)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:26 PM on March 28, 2022 [17 favorites]
In Alberta, it's surprisingly spring-like weather (hitting a sweet 20 degrees celcius on saturday which was just a treat) but none of the plants I planted last year that I'm nervous about coming back have shown up yet. But my bleeding hearts and raspberries and other old reliables are still sleeping too, so I shouldn't get nervous.
We dug out my whole front bed last year, and sifted the dirt, removing 1000s of tulip bulbs (okay probably 100s), using new soil, covering in mulch, planting new things... and my front bed is FULL OF TULIPS THIS WEEKEND poking up from everywhere.
This has been a 4 year project - get rid of the tulips - and it might just be impossible. I think I give up. They're pretty for a hot minute, I'll just enjoy them.
posted by euphoria066 at 12:26 PM on March 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
We dug out my whole front bed last year, and sifted the dirt, removing 1000s of tulip bulbs (okay probably 100s), using new soil, covering in mulch, planting new things... and my front bed is FULL OF TULIPS THIS WEEKEND poking up from everywhere.
This has been a 4 year project - get rid of the tulips - and it might just be impossible. I think I give up. They're pretty for a hot minute, I'll just enjoy them.
posted by euphoria066 at 12:26 PM on March 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
I have some sort of flu. Not COVID, I've tested. But I am coughing and coughing and have a headache and generally everything is shitty. And I ran out of cetirizine that I take for my allergy. So today I'm on Benadryl because that is what they have at the supermarket. I'd forgotten how drowsy it makes you feel. Not a fan. Can't say if it works against the allergy because right now, I have no idea what is the allergy and what is the flu.
The cetirizine works fine, when I have it.
posted by mumimor at 12:27 PM on March 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
The cetirizine works fine, when I have it.
posted by mumimor at 12:27 PM on March 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
Watching a film and they just killed Liam Neeson's dog, so I guess I know how this is going to end.
posted by biffa at 12:30 PM on March 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by biffa at 12:30 PM on March 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
In Alberta, it's surprisingly spring-like weather
euphoria066, are you in the south? because north-central was indeed nice yesterday afternoon, but Monday has been a snow day.. I'm looking at it coming down right now, same as all morning, and it's nothing like spring over here
posted by elkevelvet at 12:49 PM on March 28, 2022
euphoria066, are you in the south? because north-central was indeed nice yesterday afternoon, but Monday has been a snow day.. I'm looking at it coming down right now, same as all morning, and it's nothing like spring over here
posted by elkevelvet at 12:49 PM on March 28, 2022
Watching a film and they just killed Liam Neeson's dog, so I guess I know how this is going to end.
this seems to be one of the key mythical bits to the whole John Wick franchise.. can anyone describe the appeal of the franchise? I get that Keanu Reeves has cultivated a persona as a Great Guy and perhaps he is all that, but for the life of me I don't get his stardom. name any Reeves vehicle and I can think of several mediocre actors who would have done the role much better, the guy knows one speed and it's "wooden"
posted by elkevelvet at 12:52 PM on March 28, 2022
this seems to be one of the key mythical bits to the whole John Wick franchise.. can anyone describe the appeal of the franchise? I get that Keanu Reeves has cultivated a persona as a Great Guy and perhaps he is all that, but for the life of me I don't get his stardom. name any Reeves vehicle and I can think of several mediocre actors who would have done the role much better, the guy knows one speed and it's "wooden"
posted by elkevelvet at 12:52 PM on March 28, 2022
Plus - Flonase has this sort of floral aftertaste that has become my signal for "I've sniffed in a sufficient amount"
It smells like daffodils!
posted by The Underpants Monster at 12:59 PM on March 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
It smells like daffodils!
posted by The Underpants Monster at 12:59 PM on March 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
All three Bill & Ted movies are pretty fun, I can't imagine anyone else in that role, and Keanu really does more than just "smell the fart" acting.
posted by hippybear at 12:59 PM on March 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by hippybear at 12:59 PM on March 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
I heard that they asked stunt coordinators to write a movie. If that's true it explains a lot, including the mindset you need going into that movie. Don't take it too seriously, crazy stunts!
posted by adept256 at 12:59 PM on March 28, 2022
posted by adept256 at 12:59 PM on March 28, 2022
The Will discussion is over in Fanfare.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 1:03 PM on March 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by St. Peepsburg at 1:03 PM on March 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
Since I have a six-year-old, the mention of carnivorous plants of course makes me think immediately of Encanto. I so dig the internal rhymes in What Else Can I Do:
Can I
deliver us
a river of
sundew?
Careful, it's
carnivorous,
a little just
won't do.
It's really cool how Lin-Manuel Miranda has brought some hip-hop styling into the musical, and it still fits in perfectly with Disney canon.
He also brought in a little tick of his that I don't know if anyone else notices or cares about, but always stands out to me for some weird reason... there are these moments where he relies on this note bendy thing, like you'd have in a guitar lick. Prominently in "Look arOUnd, look arOUnd" in Hamilton. It's pretty foundational in The Family Madrigal: "This is our HOme, we've got every generAtion, so full of MUsic", and pops up elsewhere. It just feels to me like, hey, it's a musical, they've got to sing this line, but I don't really know what to do with it, so just... bend it a little at the end? Is it just me?
posted by team lowkey at 1:03 PM on March 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
Can I
deliver us
a river of
sundew?
Careful, it's
carnivorous,
a little just
won't do.
It's really cool how Lin-Manuel Miranda has brought some hip-hop styling into the musical, and it still fits in perfectly with Disney canon.
He also brought in a little tick of his that I don't know if anyone else notices or cares about, but always stands out to me for some weird reason... there are these moments where he relies on this note bendy thing, like you'd have in a guitar lick. Prominently in "Look arOUnd, look arOUnd" in Hamilton. It's pretty foundational in The Family Madrigal: "This is our HOme, we've got every generAtion, so full of MUsic", and pops up elsewhere. It just feels to me like, hey, it's a musical, they've got to sing this line, but I don't really know what to do with it, so just... bend it a little at the end? Is it just me?
posted by team lowkey at 1:03 PM on March 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
Keanu's got a lot of charm when it's set up to come through. I think he's given some poor performances over the years but he's also been a great fit for some of them, where his general affect and slow burn style fits the character and the direction. And he's funny when he's allowed to be.
John Wick is sort of a "put a warm body in the lead" movie; I think he was a good fit, especially the older, wearier person he can be now, but that movie is fundamentally a celebration of fantastical choreographed violence with a mediocre story stapled on to it.
posted by cortex at 1:04 PM on March 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
John Wick is sort of a "put a warm body in the lead" movie; I think he was a good fit, especially the older, wearier person he can be now, but that movie is fundamentally a celebration of fantastical choreographed violence with a mediocre story stapled on to it.
posted by cortex at 1:04 PM on March 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
All this talk about celebs, but what about MEEEEEEEE?
posted by BostonTerrier at 1:06 PM on March 28, 2022
posted by BostonTerrier at 1:06 PM on March 28, 2022
I think BostonTerrier was pretty good in some things too.
posted by cortex at 1:07 PM on March 28, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by cortex at 1:07 PM on March 28, 2022 [4 favorites]
Oh yes, I should have specified Calgary, where I think we're getting a bit lucky this spring with the amount of sunshine! the rest of Alberta seems a bit harsher and I'm sorry about your snow day - I feel like I barely survived until spring this year and I'm so happy it seems to be coming a little early, I hope you guys get some relief soon!
I think the key to john wick is that they're movies made to celebrate the technical aspect of action movies - the martial arts! the gunfights! the car chases! the motorbikes! the long choreographed chase-walk through a crowded public place! It's sort of on-purpose not about the acting or story, so keanu is great in them because he's a big star but maintains kind of a blank slate on his own personality, and I believe he has some actual martial arts training (including maybe a black belt?) so I'm sure it's easier to work with him as far as switching in and out stuntmen and getting in the right position and maybe even doing some basic stuff for character-filming purposes. Plus he seems like he's not a real big ego and is heart-stoppingly attractive so that helps.
posted by euphoria066 at 1:08 PM on March 28, 2022
I think the key to john wick is that they're movies made to celebrate the technical aspect of action movies - the martial arts! the gunfights! the car chases! the motorbikes! the long choreographed chase-walk through a crowded public place! It's sort of on-purpose not about the acting or story, so keanu is great in them because he's a big star but maintains kind of a blank slate on his own personality, and I believe he has some actual martial arts training (including maybe a black belt?) so I'm sure it's easier to work with him as far as switching in and out stuntmen and getting in the right position and maybe even doing some basic stuff for character-filming purposes. Plus he seems like he's not a real big ego and is heart-stoppingly attractive so that helps.
posted by euphoria066 at 1:08 PM on March 28, 2022
Keanu's got a lot of charm when it's set up to come through
Parenthood [1989] (mildly nsfw)
posted by snuffleupagus at 1:08 PM on March 28, 2022 [4 favorites]
Parenthood [1989] (mildly nsfw)
posted by snuffleupagus at 1:08 PM on March 28, 2022 [4 favorites]
BostonTerrier would have been my pick for John Wick
posted by elkevelvet at 1:08 PM on March 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by elkevelvet at 1:08 PM on March 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
To me, Keanu comes across as the guy everyone wishes was their best quiet friend.
Who will absolutely destroy anyone who dares to harm you.
And then be all cool again at the next Saturday get-together and not talk about it much until you really prod him and then he’ll get super enthusiastic but be all abashed when he realizes.
But I may be projecting.
Not liking Keanu Reeves is like not liking Michael J. Fox. It’s unpossible.
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 1:14 PM on March 28, 2022 [8 favorites]
Who will absolutely destroy anyone who dares to harm you.
And then be all cool again at the next Saturday get-together and not talk about it much until you really prod him and then he’ll get super enthusiastic but be all abashed when he realizes.
But I may be projecting.
Not liking Keanu Reeves is like not liking Michael J. Fox. It’s unpossible.
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 1:14 PM on March 28, 2022 [8 favorites]
The trailer for the Matrix Awakens game is amazing. Real next-gen stuff. In the beginning there's a real Keanu and a CGI Keanu, usually this kind of thing is very obvious, but Keanu's acting style...
posted by adept256 at 1:22 PM on March 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by adept256 at 1:22 PM on March 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
I think BostonTerrier was pretty good in some things too.
Just so we're clear, it was a collie that but the bullet in the Neeson vehicle not a BostonTerrier, if anyone was worried.
posted by biffa at 1:30 PM on March 28, 2022
Just so we're clear, it was a collie that but the bullet in the Neeson vehicle not a BostonTerrier, if anyone was worried.
posted by biffa at 1:30 PM on March 28, 2022
it was a collie that but the bullet
They shot it in the but?? That's just rude!
;)
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:50 PM on March 28, 2022
They shot it in the but?? That's just rude!
;)
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:50 PM on March 28, 2022
> The director and DP stayed over at our place so we could get up at 4AM to drive out to a cliff face overlooking a rocky beach path which leads to the remains of a shipwreck.
That place is pretty neat. I didn’t know about it until a MeFite commented in 2016.
posted by Monochrome at 1:57 PM on March 28, 2022
That place is pretty neat. I didn’t know about it until a MeFite commented in 2016.
posted by Monochrome at 1:57 PM on March 28, 2022
Just coming back from my first trip in pandemic-plus-several-months. On the VIA train from Montreal to Toronto this afternoon I was watching a British/New Zealand comedy on my tablet. I got through two or three episodes, mostly chortling quietly behind my mask.
Then I got a text from an old friend to tell me that another of our circle -- my onetime roommate, her best friend -- is in her last few days now due to aggressive metastasis of her cancer. Jenn is about the sweetest person you can imagine, and then a bit sweeter than that. Now, it seems she is unlikely to see the end of this week. Fuckity fuck fuck.
I turned off the show, of course, and conducted a few fraught text conversations as I passed on the grim news, forwarding this sad information to several shocked recipients, answering what questions I could, and occasionally pausing to daub my eyes.
I suspect the woman sitting across from me on the train was intrigued at the dazzling range of emotions my show was evoking. "What on Earth can he be watching??"
posted by ricochet biscuit at 1:57 PM on March 28, 2022 [5 favorites]
Then I got a text from an old friend to tell me that another of our circle -- my onetime roommate, her best friend -- is in her last few days now due to aggressive metastasis of her cancer. Jenn is about the sweetest person you can imagine, and then a bit sweeter than that. Now, it seems she is unlikely to see the end of this week. Fuckity fuck fuck.
I turned off the show, of course, and conducted a few fraught text conversations as I passed on the grim news, forwarding this sad information to several shocked recipients, answering what questions I could, and occasionally pausing to daub my eyes.
I suspect the woman sitting across from me on the train was intrigued at the dazzling range of emotions my show was evoking. "What on Earth can he be watching??"
posted by ricochet biscuit at 1:57 PM on March 28, 2022 [5 favorites]
this seems to be one of the key mythical bits to the whole John Wick franchise.. can anyone describe the appeal of the franchise?
A friend of mine is obsessed with the whole mythology of the secret society, their secret hotels, paying with coins, the "Baba Yaga" nickname (seems inaccurate to me on that last one, but whatever), that whole thing. I concur that if you're focusing on that, that's a little more unusual than the usual "someone beats up/kills everyone in their path" plot line.
But other than that...
John Wick is sort of a "put a warm body in the lead" movie; I think he was a good fit, especially the older, wearier person he can be now, but that movie is fundamentally a celebration of fantastical choreographed violence with a mediocre story stapled on to it.
Um, yeah, this. I watched the first two (second one's very dark and I had little to no idea what was going on) and mostly it's just another beat 'em up movie, though the dog thing stands out a bit in the first one. After seeing the second one, I saw the aforementioned friend and was all "um, what just happened?" and he was all "...yeah, that one's not as good."
posted by jenfullmoon at 1:59 PM on March 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
A friend of mine is obsessed with the whole mythology of the secret society, their secret hotels, paying with coins, the "Baba Yaga" nickname (seems inaccurate to me on that last one, but whatever), that whole thing. I concur that if you're focusing on that, that's a little more unusual than the usual "someone beats up/kills everyone in their path" plot line.
But other than that...
John Wick is sort of a "put a warm body in the lead" movie; I think he was a good fit, especially the older, wearier person he can be now, but that movie is fundamentally a celebration of fantastical choreographed violence with a mediocre story stapled on to it.
Um, yeah, this. I watched the first two (second one's very dark and I had little to no idea what was going on) and mostly it's just another beat 'em up movie, though the dog thing stands out a bit in the first one. After seeing the second one, I saw the aforementioned friend and was all "um, what just happened?" and he was all "...yeah, that one's not as good."
posted by jenfullmoon at 1:59 PM on March 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
Goodness, does anyone else here work in some capacity with on-boarding new employees to specific systems? And sometimes all you get is a name and a start date in the SFDC Case. Not great, but ya know, lets see if we can find them. No dice, and they're supposed to be starting tomorrow!
OMG, email their manager! Manager replies: Oh yeah, they go by X Smith, but their name is really John X Smith, but they hate John, so go by their middle name.
Does anyone else get this? Makes me want to tear my hair out. If you can't even give me an employee number with your SFDC Case, then don't even start with your AKA's! Your FULL NAME PLEASE. I don't care how much you hate it.
Ok, sorry I just needed to vent about that.
posted by sharp pointy objects at 2:10 PM on March 28, 2022 [7 favorites]
OMG, email their manager! Manager replies: Oh yeah, they go by X Smith, but their name is really John X Smith, but they hate John, so go by their middle name.
Does anyone else get this? Makes me want to tear my hair out. If you can't even give me an employee number with your SFDC Case, then don't even start with your AKA's! Your FULL NAME PLEASE. I don't care how much you hate it.
Ok, sorry I just needed to vent about that.
posted by sharp pointy objects at 2:10 PM on March 28, 2022 [7 favorites]
I found more wild enoki mushrooms in my woodpile today. Enoki are typically a winter mushroom, and while everyone in the forager community is eagerly awaiting spring and the morels, my visit to the woodpile to top off the woodstove, and my finding enoki there, are both signs (along with the fact that the low tonight will be in the teens, with single-digit windchills) that winter is having its last hurrah.
posted by drlith at 2:11 PM on March 28, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by drlith at 2:11 PM on March 28, 2022 [5 favorites]
We joined out local botanical garden at Christmas and have already been 3 times this year. Tulips and cherry trees were blooming everywhere yesterday. It was beautiful. With that 3rd visit we've broken even on our membership fees so we are effectively visiting free for the rest of the year. I've also been taking 10-15 minute works break and just watching the bird feeder. I'm getting good at identifying by sight all the species that regularly visit, and I'm even starting to learn some of their songs too.
posted by COD at 2:16 PM on March 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by COD at 2:16 PM on March 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
Wild enoki/supermarket enoki.
Nothing alike. I would be dead a million times over picking wild mushrooms.
posted by adept256 at 2:19 PM on March 28, 2022 [5 favorites]
Nothing alike. I would be dead a million times over picking wild mushrooms.
posted by adept256 at 2:19 PM on March 28, 2022 [5 favorites]
With you there, sharp pointy objects. I deal more with ah, offboarded people than onboarded ones, but having to find old clientele under God knows what name someone put them in with in the 70's and no way to do online searches, ugh. Or people with dirt common first and dirt common last names and no middle name. I spent a month one time trying to track someone down before I was finally informed that they have a middle name and were somehow filed under their middle name as the last name. Whaaaaat?
posted by jenfullmoon at 2:20 PM on March 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by jenfullmoon at 2:20 PM on March 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
Since we've birds and plants being talked about, I'd like to once again mention the really excellent phone app Seek, from iNaturalist, California Academy Of Sciences, and National Geographic. It uses your phone camera and some kind of amazing Star Trek magic to identify animals, plants, birds, fungi, and other things while you're out and about. It's one of the few apps on my phone that really feels wondrous.
posted by hippybear at 2:20 PM on March 28, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 2:20 PM on March 28, 2022 [5 favorites]
Wish I didn't think most mushrooms taste like dirt, (or that misidentification could lead to death). Always think it's so cool to see wild mushrooms, and want to harvest them for Ms. Windo who loves them. But she shares the fear of death, so would never accept them.
When I was growing up we had a couple of spots in our front yard where the Inky Caps would grow, and my dad harvested them constantly.
EDIT: If we are doing botany, learn how to pronounce "chamaecyparis nootkatensis".
So fun to say
posted by Windopaene at 2:23 PM on March 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
When I was growing up we had a couple of spots in our front yard where the Inky Caps would grow, and my dad harvested them constantly.
EDIT: If we are doing botany, learn how to pronounce "chamaecyparis nootkatensis".
So fun to say
posted by Windopaene at 2:23 PM on March 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
Not that exact situation, sharp pointy object, but very similar. Intensely frustrating.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 2:24 PM on March 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by The Underpants Monster at 2:24 PM on March 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
John Wick is sort of a "put a warm body in the lead" movie; I think he was a good fit, especially the older, wearier person he can be now, but that movie is fundamentally a celebration of fantastical choreographed violence with a mediocre story stapled on to it.
[Er, spoilers for John Wick I guess?]
I am inclined to agree with this for the two sequels, but I honestly hold that the first John Wick is in fact a stellar movie. Keanu is perfect because one has to believe that this supernaturally effective murderer was also a goofy, sweet, in-love person whose dying wife knew he needed a puppy. Someone more dedicatedly hard-boiled or more nuanced in their acting would be unconvincing in the scale of their reaction to the puppy-murder. They'd have to be conveying with their face that they're doing this for Honor, or Code, or whatever (which is exactly what goes on in the lackluster sequels).
Instead, it's a pure unadulterated revenge fantasy untainted by nuances and themes. They killed a puppy. Everything that happens after that is what happens in any of our decent human minds when we hear that someone has harmed a small, helpless, harmless creature.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 2:32 PM on March 28, 2022 [5 favorites]
[Er, spoilers for John Wick I guess?]
I am inclined to agree with this for the two sequels, but I honestly hold that the first John Wick is in fact a stellar movie. Keanu is perfect because one has to believe that this supernaturally effective murderer was also a goofy, sweet, in-love person whose dying wife knew he needed a puppy. Someone more dedicatedly hard-boiled or more nuanced in their acting would be unconvincing in the scale of their reaction to the puppy-murder. They'd have to be conveying with their face that they're doing this for Honor, or Code, or whatever (which is exactly what goes on in the lackluster sequels).
Instead, it's a pure unadulterated revenge fantasy untainted by nuances and themes. They killed a puppy. Everything that happens after that is what happens in any of our decent human minds when we hear that someone has harmed a small, helpless, harmless creature.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 2:32 PM on March 28, 2022 [5 favorites]
So sorry to hear that, richochet biscuit. I hope your sweet friend has a peaceful and loved final few days, that her memory and your mutual friend circle are all a comfort.
posted by penguin pie at 2:47 PM on March 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by penguin pie at 2:47 PM on March 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
I am inclined to agree with this for the two sequels, but I honestly hold that the first John Wick is in fact a stellar movie. Keanu is perfect because one has to believe that this supernaturally effective murderer was also a goofy, sweet, in-love person whose dying wife knew he needed a puppy.
I mostly agree with you; I think you're dead on in the casting and if it been, like, Jason Statham instead it would have been harder to credit the quiet/sad core of the Wick character. But I don't think the movie itself actually gave Keanu enough to work with there and the actual melancholy reflective bits it was trying to make happen were pretty unsuccessful and unconvincing to me. It was all very very understudy to the choreographed action that was clearly the heart and soul of the production.
posted by cortex at 2:49 PM on March 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
I mostly agree with you; I think you're dead on in the casting and if it been, like, Jason Statham instead it would have been harder to credit the quiet/sad core of the Wick character. But I don't think the movie itself actually gave Keanu enough to work with there and the actual melancholy reflective bits it was trying to make happen were pretty unsuccessful and unconvincing to me. It was all very very understudy to the choreographed action that was clearly the heart and soul of the production.
posted by cortex at 2:49 PM on March 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
this all comes down to taste in fight-y movies.. I will say, if Keanu Reeves is anywhere close to his chill persona, then maybe he's just an easier guy to have around on set (in comparison to any number of ego-chuffed alternatives, and not even touching the other toxic possibilities).
hippybear is right, with Bill & Ted he kind of inhabited the role and I can't imagine another Ted, like trying to imagine Han Solo as someone other than young Ford
posted by elkevelvet at 3:06 PM on March 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
hippybear is right, with Bill & Ted he kind of inhabited the role and I can't imagine another Ted, like trying to imagine Han Solo as someone other than young Ford
posted by elkevelvet at 3:06 PM on March 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
I admit I prefer Fun Keanu to Stoic Keanu. We don't see Fun Keanus very often (Bill and Ted, Always Be My Maybe).
posted by jenfullmoon at 3:18 PM on March 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by jenfullmoon at 3:18 PM on March 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
sharp pointy objects , tangentially I once made a horrible SNAFU at work and deleted most of /usr/local off of scores of machines. I went to my Boss all OMG fucked up and he tells me to talk to Mo. Who's Mo? She's right next door. I had three different people in my head who were all the same person and didn't know it. I'd talked to that lady many times didn't notice, had email conversations many times (all [first initial last name] like) didn't notice, heard Mo in many emails and just Cc'd didn't notice. OMG she's Mo. There was a lot of that at my workplace, old hackers. People chose their usernames and there were a lot of nicknames and all that sort of stuff. Took a good while to put names to faces to email to nicknames. Fun place.
posted by zengargoyle at 3:47 PM on March 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by zengargoyle at 3:47 PM on March 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
Took a good while to put names to faces to email to nicknames.I met a lot of very close friends through a real-world game that was organized online. When we met, I didn't actually know anybody's name or what anybody looked like. Years later, I still don't actually know some of their real names. I originally thought the person who is now my spouse was an entirely different player of a different gender, 'cause that person only posted photos of their partner who looked very similar and my spouse rarely posted photos.
The first time I met with a large group, the event got raided by cops, who were absolutely befuddled that none of us actually knew anybody else's name. "Are you driving home?" "No, I'm taking the bus." "How did you get here?" "I got a ride with StrawberryMarscapone and HighTech." "What are their real names?" "I have no idea." "Where are they?" "I think they already left." The look on the cop's face was worth the citation.
posted by eotvos at 4:24 PM on March 28, 2022 [8 favorites]
Wow zengargoyle, I'd have lost my mind, lol. Hopefully she was able to fix your SNAFU! We use MS Teams here, and although for the most part I'm not a huge fan, everyone has been encouraged to upload a nice photo of themselves which displays during all meetings and is a tiny little pic displaying on each email. Now that I've been working remote for so long, it's a godsend. I'd never be able to put faces to names otherwise.
posted by sharp pointy objects at 4:25 PM on March 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by sharp pointy objects at 4:25 PM on March 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
eotvos, I feel like we're only getting half a story here. Raided by cops??
posted by sharp pointy objects at 4:26 PM on March 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by sharp pointy objects at 4:26 PM on March 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
I am soooo hungry. Just so hungry. I have to have my three-year followup colonoscopy tomorrow and I'm in the "only clear liquids" phase and I just want to eat something so. damn. bad. I'm also really late with the procedure because I just hate these things so much but when you've had the cancer, what can you do. Crossing all appendages for a decent one, because if anything at all shows up, I won't be able to progress to only having to endure these every five years. Bleh. I should also probably get some work done but my rumbling stomach is so loud, who can concentrate. (I learned today thanks to This Podcast Will Kill You that a rumbling stomach is called borborygmus. It'd be great if I still did puzzles or played Scrabble.)
Now I'm gonna go stare forlornly at my cat's food while I seethe with envy that he gets to eat.
posted by kitten kaboodle at 4:26 PM on March 28, 2022 [9 favorites]
Now I'm gonna go stare forlornly at my cat's food while I seethe with envy that he gets to eat.
posted by kitten kaboodle at 4:26 PM on March 28, 2022 [9 favorites]
There's purportedly a field test for mushroom foraging, but not clear from that 2020 article if it was actually brought to market.
posted by snuffleupagus at 4:26 PM on March 28, 2022
posted by snuffleupagus at 4:26 PM on March 28, 2022
I really want tricorders basically for wild-food foraging. Medical stuff, that's cool man. But can I eat this berry and not die? That's medical stuff too right?
posted by sharp pointy objects at 4:29 PM on March 28, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by sharp pointy objects at 4:29 PM on March 28, 2022 [5 favorites]
Raided by cops??Well, we *were* burning objects at an altar in the center of a rather permanent version of Stonehenge made from around thirty brightly painted, discarded house doors. In a public park, at around 1AM, with alcohol and music. All in all, the cops were a lot nicer than one might have expected. (It was far from the paths and in a tree-obscured depression, though.)
We told them we found the doors that way and had nothing to do with it. They stayed up for months afterward.
posted by eotvos at 4:34 PM on March 28, 2022 [14 favorites]
I really want tricorders basically for wild-food foraging.
There's some phone apps like plant.net, identifythis (This title may be wrong) but also Google Lens.
Google lens is scary good at identifying things. Like almost anything. Like I've pointed it at a pair of old shoes and it's identified the brand and type of shoe. It's also pretty good at plants.
In the Pacific Northwest we also have the really amazing Plants of the Pacific Northwest by Pojar and McKinnon, which is beautifully illustrated and photographs with tons of notes about edibles or traditional First Nations uses ranging from food to medicine.
A friend of mine gave me a copy of it a few years ago and it's amazing. I use it all the time. I just recently loaned it to a friend who was trying to figure out exactly what kind of willow he was harvesting for some basket weaving projects and, yep, the willow was in there and he was able to identify the subtype.
Also I've done a bunch of foraging - mostly berries, wild apples, some greens and ramps, some horsetail, cattail tubers and the usual sort of thing, but some easily identifiable mushrooms like morels, lobsters, oysters and chicken of the woods.
What I've learned from foraging so far is it's a ton of work and - outside of berries, mushrooms, flowers and wild apples or seafood - most wild plants are usually really bland tasting or unpalatably bitter compared to garden produce. Horsetails in particular are basically thin celery with even less flavor, with the added bonus that you need to scrape the papery shrouds off so you don't destroy your tooth enable with the heavy amounts of silica they contain, but these papery shrouds can make a handy pumice for scouring or polishing things.
Honestly the amount of foraging I've done has dissuaded me from the idea of living purely off the land and wild foraging. It's really difficult to get enough food together to survive or thrive on. You kind of need a whole tribe or village to share and delegate the labor and prep work and lots of wild, untouched land to make this possible. It's a lot more difficult to do solo.
Also it's entirely possible to eat enough wild berries to do horrible things to your GI tract. There's been a few summers around here where I ate so many berries right off the vine I was practically pooping out jam. When there's literally thousands and thousands of pounds of ripe berries all around you and they're all absolutely delicious and ripe and all shiny and clean from the rain it's really hard not to go overboard on the berries.
This year I'm hoping to make some pies, though, which I haven't done yet. Fresh blackberry pie sounds amazing. And I'm a wizard at the Cook's Illustrated Vodka pie short crust method and now I can speed run a double pie crust in a bit under an hour, not including baking. It's sooooo flaky. My housemates actually had to ask me to stop making so many damn pies because they were so addictive.
posted by loquacious at 4:52 PM on March 28, 2022 [8 favorites]
There's some phone apps like plant.net, identifythis (This title may be wrong) but also Google Lens.
Google lens is scary good at identifying things. Like almost anything. Like I've pointed it at a pair of old shoes and it's identified the brand and type of shoe. It's also pretty good at plants.
In the Pacific Northwest we also have the really amazing Plants of the Pacific Northwest by Pojar and McKinnon, which is beautifully illustrated and photographs with tons of notes about edibles or traditional First Nations uses ranging from food to medicine.
A friend of mine gave me a copy of it a few years ago and it's amazing. I use it all the time. I just recently loaned it to a friend who was trying to figure out exactly what kind of willow he was harvesting for some basket weaving projects and, yep, the willow was in there and he was able to identify the subtype.
Also I've done a bunch of foraging - mostly berries, wild apples, some greens and ramps, some horsetail, cattail tubers and the usual sort of thing, but some easily identifiable mushrooms like morels, lobsters, oysters and chicken of the woods.
What I've learned from foraging so far is it's a ton of work and - outside of berries, mushrooms, flowers and wild apples or seafood - most wild plants are usually really bland tasting or unpalatably bitter compared to garden produce. Horsetails in particular are basically thin celery with even less flavor, with the added bonus that you need to scrape the papery shrouds off so you don't destroy your tooth enable with the heavy amounts of silica they contain, but these papery shrouds can make a handy pumice for scouring or polishing things.
Honestly the amount of foraging I've done has dissuaded me from the idea of living purely off the land and wild foraging. It's really difficult to get enough food together to survive or thrive on. You kind of need a whole tribe or village to share and delegate the labor and prep work and lots of wild, untouched land to make this possible. It's a lot more difficult to do solo.
Also it's entirely possible to eat enough wild berries to do horrible things to your GI tract. There's been a few summers around here where I ate so many berries right off the vine I was practically pooping out jam. When there's literally thousands and thousands of pounds of ripe berries all around you and they're all absolutely delicious and ripe and all shiny and clean from the rain it's really hard not to go overboard on the berries.
This year I'm hoping to make some pies, though, which I haven't done yet. Fresh blackberry pie sounds amazing. And I'm a wizard at the Cook's Illustrated Vodka pie short crust method and now I can speed run a double pie crust in a bit under an hour, not including baking. It's sooooo flaky. My housemates actually had to ask me to stop making so many damn pies because they were so addictive.
posted by loquacious at 4:52 PM on March 28, 2022 [8 favorites]
No one is addressing vegetables? OK. Botanist here.
A fruit is the fleshy covering over seeds. So peppers, greenbeans and tomatoes are fruits, not vegetables. Wheat, oats, barley, etc. are grains; basically the seeds themself plus a papery covering. Soybeans, chickpeas and lentils are also seeds. Artichokes and capers are flower buds. That's probably what the person who said there were no vegetables meant. However, there are vegetables; plant organs not associated with seeds. Celery and cardoons are leaf stalks- vegetable. Spinach is a leaf. Potatoes are tubers. Fennel is the base of a plant. Carrots and beets are the root of a plant. Asparagus is an immature shoot.
Thank you for your attention.
posted by acrasis at 5:07 PM on March 28, 2022 [25 favorites]
A fruit is the fleshy covering over seeds. So peppers, greenbeans and tomatoes are fruits, not vegetables. Wheat, oats, barley, etc. are grains; basically the seeds themself plus a papery covering. Soybeans, chickpeas and lentils are also seeds. Artichokes and capers are flower buds. That's probably what the person who said there were no vegetables meant. However, there are vegetables; plant organs not associated with seeds. Celery and cardoons are leaf stalks- vegetable. Spinach is a leaf. Potatoes are tubers. Fennel is the base of a plant. Carrots and beets are the root of a plant. Asparagus is an immature shoot.
Thank you for your attention.
posted by acrasis at 5:07 PM on March 28, 2022 [25 favorites]
My wife got stuck into one of our gardens on the weekend, which has been going somewhat feral due to a combination of massive rainfall interspersed with long days of sunshine. When we established the garden, we planted Elephant Ears either side of a fountain. They look lovely and dramatic when kept in check, but they are absolutely ferocious in their growth during the summer and aggressively claim more and more territory when left alone. She got right in amongst them, slashing and cutting and carrying the remains out.
We now know that these plants are poisonous and she ended up at the doctor for rashes and irritation almost all over her. She's much better today, but spent a couple of miserable days trying not to scratch all the things.
posted by dg at 5:16 PM on March 28, 2022 [4 favorites]
We now know that these plants are poisonous and she ended up at the doctor for rashes and irritation almost all over her. She's much better today, but spent a couple of miserable days trying not to scratch all the things.
posted by dg at 5:16 PM on March 28, 2022 [4 favorites]
Inky cap mushrooms are full of a substance known as antibuse, it makes you very ill if eaten in conjunction with alcohol. You will think you ate poisonous mushrooms.
posted by Oyéah at 6:04 PM on March 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Oyéah at 6:04 PM on March 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
I've been really neglecting my etsy store and a lot of my other art documentation stuff the last few months, but I just got a new linocut print up for the first time in a while and that feels nice.
posted by cortex at 6:20 PM on March 28, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by cortex at 6:20 PM on March 28, 2022 [5 favorites]
The day before ypur yearly labs, remember to drink plenty of water. You may drink water after midnight and allvday if your labs are being drawn in the afternoon, especially in summer heat. Going in for your labs, dehydrated will result in all your values being higher because your blood is literally thisker, of particular concern is blood sugar, and blood fats. Your iron will look high, even if it is low. Pre-diabetes isboften chronic dehydration. GlucosecA1-C, reads over the last six weeks so that is not affected so much. Boom. Don't drink coffee before your blood pressure test either.
posted by Oyéah at 6:33 PM on March 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Oyéah at 6:33 PM on March 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
re: geese
There is a nesting pair of Canada geese on Alcatraz Island. They lord over the island, flying gracefully and parading down roadways. One time early in the Covid-reopening, a ranger forgot to close the door to the offices. A goose walked in and majestically examined all of the keyboards.
Sadly, the breeding pair is never successful. The approximately one thousand seagulls on the island are assholes, and seek out and damage the eggs of other species in a failing attempt to own the entire island.
Tbe Brandt's cormorants, which are almost four thousand strong, refuse to let the seagulls into their nesting areas.
Meanwhile, the human visitors do not appear to be reproducing on the island, but their numbers increase as vacation season arrives.
O visitors, wander the island. The plant life and bird life is fantastic.
posted by blob at 6:53 PM on March 28, 2022 [9 favorites]
There is a nesting pair of Canada geese on Alcatraz Island. They lord over the island, flying gracefully and parading down roadways. One time early in the Covid-reopening, a ranger forgot to close the door to the offices. A goose walked in and majestically examined all of the keyboards.
Sadly, the breeding pair is never successful. The approximately one thousand seagulls on the island are assholes, and seek out and damage the eggs of other species in a failing attempt to own the entire island.
Tbe Brandt's cormorants, which are almost four thousand strong, refuse to let the seagulls into their nesting areas.
Meanwhile, the human visitors do not appear to be reproducing on the island, but their numbers increase as vacation season arrives.
O visitors, wander the island. The plant life and bird life is fantastic.
posted by blob at 6:53 PM on March 28, 2022 [9 favorites]
i filled my piano with water then played it
posted by pyramid termite at 7:00 PM on March 28, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by pyramid termite at 7:00 PM on March 28, 2022 [6 favorites]
the human visitors do not appear to be reproducing on the island
Well, they certainly wouldn't make any attempts out in public where you'd notice.
posted by Greg_Ace at 7:12 PM on March 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
Well, they certainly wouldn't make any attempts out in public where you'd notice.
posted by Greg_Ace at 7:12 PM on March 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
Greg_Ace, You. Have. No. Idea.
posted by blob at 7:18 PM on March 28, 2022 [8 favorites]
posted by blob at 7:18 PM on March 28, 2022 [8 favorites]
(and no, I will not comment further.)
posted by blob at 7:18 PM on March 28, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by blob at 7:18 PM on March 28, 2022 [4 favorites]
in the city? hell, yes, they would
posted by pyramid termite at 7:41 PM on March 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by pyramid termite at 7:41 PM on March 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
I learned today that my uncle has passed from covid. He was nearly 90, so I guess pretty good innings, but I feel for my cousin, whose mom is also ill with covid and having a tough time of it. I've only met my cousin once, though I like her, but it was nice thinking there was some family to visit if I ever got to the UK again.
Lessee. It is coming up on one year since my stroke and I'm doing well except the tiny little glimmers of financial stability I could peek at back then are gone, thank you US health care industry.
That means it is also a year since my mom died, as she passed away the same day, at almost exactly the same time, that I had the stroke.
My car has been running like crap, and as I was poking around in the engine bay today I discovered I am hosting mice in there. Sigh. There used to be a feral cat which hung out here and kept the rodents at bay, but Mr. Dog long since chased them away--but didn't see fit to chase away the rodents in their stead. Mr. Dog also seems to have another ear infection, which is odd since he doesn't have the big floppy ears you normally associate with chronic infections. We have to steel ourselves now for a vet visit on Wednesday.
I did my first mow of the year and the soggy part of the yard tried to swallow the mower, making a huge mess and leading to some very colorful language.
Hope this is just the universe clearing the rest of my week.
posted by maxwelton at 7:58 PM on March 28, 2022 [9 favorites]
Lessee. It is coming up on one year since my stroke and I'm doing well except the tiny little glimmers of financial stability I could peek at back then are gone, thank you US health care industry.
That means it is also a year since my mom died, as she passed away the same day, at almost exactly the same time, that I had the stroke.
My car has been running like crap, and as I was poking around in the engine bay today I discovered I am hosting mice in there. Sigh. There used to be a feral cat which hung out here and kept the rodents at bay, but Mr. Dog long since chased them away--but didn't see fit to chase away the rodents in their stead. Mr. Dog also seems to have another ear infection, which is odd since he doesn't have the big floppy ears you normally associate with chronic infections. We have to steel ourselves now for a vet visit on Wednesday.
I did my first mow of the year and the soggy part of the yard tried to swallow the mower, making a huge mess and leading to some very colorful language.
Hope this is just the universe clearing the rest of my week.
posted by maxwelton at 7:58 PM on March 28, 2022 [9 favorites]
Something I would have posted during Doubles Jubilee: Free Speculative Fiction. This was originally posted in 2008, but it's still updated with new free stories from well-known authors.
posted by Monochrome at 8:24 PM on March 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Monochrome at 8:24 PM on March 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
Wow, pyramid termite, that water filled piano is fantastic. Very cool!
(Also, since some people seem excited about doorhenge, and I don't think I'm outing anyone who isn't already public, here's what it looked like.)
posted by eotvos at 10:19 PM on March 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
(Also, since some people seem excited about doorhenge, and I don't think I'm outing anyone who isn't already public, here's what it looked like.)
posted by eotvos at 10:19 PM on March 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
Yikes. I'm sorry to hear that, Maxwelton. That sounds really hard. All of it. Sympathy and best wishes.
posted by eotvos at 10:35 PM on March 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by eotvos at 10:35 PM on March 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
Wishing you all the best kitten kaboodle for the test and the eating afterwards.
If I may be allowed a small rant.
I know every profession feels that their job is The Most Misunderstood but can I have a moment for teachers?
Maybe it's the fault of that "if you can't do" saying. Or the fact that everyone has experienced a truly bad teacher at some point in their lives.
But there seems to be a total universal belief that just because you can do something, you can automatically teach someone else how to do it.
I created an online graphic design course for beginners some years ago. I have never been a professional graphic designer, but I've been teaching various creative skills for more than 20 years.
The course has been very successful. Every time there's a review of it, I get told the feedback is overwhelmingly positive. Students send me notes about how much fun they are having.
Things have recently been restructured, (code for the business that I work for has been bought by a US company) and I'm no longer allowed to choose my own assistant markers.
They are getting rid of the wonderful super competent woman who has years of experience in assessing and giving constructive feedback, and replacing her with a young man who has not had a day of teaching experience in his life but is, wait for it, a professional graphic designer.
Lovely guy, seems very keen, but has no idea how much he doesn't know about how to assess a beginners creative work and guide them to where they want to be.
But you know, he is *In The Industry*
They threw him in the deep end, not even setting up a training session with me on how to do the work, just basically allocated a bunch of students to him and "there you go, buddy, get it finished by the deadline".
Oh well.
Hopefully he's a quick study.
It's raining today. Really feeling like autumn for the first this year. I do love it when it rains.
posted by Zumbador at 10:44 PM on March 28, 2022 [7 favorites]
If I may be allowed a small rant.
I know every profession feels that their job is The Most Misunderstood but can I have a moment for teachers?
Maybe it's the fault of that "if you can't do" saying. Or the fact that everyone has experienced a truly bad teacher at some point in their lives.
But there seems to be a total universal belief that just because you can do something, you can automatically teach someone else how to do it.
I created an online graphic design course for beginners some years ago. I have never been a professional graphic designer, but I've been teaching various creative skills for more than 20 years.
The course has been very successful. Every time there's a review of it, I get told the feedback is overwhelmingly positive. Students send me notes about how much fun they are having.
Things have recently been restructured, (code for the business that I work for has been bought by a US company) and I'm no longer allowed to choose my own assistant markers.
They are getting rid of the wonderful super competent woman who has years of experience in assessing and giving constructive feedback, and replacing her with a young man who has not had a day of teaching experience in his life but is, wait for it, a professional graphic designer.
Lovely guy, seems very keen, but has no idea how much he doesn't know about how to assess a beginners creative work and guide them to where they want to be.
But you know, he is *In The Industry*
They threw him in the deep end, not even setting up a training session with me on how to do the work, just basically allocated a bunch of students to him and "there you go, buddy, get it finished by the deadline".
Oh well.
Hopefully he's a quick study.
It's raining today. Really feeling like autumn for the first this year. I do love it when it rains.
posted by Zumbador at 10:44 PM on March 28, 2022 [7 favorites]
Can we not? I especially don't want to hear takes from white people.
What about takes from black people? I have things to say but I know this is meant to be an easy breezy thread and I am not comfortable doing one of those grand posts on the blue. It's too intimidating and I'm at work.
So... I bought a pink water bottle and I'm listening to Marc Maron interviewing Flea. I feel like I'm repressing something.
posted by ihaveyourfoot at 2:50 AM on March 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
What about takes from black people? I have things to say but I know this is meant to be an easy breezy thread and I am not comfortable doing one of those grand posts on the blue. It's too intimidating and I'm at work.
So... I bought a pink water bottle and I'm listening to Marc Maron interviewing Flea. I feel like I'm repressing something.
posted by ihaveyourfoot at 2:50 AM on March 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
I met a lot of very close friends through a real-world game that was organized online. When we met, I didn't actually know anybody's name or what anybody looked like. Years later, I still don't actually know some of their real names.
I once had a roommate who was in about four different LARPS, with a different name in each, and there were a lot of people who only knew him by those names and they would sometimes call to do some between-games roleplaying. He also had about two or three different nicknames from college and people who only knew him by those names.
When we first became roommates there were several times when I would answer the phone, and he would hear me confusedly asking "I'm sorry, you said you're looking for 'James Webster'?" or saying "Sorry, there's no 'Pookie' here...." and come running over "sorry, LARP thing, that's for me..." It eventually got to the point where if anyone called and DIDN'T ask to speak to me, I just handed him the phone, regardless who they asked for. Which got really funny once when we legit got a wrong number - someone calling for "Andrew" and I just said "Eric, phone for you!" and he had several seconds' worth of conversation with the guy before he realized "oh, wait, I DON'T know you."
On foraging: New York is LOUSY with mulberry trees; they're often used as ornamental trees in parks or gardens. I tried harvesting some from a park once but the tree was a little too tall for me to get them easily - but I've spotted a couple trees near work, short enough for easier harvesting when the mulberries are here and close enough for me to get to easily (or just head over to them on a lunch break). Mulberries are a little insipid, but I may use them more to bulk out other berries.
I also know where there is a beach plum bush nearby, and I ain't saying any more than that.
I've also splurged for a couple of Steve Brill's tours coming up; Steve Brill is a naturalist and forager based in New York who's been leading foraging classes and tours throughout the city for years, going as far back as the 1980s (and was once arrested for it by some cops who thought he was a weirdo). I've always been curious, and finally am taking the plunge and doing two tours; one in a city park, and one along the coast.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:10 AM on March 29, 2022 [2 favorites]
I once had a roommate who was in about four different LARPS, with a different name in each, and there were a lot of people who only knew him by those names and they would sometimes call to do some between-games roleplaying. He also had about two or three different nicknames from college and people who only knew him by those names.
When we first became roommates there were several times when I would answer the phone, and he would hear me confusedly asking "I'm sorry, you said you're looking for 'James Webster'?" or saying "Sorry, there's no 'Pookie' here...." and come running over "sorry, LARP thing, that's for me..." It eventually got to the point where if anyone called and DIDN'T ask to speak to me, I just handed him the phone, regardless who they asked for. Which got really funny once when we legit got a wrong number - someone calling for "Andrew" and I just said "Eric, phone for you!" and he had several seconds' worth of conversation with the guy before he realized "oh, wait, I DON'T know you."
On foraging: New York is LOUSY with mulberry trees; they're often used as ornamental trees in parks or gardens. I tried harvesting some from a park once but the tree was a little too tall for me to get them easily - but I've spotted a couple trees near work, short enough for easier harvesting when the mulberries are here and close enough for me to get to easily (or just head over to them on a lunch break). Mulberries are a little insipid, but I may use them more to bulk out other berries.
I also know where there is a beach plum bush nearby, and I ain't saying any more than that.
I've also splurged for a couple of Steve Brill's tours coming up; Steve Brill is a naturalist and forager based in New York who's been leading foraging classes and tours throughout the city for years, going as far back as the 1980s (and was once arrested for it by some cops who thought he was a weirdo). I've always been curious, and finally am taking the plunge and doing two tours; one in a city park, and one along the coast.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:10 AM on March 29, 2022 [2 favorites]
I have things to say but I know this is meant to be an easy breezy thread and I am not comfortable doing one of those grand posts on the blue. It's too intimidating and I'm at work.
There is a full discussion going on in Fanfare
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 6:31 AM on March 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
There is a full discussion going on in Fanfare
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 6:31 AM on March 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
Thank you. First time hearing about fanfare. I'm late to the party.
posted by ihaveyourfoot at 6:59 AM on March 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by ihaveyourfoot at 6:59 AM on March 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
My dream this morning was about being at Maurice Sendak's art gallery (he was behind the counter) and finding some previously unknown drawings by the artist I work on.
I said to my companion "oh look at these! drawings of [artist's wife] and look - this is an etching, right?" and the print had been so deeply etched that the eyeballs of the subject were bulging out of the paper. Then I set about cataloguing them for the book I am working on (in real life as in dream). But since I didn't have a separate sheet to do my cataloguing, I was writing my notes in the margin of the print. Shivers.
posted by Lawn Beaver at 7:14 AM on March 29, 2022 [2 favorites]
I said to my companion "oh look at these! drawings of [artist's wife] and look - this is an etching, right?" and the print had been so deeply etched that the eyeballs of the subject were bulging out of the paper. Then I set about cataloguing them for the book I am working on (in real life as in dream). But since I didn't have a separate sheet to do my cataloguing, I was writing my notes in the margin of the print. Shivers.
posted by Lawn Beaver at 7:14 AM on March 29, 2022 [2 favorites]
But there seems to be a total universal belief that just because you can do something, you can automatically teach someone else how to do it.
Journeymen have a saying that you don't learn anything till you try to teach it to an apprentice. Truer words have never been spoken.
posted by Mitheral at 7:20 AM on March 29, 2022 [3 favorites]
Journeymen have a saying that you don't learn anything till you try to teach it to an apprentice. Truer words have never been spoken.
posted by Mitheral at 7:20 AM on March 29, 2022 [3 favorites]
Plants: I have been waiting until the end of winter to order more indoor plants to replace the ones that became pot donors. But here in NYC, it is 29 degrees right now, and my rule is never, ever order when it's cold out. What happened to "out like a lamb"?
posted by AMyNameIs at 7:33 AM on March 29, 2022
posted by AMyNameIs at 7:33 AM on March 29, 2022
uncleozzy I took a single Claritin a few weeks ago because we ran out of Zyrtec and ... weird dreams!
I have a friend who once took two Claritin by accident and had a vivid dream that a whale was falling onto his house and ran out into the street to safety. I've only noticed vivid dreams from alcohol and malarone.
posted by little onion at 8:08 AM on March 29, 2022
I have a friend who once took two Claritin by accident and had a vivid dream that a whale was falling onto his house and ran out into the street to safety. I've only noticed vivid dreams from alcohol and malarone.
posted by little onion at 8:08 AM on March 29, 2022
The only drug-induced dream I had was Theraflu-induced. I had a dream that I was speaking with a friend of mine about him getting liposuction, and it was so vivid that I very nearly called him the following afternoon with Further Thoughts before I remembered "Oh wait, that conversation was only in my head."
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:29 AM on March 29, 2022
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:29 AM on March 29, 2022
And just coming back in with a cri-du-coeur:
So part of my new role as office manager is to be the go-to person for Answering Questions, and Coordinating Stuff. Stuff like, moving people from one office to another because we need to make room for two new people we hired. And yes, I'd been told that that move was happening....but I wasn't told that it needed to happen TODAY until about 10 am THIS MORNING.
Fortunately I came up with a way to pull that particular rabbit out of the hat, had a quick chat with the head of HR to have her please tell me dates for any other new hires "in case the big guy forgets to tell me himself", and I think we're good.
Dear Boss: Next time please let's give me that somewhat vital information in a more timely manner pls kthx.
One of the big bugaboos about moving is that there are different colored storage cubbies on the desks and my boss is a bit fussy about which department gets what color - yellow, orange, or red - and I convinced him to worry about the colors later and just get tables in rooms now. He said in passing that we did have one purple desk, and I could have that if I wanted; I immediately thought of Samuel L. Jackson asking if Mace Windu could have a purple lightsaber and said "yes please".
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:00 AM on March 29, 2022 [2 favorites]
So part of my new role as office manager is to be the go-to person for Answering Questions, and Coordinating Stuff. Stuff like, moving people from one office to another because we need to make room for two new people we hired. And yes, I'd been told that that move was happening....but I wasn't told that it needed to happen TODAY until about 10 am THIS MORNING.
Fortunately I came up with a way to pull that particular rabbit out of the hat, had a quick chat with the head of HR to have her please tell me dates for any other new hires "in case the big guy forgets to tell me himself", and I think we're good.
Dear Boss: Next time please let's give me that somewhat vital information in a more timely manner pls kthx.
One of the big bugaboos about moving is that there are different colored storage cubbies on the desks and my boss is a bit fussy about which department gets what color - yellow, orange, or red - and I convinced him to worry about the colors later and just get tables in rooms now. He said in passing that we did have one purple desk, and I could have that if I wanted; I immediately thought of Samuel L. Jackson asking if Mace Windu could have a purple lightsaber and said "yes please".
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:00 AM on March 29, 2022 [2 favorites]
And yes, I'd been told that that move was happening....but I wasn't told that it needed to happen TODAY until about 10 am THIS MORNING.
Reminds me of the time I found out my boss knew we were moving offices for three months and didn't tell me until less than a week before the move because, as he said, he "didn't want to burden me" with it. Because moving a five-person office down five floors into a much smaller space is a lot less of a burden if you have four days to plan instead of three months.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 10:13 AM on March 29, 2022 [2 favorites]
Reminds me of the time I found out my boss knew we were moving offices for three months and didn't tell me until less than a week before the move because, as he said, he "didn't want to burden me" with it. Because moving a five-person office down five floors into a much smaller space is a lot less of a burden if you have four days to plan instead of three months.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 10:13 AM on March 29, 2022 [2 favorites]
Reminds me of the time I found out my boss knew we were moving offices for three months and didn't tell me until less than a week before the move because, as he said, he "didn't want to burden me" with it.
This was just pure scatter-brain. But it has triggered my Inner Stage Manager so I am on point here.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:32 AM on March 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
This was just pure scatter-brain. But it has triggered my Inner Stage Manager so I am on point here.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:32 AM on March 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
Welp.
We have moved two of the people that most urgently needed to be moved. Sort of - one of the guys is here today, and we are leaving most of his stuff in place until the end of the day. But we set up the table in his new space for him.
He is kinda not thrilled, and I saw him in a conversation with my boss and the CEO a moment ago.
One of our facilities team was helping get everything situated and we saw that huddle a moment ago and discussed other moves we have coming up. Then, the facilities guy took his leave by saying "well....if you'll excuse me I'm going to go hang myself, I'll talk to you later this afternoon."
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:34 AM on March 29, 2022 [2 favorites]
We have moved two of the people that most urgently needed to be moved. Sort of - one of the guys is here today, and we are leaving most of his stuff in place until the end of the day. But we set up the table in his new space for him.
He is kinda not thrilled, and I saw him in a conversation with my boss and the CEO a moment ago.
One of our facilities team was helping get everything situated and we saw that huddle a moment ago and discussed other moves we have coming up. Then, the facilities guy took his leave by saying "well....if you'll excuse me I'm going to go hang myself, I'll talk to you later this afternoon."
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:34 AM on March 29, 2022 [2 favorites]
Hahahahahah, I have those feelings frequently. I'm guessing that guy is "pushing back" against this? I wonder how much power he has to try to do that?
posted by jenfullmoon at 11:51 AM on March 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by jenfullmoon at 11:51 AM on March 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
So anyway, big news story of the day: Jackie Weaver did NOT have the authority.
posted by biffa at 12:27 PM on March 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by biffa at 12:27 PM on March 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
Dear Boss: Next time please let's give me that somewhat vital information in a more timely manner pls kthx.
There is something in the fucking air, I swear it. Today my boss copied me on an email announcing kick-off meetings and requesting schedules and workflows for a project I've never even heard of, not even once, ever, to begin TOMORROW.
I don't know who it's for, what it involves, how big it is, who we're working with, not one single solitary thing. But apparently I gotta be ready to start completing assignments for it within the next 24 hours. Great, fantastic, absolutely outstanding, 10/10 no notes.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 12:27 PM on March 29, 2022 [2 favorites]
There is something in the fucking air, I swear it. Today my boss copied me on an email announcing kick-off meetings and requesting schedules and workflows for a project I've never even heard of, not even once, ever, to begin TOMORROW.
I don't know who it's for, what it involves, how big it is, who we're working with, not one single solitary thing. But apparently I gotta be ready to start completing assignments for it within the next 24 hours. Great, fantastic, absolutely outstanding, 10/10 no notes.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 12:27 PM on March 29, 2022 [2 favorites]
My SNAFU was not that hard to fix, just a pain because it was late in the afternoon. I messed up a configuration file for software that did the file/configuration distribution, so most of it was just fixing the config and running it again to put things back. Then a little bit of checking the backups for anything that wasn't under configuration management (not much) and an email warning "if you did something today... do it again" just in case. They could actually look through the logs for what had happened, so mostly just a PITA. I swore to myself that I would never touch that distribution system ever again... instead for my stuff I just wrote a nice rsync script to handle my few machines/directories.
I have two decades worth of R1 university IT infrastructure stories... :)
posted by zengargoyle at 12:31 PM on March 29, 2022
I have two decades worth of R1 university IT infrastructure stories... :)
posted by zengargoyle at 12:31 PM on March 29, 2022
I would also very much appreciate it if the Sales People would stop emailing me, asking about processes that, while I CAN access to get them the info they want, they aren't actually in my scope, and they should be contacting completely different departments for the info. YES, I know they want one point of contact for all their many, many, many questions and needs, but I definitely do not want to be that person. As time goes on, my emails get shorter and snarkier. How short and skarky can they get before I get a "Talking To"? I'm sure I'll find out!
posted by sharp pointy objects at 12:47 PM on March 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by sharp pointy objects at 12:47 PM on March 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
So far none of my job prospects have panned out, but I'm still doing the churn. Put out three more this morning! *fingers crossed*
posted by hippybear at 1:08 PM on March 29, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 1:08 PM on March 29, 2022 [2 favorites]
I canNOT be point person for every single thing in my area. I canNOT. I can't EVEN find the effing time to start processing all the "this has to be sent to four different people to sign off on it first" shit.
posted by jenfullmoon at 1:17 PM on March 29, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by jenfullmoon at 1:17 PM on March 29, 2022 [3 favorites]
sharp pointy objects, I go not-quite-full-Karen let me talk to your supervisor.... but not. I learned it from my director and it's a bit of a thing you pick up over time when there's a lot of turnover and it's not your job to do and there are other people they should be talking to or their work is not up to standards that are expected and well, you actually have other people in the middle to snark-not-stark at to tell them to get their supervisor involved or tell them to contact some other person. Sounds horrible I know. There are procedures and expectations that are not your personal responsibility at least at the moment. "You need to talk to X in Y department", "This will not do, wake up their supervisor or some more senior on-call person and get this done right", over time you're exact knowledge of procedures will fade, not your job. Your job at best is to point them to the people who's job their request should go to in the first place, or to just point out to the right people who's job it is to manage such things that this requires their superior to set them straight on what/how/whom is the is what should be happening instead of asking you.
The flip side of that is people asking you because it's outside of the normal and there's no procedure for that, or that you would end up being the one assigned to take care of it even after they went up the chain.
It's a bit like welcome to management, even if you aren't. It's just telling people as briefly as possible how to to their job right (and the right thing isn't to keep asking you). Or some variation on that theme.
Depending on the organization, you might even start getting in trouble for doing those things for others when the procedure is that those request should go to this person/group.
posted by zengargoyle at 1:20 PM on March 29, 2022 [2 favorites]
The flip side of that is people asking you because it's outside of the normal and there's no procedure for that, or that you would end up being the one assigned to take care of it even after they went up the chain.
It's a bit like welcome to management, even if you aren't. It's just telling people as briefly as possible how to to their job right (and the right thing isn't to keep asking you). Or some variation on that theme.
Depending on the organization, you might even start getting in trouble for doing those things for others when the procedure is that those request should go to this person/group.
posted by zengargoyle at 1:20 PM on March 29, 2022 [2 favorites]
Wow, you are my siblings in soul-crushing corp BS, jenfullmoon and zengargoyle. *HUGS*
Also, I will also keep my fingers crossed for you hippybear!!
posted by sharp pointy objects at 1:34 PM on March 29, 2022 [3 favorites]
Also, I will also keep my fingers crossed for you hippybear!!
posted by sharp pointy objects at 1:34 PM on March 29, 2022 [3 favorites]
Dude who huddled up about being moved has been moved to a DIFFERENT new spot, one that was being occupied by a crapton of camera and AV equipment. We've pulled that all out, and it is now sitting in a hallway until tomorrow because I can NOT deal with it this afternoon (also our handyman has left for the day and I ain't putting together a shelving unit all on my lonesome).
Fortunately Dude Who Wanted Better Office has thus far only had a couple questions for me ("can I get a coat rack and a lamp") which I have been able to answer by parroting a procedural thing ("yeah, send a link to the Amazon page for what you want to the purchasing request mailbox"). This company was only a startup with like six guys about 9 years ago, and some people still have informal startup mentality and a lot of what I'm going to do is simply going to be reminding them of "yeah, there's a process for [blank] now, and unfortunately you can't just email someone anymore". ....Even if "sending an email to the purchasing request mailbox" will end up still going to me most likely...
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:51 PM on March 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
Fortunately Dude Who Wanted Better Office has thus far only had a couple questions for me ("can I get a coat rack and a lamp") which I have been able to answer by parroting a procedural thing ("yeah, send a link to the Amazon page for what you want to the purchasing request mailbox"). This company was only a startup with like six guys about 9 years ago, and some people still have informal startup mentality and a lot of what I'm going to do is simply going to be reminding them of "yeah, there's a process for [blank] now, and unfortunately you can't just email someone anymore". ....Even if "sending an email to the purchasing request mailbox" will end up still going to me most likely...
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:51 PM on March 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
Once, during my one and only divorce, I tried taking Zoloft. Aside from all the classic symptoms that SSRIs don't work for me; there were the Zoloft dreams. Oh my gads! In one dream, the world was post apocalyptic, and was covered in black ash and bomb craters. The craters had this viscid neon goo in them, and the teenagers hanging out, would take the goo and eat it, to get high. Then their brains would swell up and burst out the tops of their heads, like voluminous, thunderhead style mushrooms, and the kids were all Bevis and Butthead giggles, about how great it was. Meanwhile the ash was six inches deep, inside the house. Yeah, so, Zoloft dreams, I looked it up recently to see if it is a thing, and, why yes, it is.
posted by Oyéah at 4:24 PM on March 29, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by Oyéah at 4:24 PM on March 29, 2022 [4 favorites]
Oyéah: have you considered writing all this down, creating a storyline, and going into videogame design. Because I'm not a gamer, but I think I know people who would PLAY THE SHIT out of that.
posted by hippybear at 4:59 PM on March 29, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 4:59 PM on March 29, 2022 [3 favorites]
Do not taunt dreams, they bite. My weirdest dreams were on Valerian, nightmare worthy. That's not the point. It's easy to start remembering dreams, you just don't want to do it. Starting to try tends to work and you end up not really sleeping because what's the difference between eyes open and eyes closed? Here there be dragons, be cautious in your efforts.
Step 1. Sleep mask. No alarm clock. Be free.
Step 2. Stop right now and think back on the past hour and recreate everything that has happened.
Step 3. Ease from a dream to awake with a WTF just happened and be able to have the time to spend to ponder back and the practice to ponder back to relive WTF just happened.
Wake up without waking up. Just easing into to the odd/weird what have I been thinking for the past hour. Stop now, what was your thinking over the past hour, what happened? What did you do? Repeat this when you are awake, what is my experience in the past few hours? Wake naturally to just notice the OMG what just happened. Then stop and don't do it with any ambition, it's a self-fulfilling prophesy of the more you try the more it works and the more you don't actually sleep and eyes-shut is eyes-open. PITA.
Keep the good ones, 99% are random noise.
I have planes crashing followed by alian invasions with little grey things in flying saucers and fireworks exploding in the sky that is space battle and there are Air Force cadets and old places I've lived and then a battle and then a party with bad carpet and I'm futzing with a player piano while.... never mind... things get even weirder. Dreams are whack. And self enforcing. Don't try too hard.
That whole plane crash to space ship battle to fireworks in the sky... actually a decent story, the rest... weird ass WTF. That's what you get from easing from sleep to awake. It's a perilous journey that not all could undertake and one might wish to not have undertook in the first place.
I've had quite a few other trips of various sorts... this is just the going to sleep every night bit of caution.
posted by zengargoyle at 6:02 PM on March 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
Step 1. Sleep mask. No alarm clock. Be free.
Step 2. Stop right now and think back on the past hour and recreate everything that has happened.
Step 3. Ease from a dream to awake with a WTF just happened and be able to have the time to spend to ponder back and the practice to ponder back to relive WTF just happened.
Wake up without waking up. Just easing into to the odd/weird what have I been thinking for the past hour. Stop now, what was your thinking over the past hour, what happened? What did you do? Repeat this when you are awake, what is my experience in the past few hours? Wake naturally to just notice the OMG what just happened. Then stop and don't do it with any ambition, it's a self-fulfilling prophesy of the more you try the more it works and the more you don't actually sleep and eyes-shut is eyes-open. PITA.
Keep the good ones, 99% are random noise.
I have planes crashing followed by alian invasions with little grey things in flying saucers and fireworks exploding in the sky that is space battle and there are Air Force cadets and old places I've lived and then a battle and then a party with bad carpet and I'm futzing with a player piano while.... never mind... things get even weirder. Dreams are whack. And self enforcing. Don't try too hard.
That whole plane crash to space ship battle to fireworks in the sky... actually a decent story, the rest... weird ass WTF. That's what you get from easing from sleep to awake. It's a perilous journey that not all could undertake and one might wish to not have undertook in the first place.
I've had quite a few other trips of various sorts... this is just the going to sleep every night bit of caution.
posted by zengargoyle at 6:02 PM on March 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
I get some of my best* joke Tweets from dreams.
*YMMV. Offer void in Tennessee.
posted by Greg_Ace at 6:12 PM on March 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
*YMMV. Offer void in Tennessee.
posted by Greg_Ace at 6:12 PM on March 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
KENNY ROBERTS - Tennessee Spelling Bee (1955) - YouTube is all I could find.
It really goes.....
T E (double N) E (double S) (double E) (that's how you spell Tennessee.
I almost can't believe that I can't Google search and find that little bit of a ditty. But my ass can spell Tennessee!
posted by zengargoyle at 7:01 PM on March 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
It really goes.....
T E (double N) E (double S) (double E) (that's how you spell Tennessee.
I almost can't believe that I can't Google search and find that little bit of a ditty. But my ass can spell Tennessee!
posted by zengargoyle at 7:01 PM on March 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
zengargoyle, that song is so much fun!
posted by The Underpants Monster at 7:42 PM on March 29, 2022
posted by The Underpants Monster at 7:42 PM on March 29, 2022
I think the ending goes more like "that's the place I want to be..." it's some sort of folk diddy tha I only half remember there were a couple of verses. I thought everybody (within reason) would know it, but have failed to find it. "the place for you and me". '70's era for me, but duh, everybody sorta knew the song, surprised I can't actually find it, it's been so long. Sorta goes along with "good ole rocky top, rocky top Tennessee". Probably a local thing. Hope you won't misspell Tennessee ever again.
posted by zengargoyle at 8:59 PM on March 29, 2022
posted by zengargoyle at 8:59 PM on March 29, 2022
Starting to try tends to work and you end up not really sleeping because what's the difference between eyes open and eyes closed?
So interesting!
I have had the opposite experience myself. I already have insomnia, and I also have really vivid dreams as well as lucid dreams.
Last year, after I had covid and my anxiety and insomnia were playing a game of chicken with one another, I found an article describing how trying to lucid dream could break the anxiety - insomnia spiral because waking up often becomes a feature rather than a bug.
You use those awake times to remember the most recent dream and try to recreate it, triggering a lucid dream.
What it did for me was give me a much clearer idea of how much I was actually sleeping as opposed to lying awake.
A lot of times when I thought I had been awake for hours, had just been a few minutes.
It helped me relax about the awake time and that broke the anxiety spiral.
That same article claimed that the reason ambien helps many people to sleep is not so much that it knocks them out. (This was based on a study) They were still lying awake for the same amount of time, but because ambien messes with memory, they didn't remember the wakeful times, and as a result relaxed about the insomnia.
No idea if that's true but it helped me a lot, coming to terms with my lack of sleep.
I do have the most astonishing lucid dreams, though. I think they must be processed in a different part of my brain. They usually involve flying over the sea and surfing huge glowing waves , and I can see, and feel such incredible, realistic detail.
I'm just going "OMG this is AWESOME, OMG this is AWESOME" until I wake up.
Sadly my nightmares are similarly convincing.
posted by Zumbador at 9:03 PM on March 29, 2022 [2 favorites]
So interesting!
I have had the opposite experience myself. I already have insomnia, and I also have really vivid dreams as well as lucid dreams.
Last year, after I had covid and my anxiety and insomnia were playing a game of chicken with one another, I found an article describing how trying to lucid dream could break the anxiety - insomnia spiral because waking up often becomes a feature rather than a bug.
You use those awake times to remember the most recent dream and try to recreate it, triggering a lucid dream.
What it did for me was give me a much clearer idea of how much I was actually sleeping as opposed to lying awake.
A lot of times when I thought I had been awake for hours, had just been a few minutes.
It helped me relax about the awake time and that broke the anxiety spiral.
That same article claimed that the reason ambien helps many people to sleep is not so much that it knocks them out. (This was based on a study) They were still lying awake for the same amount of time, but because ambien messes with memory, they didn't remember the wakeful times, and as a result relaxed about the insomnia.
No idea if that's true but it helped me a lot, coming to terms with my lack of sleep.
I do have the most astonishing lucid dreams, though. I think they must be processed in a different part of my brain. They usually involve flying over the sea and surfing huge glowing waves , and I can see, and feel such incredible, realistic detail.
I'm just going "OMG this is AWESOME, OMG this is AWESOME" until I wake up.
Sadly my nightmares are similarly convincing.
posted by Zumbador at 9:03 PM on March 29, 2022 [2 favorites]
OK, so today it turns out that what I have is COVID. After a lot of false negatives, I tested positive today. I've had it before, but with much milder symptoms, maybe this is a different variant.
Strangely, I'm having less nightmares that usual now, with the coronavirus. Which is nice. My nightmares usually take place in very large complex spaces, filled with people who are destructive and at times violent. I keep running around trying to call to order, but no-one listens to me, most don't even notice I am there.
This morning, I dreamt about vacuum cleaning.
posted by mumimor at 1:31 AM on March 30, 2022 [1 favorite]
Strangely, I'm having less nightmares that usual now, with the coronavirus. Which is nice. My nightmares usually take place in very large complex spaces, filled with people who are destructive and at times violent. I keep running around trying to call to order, but no-one listens to me, most don't even notice I am there.
This morning, I dreamt about vacuum cleaning.
posted by mumimor at 1:31 AM on March 30, 2022 [1 favorite]
For discussion of […] fungi
Tangentially to the point: the outspoken coastguardian of Snake Island who just received a medal, now also has a name: Роман Грибов (= Roman Hrybov) - and that surname, quite a common one among Slavic mycophile peoples, is from Гриб (= Grib/Gryb/Hryb) meaning “mushroom”, and more specifically, by antonomasia, “the” mushroom, which over there is Boletus edulis, the King Bolete. So: here’s to you, Roman King Bolete!
posted by progosk at 6:00 AM on March 30, 2022 [4 favorites]
Tangentially to the point: the outspoken coastguardian of Snake Island who just received a medal, now also has a name: Роман Грибов (= Roman Hrybov) - and that surname, quite a common one among Slavic mycophile peoples, is from Гриб (= Grib/Gryb/Hryb) meaning “mushroom”, and more specifically, by antonomasia, “the” mushroom, which over there is Boletus edulis, the King Bolete. So: here’s to you, Roman King Bolete!
posted by progosk at 6:00 AM on March 30, 2022 [4 favorites]
mumimor: sorry to hear it, especially that it's a repeat! hope you feel better soon.
posted by ivey at 8:04 AM on March 30, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by ivey at 8:04 AM on March 30, 2022 [2 favorites]
Welp, the crush (yeah, yeah, I know....) had a allergic reaction last night and I ended up watching him for most of an hour until his family could pick him and his car up, and also to keep an eye out in case he suddenly had to go to the ER. I gather he hasn't had a bad one in a long time (so no epi-pen on hand) and while this wasn't bad enough to need to go to the ER in the end, it looked pretty disconcerting in the moment and he wasn't expecting something that's normally safe for him to set it off 1.5 hours after dinner. Poor guy. I'm glad I was there for him, at least, even if I didn't do much else but watch and attempt to provide conversational distraction after awhile.
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:14 AM on March 30, 2022
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:14 AM on March 30, 2022
Heh.
This morning, we had a crapton of AV equipment, old office supplies, and other stuff that had been cleared out of the "I don't know where else to put it" room to make way for someone's office, and it was all sitting in a hallway.
At 9:30 am the office handyman started putting together the shelves that would house the AV stuff in its new office while I sorted through what was AV stuff and what wasn't.
At 10 am we confirmed where the shelving would go in the new room, and the handyman moved around two desks to make space for it. Then he, me, and another guy moved stuff to its respective new homes.
And we were done by 11. The handyman is off doing other things for the rest of the day and so am I.
My favorite bit is that as we were fitting the AV stuff onto the shelves, someone else in the room was watching us, and after watching for a while she turned to me and said "I have a feeling you're really good at Tetris."
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:48 AM on March 30, 2022 [3 favorites]
This morning, we had a crapton of AV equipment, old office supplies, and other stuff that had been cleared out of the "I don't know where else to put it" room to make way for someone's office, and it was all sitting in a hallway.
At 9:30 am the office handyman started putting together the shelves that would house the AV stuff in its new office while I sorted through what was AV stuff and what wasn't.
At 10 am we confirmed where the shelving would go in the new room, and the handyman moved around two desks to make space for it. Then he, me, and another guy moved stuff to its respective new homes.
And we were done by 11. The handyman is off doing other things for the rest of the day and so am I.
My favorite bit is that as we were fitting the AV stuff onto the shelves, someone else in the room was watching us, and after watching for a while she turned to me and said "I have a feeling you're really good at Tetris."
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:48 AM on March 30, 2022 [3 favorites]
Whenever one of my dreams involves either my house or the house of someone I know, it's never the actual real-life house, always some other totally unfamiliar house. And it often (but not always) stays the same over multiple dreams on different nights. I'd love to know why that is.
I also sometimes get repeat dreams, presumably because the dream writing team is on vacation...
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:51 AM on March 30, 2022 [4 favorites]
I also sometimes get repeat dreams, presumably because the dream writing team is on vacation...
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:51 AM on March 30, 2022 [4 favorites]
And it often (but not always) stays the same over multiple dreams on different nights. I'd love to know why that is.
I spent YEARS dreaming about the same house. I mean, it wasn't the SAME house every dream, but it was clear to me that it was always the same house. It was always stressful for various reasons. I do wonder why recurring house dreams happen.
posted by hippybear at 8:55 AM on March 30, 2022 [3 favorites]
I spent YEARS dreaming about the same house. I mean, it wasn't the SAME house every dream, but it was clear to me that it was always the same house. It was always stressful for various reasons. I do wonder why recurring house dreams happen.
posted by hippybear at 8:55 AM on March 30, 2022 [3 favorites]
"I don't know where else to put it" room
LOL, I call those "rooms of requirement."
"I have a feeling you're really good at Tetris."
I hear this a lot at the theater these days.
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:05 AM on March 30, 2022 [1 favorite]
LOL, I call those "rooms of requirement."
"I have a feeling you're really good at Tetris."
I hear this a lot at the theater these days.
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:05 AM on March 30, 2022 [1 favorite]
"I have a feeling you're really good at Tetris."
Wouldn't want to be too good at it, though. It's quite disconcerting to see a shelf perfectly packed full of expensive AV gear spontaneously disappear, even if that does make room for more shelves above.
posted by flabdablet at 9:13 AM on March 30, 2022 [3 favorites]
Wouldn't want to be too good at it, though. It's quite disconcerting to see a shelf perfectly packed full of expensive AV gear spontaneously disappear, even if that does make room for more shelves above.
posted by flabdablet at 9:13 AM on March 30, 2022 [3 favorites]
it turns out that what I have is COVID
Bleurgh. Here's hoping your immune system has had a heads-up from the previous round and disposes of this one more quickly.
posted by flabdablet at 9:15 AM on March 30, 2022 [2 favorites]
Bleurgh. Here's hoping your immune system has had a heads-up from the previous round and disposes of this one more quickly.
posted by flabdablet at 9:15 AM on March 30, 2022 [2 favorites]
Flabadablet -
How else do you think I made so much of it fit? ;-)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:36 PM on March 30, 2022 [1 favorite]
How else do you think I made so much of it fit? ;-)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:36 PM on March 30, 2022 [1 favorite]
I've been having a strange recurring, or recurring-ish, dream every once in a while for the last, I dunno, two years or so? In which my wife and I have purchased a house, which is a completely dilapidated old mansion. Dilapidated as in not entirely structurally stable, there are floors which have collapsed in and such, but enough of it is livable space that we had for some reason decided that it was a great fixer-upper opportunity. What's odd is the architectural layout of the house is surprisingly consistent between dreams, and these dreams are separated by months in some cases. The house might be getting bigger over time as new dreams add on more stuff but there's enough consistency that it feels like the same place. It's also weird in that I don't usually remember my dreams all that well, but I have quite vivid and detailed memories of these. In some I discover weird historical things tucked away in a forgotten corner of the mansion, in others I'm trying to make the place presentable enough for visitors, in others I'm getting annoyed at the church next door because the parishioners keep parking on our lawn on Sundays, but discovering the church has a surprisingly lovely garden when I go over to complain.
They're quite entertaining, if somewhat stressful at times. Feels like getting a new episode of a TV show I've been following every time I have one. I haven't had one since I left my last job where I was super stressed all the time.
posted by biogeo at 8:51 PM on March 30, 2022 [6 favorites]
They're quite entertaining, if somewhat stressful at times. Feels like getting a new episode of a TV show I've been following every time I have one. I haven't had one since I left my last job where I was super stressed all the time.
posted by biogeo at 8:51 PM on March 30, 2022 [6 favorites]
OK, so last year, I was attacked by a crow during nesting season. It actually pecked me in my skull. So this year, I have been working on my friendship with the crows, and it is going well. And maybe today it went too well.
In retrospect, I can see I must have been a really spooky sight, with my large black dog and a huge murder of crows circling around me. I also look like shit because of corona. Anyway, no other humans got too close, I have to say that.
I walk my dog in a cemetery.
posted by mumimor at 3:40 AM on March 31, 2022 [17 favorites]
In retrospect, I can see I must have been a really spooky sight, with my large black dog and a huge murder of crows circling around me. I also look like shit because of corona. Anyway, no other humans got too close, I have to say that.
I walk my dog in a cemetery.
posted by mumimor at 3:40 AM on March 31, 2022 [17 favorites]
Dilapidated as in not entirely structurally stable, there are floors which have collapsed in and such, but enough of it is livable space that we had for some reason decided that it was a great fixer-upper opportunity.
Is it a huge multi-storey timber affair, quite dark inside, with loads of staircases and a folly sticking out the top whose flooring seems a little too rotten to stand on safely? I think I was renting a room there in a dream I had a couple years ago, but I had to get out because there were just too many dodgy housemates and they kept moving the corridors about.
posted by flabdablet at 6:29 AM on March 31, 2022 [3 favorites]
Is it a huge multi-storey timber affair, quite dark inside, with loads of staircases and a folly sticking out the top whose flooring seems a little too rotten to stand on safely? I think I was renting a room there in a dream I had a couple years ago, but I had to get out because there were just too many dodgy housemates and they kept moving the corridors about.
posted by flabdablet at 6:29 AM on March 31, 2022 [3 favorites]
Not sure if it's the same place, but sounds like it could be the same architect.
posted by biogeo at 6:52 AM on March 31, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by biogeo at 6:52 AM on March 31, 2022 [3 favorites]
I've been there too, isn't that weird?
posted by mumimor at 7:02 AM on March 31, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by mumimor at 7:02 AM on March 31, 2022 [2 favorites]
I walk my dog in a cemetery.
Hey, six feet away is six feet away, regardless of which axis.
posted by hippybear at 2:03 PM on March 31, 2022 [2 favorites]
Hey, six feet away is six feet away, regardless of which axis.
posted by hippybear at 2:03 PM on March 31, 2022 [2 favorites]
Crows love peanuts.
I think the recurring places are related to The place-cell representation of volumetric space in rats | Nature Communications in some sort of way. Most of my recurring places have a topological graph like mapping that matches somewhere I've spent a lot of time. I can usually match the shapes of the paths in dreams to some collection of fragments of paths often and well traveled while awake. I actually like mostly remembering dreams and sorta keeping the good ones, just not obsessive about dissecting or interpreting. I personally wouldn't want to go lucid that much, would rather just enjoy the randomish movie and be a critic.
I always really like the ask questions about job titles. I'm still trying to figure out what I would say mine was. I just had II, III, IV tacked onto the end, after that they just kept paying me more. Seems like you could toss a bunch of titles in a blender as to actual job.
posted by zengargoyle at 2:27 PM on March 31, 2022
I think the recurring places are related to The place-cell representation of volumetric space in rats | Nature Communications in some sort of way. Most of my recurring places have a topological graph like mapping that matches somewhere I've spent a lot of time. I can usually match the shapes of the paths in dreams to some collection of fragments of paths often and well traveled while awake. I actually like mostly remembering dreams and sorta keeping the good ones, just not obsessive about dissecting or interpreting. I personally wouldn't want to go lucid that much, would rather just enjoy the randomish movie and be a critic.
I always really like the ask questions about job titles. I'm still trying to figure out what I would say mine was. I just had II, III, IV tacked onto the end, after that they just kept paying me more. Seems like you could toss a bunch of titles in a blender as to actual job.
posted by zengargoyle at 2:27 PM on March 31, 2022
Crows love peanuts.
I give them dog-snacks, they like them too. Mostly I think they like that someone is giving them something. I'm not totally attuned to their habits. For the last two weeks, they have been ignoring me, busy with crow society stuff, and then suddenly today, they all came to greet me in a murder. Which was a bit overwhelming but not at all scary, despite my experience from last year. I promised to bring more snacks tomorrow.
Weirdly, my dog who is generally either jealous or fearful of a lot of other beings, including tiny little dogs and cargo bikes, is just fine with our winged friends.
I should get myself a black leather trenchcoat.
posted by mumimor at 3:52 PM on March 31, 2022 [6 favorites]
I give them dog-snacks, they like them too. Mostly I think they like that someone is giving them something. I'm not totally attuned to their habits. For the last two weeks, they have been ignoring me, busy with crow society stuff, and then suddenly today, they all came to greet me in a murder. Which was a bit overwhelming but not at all scary, despite my experience from last year. I promised to bring more snacks tomorrow.
Weirdly, my dog who is generally either jealous or fearful of a lot of other beings, including tiny little dogs and cargo bikes, is just fine with our winged friends.
I should get myself a black leather trenchcoat.
posted by mumimor at 3:52 PM on March 31, 2022 [6 favorites]
In retrospect, I can see I must have been a really spooky sight, with my large black dog and a huge murder of crows circling around me...I walk my dog in a cemetery.
I wish I was a good enough artist to reproduce the picture you just painted in my head, mumimor, because it rules.
posted by straight at 8:58 PM on March 31, 2022 [2 favorites]
I wish I was a good enough artist to reproduce the picture you just painted in my head, mumimor, because it rules.
posted by straight at 8:58 PM on March 31, 2022 [2 favorites]
I should get myself a black leather trenchcoat.
... and some boots with run-down heels.
posted by dg at 9:33 PM on March 31, 2022
... and some boots with run-down heels.
posted by dg at 9:33 PM on March 31, 2022
Muminor that sounds amazing.
There are a lot of pied crows around here. And there's a couple of ravens who live nearby, they always catch my eye as there is something so charismatic about them.
I'm actually quite jealous of your crow cred. Field mice are very cute but they just don't have that same goth cred.
My field mouse transport total is now 14. Number 14 spent some time tunnelling under the blanket on the sofa while I was sitting there. But she kept teleporting out from under my hand every time I tried to catch her. She eventually popped into the humane trap where she doubtlessly cursed me soundly in frequencies inaudible to me.
posted by Zumbador at 9:56 PM on March 31, 2022 [1 favorite]
There are a lot of pied crows around here. And there's a couple of ravens who live nearby, they always catch my eye as there is something so charismatic about them.
I'm actually quite jealous of your crow cred. Field mice are very cute but they just don't have that same goth cred.
My field mouse transport total is now 14. Number 14 spent some time tunnelling under the blanket on the sofa while I was sitting there. But she kept teleporting out from under my hand every time I tried to catch her. She eventually popped into the humane trap where she doubtlessly cursed me soundly in frequencies inaudible to me.
posted by Zumbador at 9:56 PM on March 31, 2022 [1 favorite]
Ha, somewhat on topic... For a while when I was homeless *my* camp was under a gigantic evergreen tree nestled at the beginning of a freeway and beside a bridge and around a fence. It was glorious, just had to duck enough to avoid bonking your head. Like twenty feet in diameter and ample protection from rain/wind. I do still miss at least a bit of living under that tree. That tree was the mansion of the places I slept. Good Tree, miss you, likely somebody else's tree now. Those were the days, miss you tree, what time's we had.
posted by zengargoyle at 1:56 AM on April 1, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by zengargoyle at 1:56 AM on April 1, 2022 [4 favorites]
Some Google searching and it's R.I.P. for my tree. The fence is still there but the views from different streets and above don't even match and for a while there were a couple of mobile home type temporary workplaces where my tree should be. Pour one out for the homies. Twas a good tree. (Also like 25 years ago, so.....)
posted by zengargoyle at 4:37 AM on April 1, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by zengargoyle at 4:37 AM on April 1, 2022 [2 favorites]
When I first read the post, I saw "Thread" and immediately thought it might be about Anne McCaffrey's The Dragonriders of Pern series, an excellent classic science fiction series that really, really shouldn't be turned into a tv series or movie. Certainly the one attempt at a video game that I'm aware of was problematic, buggy, and just plain old bad according to reviews. Still, if we're generally talking about Threads, it's hard to ignore the one fantasy where Threads attack a Pern (an ancient word for a kind of spindle.) It is such a horrible pun that when I met her at a science fiction convention I asked her if I this was a deliberate, at which point she smiled, pointed out a half-dozen other hidden puns in her work, and thanked me for noticing.
So if the Thread is Free, let all the Dragonriders of Pern take flight and go between so they can burn the mycorrhiza spores from the sky. Keep their firestone stocks filled, burn all the greenery in your holds, and prepare for the upcoming Pass. Drummer, beat, and piper, blow,
Harper, strike, and soldier, go...
posted by Blackanvil at 6:45 AM on April 1, 2022 [3 favorites]
So if the Thread is Free, let all the Dragonriders of Pern take flight and go between so they can burn the mycorrhiza spores from the sky. Keep their firestone stocks filled, burn all the greenery in your holds, and prepare for the upcoming Pass. Drummer, beat, and piper, blow,
Harper, strike, and soldier, go...
posted by Blackanvil at 6:45 AM on April 1, 2022 [3 favorites]
I remember being into other Anne McCaffrey (particularly the crystal series, telepath series, Petaybee series) back in the day, but I somehow never got the whole Pern/Thread thing? Not sure why, maybe Thread just grosses me out?
In other news: it's now my birthday month! And during rehearsal yesterday, the crush put his arm around me for an entire song, in a scene where that was definitely not something he had to do. Yup, that was obvious snuggling in front of everybody on a stage there. I know, I know....but maybe someday....
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:14 AM on April 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
In other news: it's now my birthday month! And during rehearsal yesterday, the crush put his arm around me for an entire song, in a scene where that was definitely not something he had to do. Yup, that was obvious snuggling in front of everybody on a stage there. I know, I know....but maybe someday....
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:14 AM on April 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
Crows love peanuts.If you've never gone squirrel fishing, I recommend it. Tie a peanut to the end of fishing line on a thrift-store rod. Award points every time you lift them into the air while clutching a peanut. After 4-8 attempts, they all learn to bite through the string and you have to move on to a new batch. Toss them some free ones as you go. Seagulls are too smart for it, in my limited experience, even if you use french fries. Crows were never so gullible as to get close enough.
It's not particularly kind to the squirrels and birds. But, it's a lot better than many other things I cause to happen to animals daily. And it's really entertaining for the humans.
posted by eotvos at 10:10 AM on April 1, 2022
The crows were busy today. I have to learn more about their ways.
This is my second round of corona, but while the first time was mild, this time I get the works. Among other things I have completely lost my sense of smell and taste. It's so weird. Have any of you tried this? How long did it last?
Anyway, if it doesn't last for ever, it may be a good thing. Food no longer soothes me when I am anxious or excites me when I am bored. I had one piece of very bitter chocolate for lunch and that was good and all I needed. (I sense bitterness and also chili and salt). So I am loosing weight rapidly and I needed that.
On the other hand, I have become really interested in texture, and not only the usual suspects like crunchy and smooth. I am eating Danish rye bread with avokado each morning. I put on lime or lemon and salt, not because I can taste it, but I can feel the acid and salt on my sore dry lips. And also the contrast between the hard chewy bread and the soft fruit is nice. Rye bread in Denmark and North Germany is different from in the other Nordic and Baltic countries, it is quite hard and whole grains are popular.
And right before I caught the virus, I bought a pack of frozen shrimp rice noodle rolls. I have never tasted them before, and I guess I still haven't but for some reason I like their slimy unctuousness. It's like eating some weird deep-sea creature with no taste but an unusual texture, slimy and soft on the outside and a bit crunchy when you hit the shrimp.
So I am learning new things about food, while eating much less.
I'm also thinking about another thing. A few days before I lost my senses, I woke up to a smell that was both usual and unusual. I knew that someone was cooking shakshuka in the kitchen in the opposite end of our apartment, but I also realized it wasn't my daughter. It wasn't because it smelled bad, it just smelled ever so slightly different. I got up, and went to find her boyfriend cooking a very delicious shakshuka with all the exact same ingredients but a slightly different composition. I guess I am/was a super smeller. "super" makes it sound like some achievement. But it just means I am easily nauseated by all sorts of everyday smell. Well now that is over.
But the coincidental contrast between the two experiences have made me think about my whole relationship with food and cooking. Just a couple of days ago I wrote critically of people using too many spices or tomatoes in their recipes on the green. But what if they are closer in the spectrum of taste to current me than a week ago me? It's a common fault to imagine everyone has the same sensory experience as your own, because the senses seem so basically human, but we all have different perceptions of our surroundings.
posted by mumimor at 10:23 AM on April 1, 2022 [5 favorites]
This is my second round of corona, but while the first time was mild, this time I get the works. Among other things I have completely lost my sense of smell and taste. It's so weird. Have any of you tried this? How long did it last?
Anyway, if it doesn't last for ever, it may be a good thing. Food no longer soothes me when I am anxious or excites me when I am bored. I had one piece of very bitter chocolate for lunch and that was good and all I needed. (I sense bitterness and also chili and salt). So I am loosing weight rapidly and I needed that.
On the other hand, I have become really interested in texture, and not only the usual suspects like crunchy and smooth. I am eating Danish rye bread with avokado each morning. I put on lime or lemon and salt, not because I can taste it, but I can feel the acid and salt on my sore dry lips. And also the contrast between the hard chewy bread and the soft fruit is nice. Rye bread in Denmark and North Germany is different from in the other Nordic and Baltic countries, it is quite hard and whole grains are popular.
And right before I caught the virus, I bought a pack of frozen shrimp rice noodle rolls. I have never tasted them before, and I guess I still haven't but for some reason I like their slimy unctuousness. It's like eating some weird deep-sea creature with no taste but an unusual texture, slimy and soft on the outside and a bit crunchy when you hit the shrimp.
So I am learning new things about food, while eating much less.
I'm also thinking about another thing. A few days before I lost my senses, I woke up to a smell that was both usual and unusual. I knew that someone was cooking shakshuka in the kitchen in the opposite end of our apartment, but I also realized it wasn't my daughter. It wasn't because it smelled bad, it just smelled ever so slightly different. I got up, and went to find her boyfriend cooking a very delicious shakshuka with all the exact same ingredients but a slightly different composition. I guess I am/was a super smeller. "super" makes it sound like some achievement. But it just means I am easily nauseated by all sorts of everyday smell. Well now that is over.
But the coincidental contrast between the two experiences have made me think about my whole relationship with food and cooking. Just a couple of days ago I wrote critically of people using too many spices or tomatoes in their recipes on the green. But what if they are closer in the spectrum of taste to current me than a week ago me? It's a common fault to imagine everyone has the same sensory experience as your own, because the senses seem so basically human, but we all have different perceptions of our surroundings.
posted by mumimor at 10:23 AM on April 1, 2022 [5 favorites]
Best wishes, mumimor. I don't know if actually had COVID. I tested negative for antibodies 9 months later. But, I was unusually sick in early 2020 and also, perhaps coincidentally, lost quite a lot of taste except for sweet and salty for several months. Compared to other things humans deal with, it's not that bad, but it was really frustrating. My favorite foods were entirely lost. I ate candy and drank fruit juice and lost 20 kg. (Which was probably good for my health.) After two years, I'm back to mostly enjoying tastes and smells, but still not entirely back to the same place. My favorite food in the world previously, pad see ew, is still mostly disappointing unless I dump hot sauce on it. The fish/oyster/umami range is notably missing.
My spouse and I were recently talking about smell and how different our experience is. I find cillantro/coreander absolutely useless. It's green, but it tastes like absolutely nothing. She loves it and uses it constantly. But, I go absolutely nuts for mitti attar, which she can't smell at all. I wish there was a less qualitative way to evaluate those differences. (I'm sure you already know that there are a lot of interesting textures in Chinese cuisine, but it's worth remembering and seeking out.)
posted by eotvos at 10:49 AM on April 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
My spouse and I were recently talking about smell and how different our experience is. I find cillantro/coreander absolutely useless. It's green, but it tastes like absolutely nothing. She loves it and uses it constantly. But, I go absolutely nuts for mitti attar, which she can't smell at all. I wish there was a less qualitative way to evaluate those differences. (I'm sure you already know that there are a lot of interesting textures in Chinese cuisine, but it's worth remembering and seeking out.)
posted by eotvos at 10:49 AM on April 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
I have never heard of shakshuka before. After a brief glance at Wikipedia, I want it right now!
posted by Windopaene at 2:13 PM on April 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Windopaene at 2:13 PM on April 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
I did lose my senses of taste and smell during my recent COVID bout. An extremely odd feeling; I'd been expecting the usual blunting of senses from congestion, or the way having a head cold makes everything kind of fuzzy and weird tasting. Instead it was literally like nose and tongue were switched off.
This phase was, however, very short-lived--a few days--and was followed by the more familiar sensation of being able to smell things if I really got right up close, and tasting everything as though I were licking it through a cheesecloth. I could still perceive sourness and salt as more of a texture thing, yes, and pretty much drowned everything in sriracha or ordered the hottest possible level from takeout.
This did not result in any significant reduction in eating, because the entire time I had COVID I was absolutely fucking ravenous. Just a complete bottomless pit of stomach-growling hunger, and I did not care that none of it was especially fun to eat.
I'm some 20 days out now, been testing negative for quite some time, and am pretty well recovered, but I do still get the sense that possibly my taste isn't quite full-throttle. I haven't noticed whether any categories are gone or worse than others, I just sort of still vaguely feel like things aren't very delicious? But then again, I haven't really had any of my faves recently either.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 3:23 PM on April 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
This phase was, however, very short-lived--a few days--and was followed by the more familiar sensation of being able to smell things if I really got right up close, and tasting everything as though I were licking it through a cheesecloth. I could still perceive sourness and salt as more of a texture thing, yes, and pretty much drowned everything in sriracha or ordered the hottest possible level from takeout.
This did not result in any significant reduction in eating, because the entire time I had COVID I was absolutely fucking ravenous. Just a complete bottomless pit of stomach-growling hunger, and I did not care that none of it was especially fun to eat.
I'm some 20 days out now, been testing negative for quite some time, and am pretty well recovered, but I do still get the sense that possibly my taste isn't quite full-throttle. I haven't noticed whether any categories are gone or worse than others, I just sort of still vaguely feel like things aren't very delicious? But then again, I haven't really had any of my faves recently either.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 3:23 PM on April 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
UPDATE: I now have the ingredients for shakshuka. Will probably wait until tomorrow to make it, as some recepies think I should toss some chorizo in there, which I didn't buy, and chorizo is rarely a bad idea. And looking at the dish, I think being covered in some non-feta cheese would be a good idea. So, pondering that...
posted by Windopaene at 3:58 PM on April 1, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by Windopaene at 3:58 PM on April 1, 2022 [3 favorites]
I like celery in Shakshuka, nice big chunks, good texture and color contrast.
posted by Oyéah at 8:16 PM on April 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Oyéah at 8:16 PM on April 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
I've been sick as a dog for weeks now, and have a COVID home test sitting on my kitchen counter, but haven't yet ginned up the energy to do it. Probably by the time I get to it I'll be recovering.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 8:19 PM on April 1, 2022
posted by The Underpants Monster at 8:19 PM on April 1, 2022
Good luck with the shakshuka, it is perfekt breakfast for dinner and dinner for breakfast. Someone in this household has it at least four times a week, mostly for breakfast, but I also sometimes wake up to find someone has cooked it late at night, after partying.
You can put anything in it, when you get the hang of it, I think Ottolenghi has a different recipe in each of his cookbooks. It can be chunky or smooth. And it can range from bland and gentle to very hot, depending on the mood of the day.
If we don't have feta cheese, we might put a big dollop of whole fat Greek yogurt or labneh in it when serving, specially if the shakshuka is spicy, for contrast.
posted by mumimor at 9:35 PM on April 1, 2022 [2 favorites]
You can put anything in it, when you get the hang of it, I think Ottolenghi has a different recipe in each of his cookbooks. It can be chunky or smooth. And it can range from bland and gentle to very hot, depending on the mood of the day.
If we don't have feta cheese, we might put a big dollop of whole fat Greek yogurt or labneh in it when serving, specially if the shakshuka is spicy, for contrast.
posted by mumimor at 9:35 PM on April 1, 2022 [2 favorites]
On the topic of dreams, I just had a dream that involved helping someone kidnap a group of people. It wasn't my idea, but I somehow got caught up in it.
Their plan was to lure the people (all friendly, young, and good natured) into a tent on the back of a flat bed truck.
As soon as they were inside I had to go into the tent with them and trigger the release of that expanding foam used in construction.
It was really difficult to get out of the tent with all these people getting in my way, everyone surprised but not yet alarmed at the quickly expanding foam.
Then I had to struggle to get the tent zipped up with the people, by now realising something was wrong, inside, and foam spilling out, all on the back of this moving, bouncing truck. And of course the tent was not secured in any way so starting to slip off the back.
All the while I'm thinking "this is a BAD IDEA, this is a BAD IDEA"
posted by Zumbador at 10:48 PM on April 1, 2022 [2 favorites]
Their plan was to lure the people (all friendly, young, and good natured) into a tent on the back of a flat bed truck.
As soon as they were inside I had to go into the tent with them and trigger the release of that expanding foam used in construction.
It was really difficult to get out of the tent with all these people getting in my way, everyone surprised but not yet alarmed at the quickly expanding foam.
Then I had to struggle to get the tent zipped up with the people, by now realising something was wrong, inside, and foam spilling out, all on the back of this moving, bouncing truck. And of course the tent was not secured in any way so starting to slip off the back.
All the while I'm thinking "this is a BAD IDEA, this is a BAD IDEA"
posted by Zumbador at 10:48 PM on April 1, 2022 [2 favorites]
This is my second round of corona, but while the first time was mild, this time I get the works.
Very sorry to hear that, and wishing you a speedier recovery than you expect. Same goes for all who find themelves in the grip of this filthy fucker.
Plague seems to have run its course at ours. Little ms flabdablet took a fair pasting though not hospital-grade. Ms flabdablet got what felt like a head cold and a few days of fatigue.
As the resident white male I naturally escaped all consequences: never a positive test result, never so much as a sniffle or drip or headache, never an unusual temperature reading, nothing but one weird and completely bedding-soaking night sweat that I totally slept through and might have been from falling asleep in a too-hot bath beforehand. So I'm pretty impressed with the performance of my two Astra Zeneca shots and their Moderna chaser. The others had both had three Pfizers, though little ms flabdablet's third was too late to have come on before exposure.
As of today we're all out of mandatory iso and little ms flabdablet is back to crushing it on the netball court.
posted by flabdablet at 1:20 AM on April 2, 2022 [2 favorites]
Very sorry to hear that, and wishing you a speedier recovery than you expect. Same goes for all who find themelves in the grip of this filthy fucker.
Plague seems to have run its course at ours. Little ms flabdablet took a fair pasting though not hospital-grade. Ms flabdablet got what felt like a head cold and a few days of fatigue.
As the resident white male I naturally escaped all consequences: never a positive test result, never so much as a sniffle or drip or headache, never an unusual temperature reading, nothing but one weird and completely bedding-soaking night sweat that I totally slept through and might have been from falling asleep in a too-hot bath beforehand. So I'm pretty impressed with the performance of my two Astra Zeneca shots and their Moderna chaser. The others had both had three Pfizers, though little ms flabdablet's third was too late to have come on before exposure.
As of today we're all out of mandatory iso and little ms flabdablet is back to crushing it on the netball court.
posted by flabdablet at 1:20 AM on April 2, 2022 [2 favorites]
Sometimes I think of the kids as very large mice. Very large, they are all 180+ cms tall. I go to sleep at night, and don't know what will be in the fridge/pantry when I wake up the next day. The mice may have eaten all the bread and cheese, or that avocado I was looking forward to. Or as I mentioned above, dirty dishes may reveal a late night/early morning shakshuka feast.
In the last couple of months, I have figured out that if I leave a hearty stew or a pasta dish out on the counter, the mice will leave my avocado alone.
But there's another thing. When I cook a hot lunch, the smell will draw the mice out of their holes. They will come out in their bed hair and sort of hang around, pretending to have a purpose while they sneak closer to the stove to see if there is enough in the pot for them too. Often enough there is, I love my "little" mice.
Their nocturnal habits are totally legit: the girls work in restaurants, and while the boys are gardeners, they have their own business, so they can adapt somewhat to the girls' rhythm.
posted by mumimor at 8:26 AM on April 2, 2022 [5 favorites]
In the last couple of months, I have figured out that if I leave a hearty stew or a pasta dish out on the counter, the mice will leave my avocado alone.
But there's another thing. When I cook a hot lunch, the smell will draw the mice out of their holes. They will come out in their bed hair and sort of hang around, pretending to have a purpose while they sneak closer to the stove to see if there is enough in the pot for them too. Often enough there is, I love my "little" mice.
Their nocturnal habits are totally legit: the girls work in restaurants, and while the boys are gardeners, they have their own business, so they can adapt somewhat to the girls' rhythm.
posted by mumimor at 8:26 AM on April 2, 2022 [5 favorites]
Job update: two scheduled interviews, three more applications out. All of the jobs much more local than before, all of them less physical than before. Optimism is an unfamiliar feeling.
posted by hippybear at 4:22 PM on April 2, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 4:22 PM on April 2, 2022 [6 favorites]
Good luck, hippybear. Jobhunting is a bad racket, fingers crossed that it goes well here.
posted by cortex at 6:22 PM on April 2, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by cortex at 6:22 PM on April 2, 2022 [1 favorite]
Sometimes I think of the kids as very large mice. Very large, they are all 180+ cms tall.
And the squeaking! Oh my god, the squeaking.
posted by flabdablet at 7:58 PM on April 2, 2022 [1 favorite]
And the squeaking! Oh my god, the squeaking.
posted by flabdablet at 7:58 PM on April 2, 2022 [1 favorite]
Shakshuka Update:
Made it today. While I halved the recipe, more or less. What I didn't do was halve the amount of tomatoes, so, it was a bit runny. "it's bit runnier than you like..."
Think my sauce wasn't hot enough when I put the eggs in. Took so long for the whites to cook, the yolks were already hard, Learn from your failures I guess. Adding the chorizo and a bit of cheese was not a bad thing, Was still yummy.
I think it would be awesome to put it on top of some tater tots.
Will definitely try again.
posted by Windopaene at 12:04 AM on April 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
Made it today. While I halved the recipe, more or less. What I didn't do was halve the amount of tomatoes, so, it was a bit runny. "it's bit runnier than you like..."
Think my sauce wasn't hot enough when I put the eggs in. Took so long for the whites to cook, the yolks were already hard, Learn from your failures I guess. Adding the chorizo and a bit of cheese was not a bad thing, Was still yummy.
I think it would be awesome to put it on top of some tater tots.
Will definitely try again.
posted by Windopaene at 12:04 AM on April 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
Yeah, getting the whites cooked without overcooking the yolks is the only real challenge of shakshuka. I'd forgotten, otherwise I would have warned you in advance. But now the mice have basically taken over the shakshuka business here. They put a lid on the pan, just for those few minutes the eggs are poached, after the sauce has reduced without a lid. They are off at work now, but I'll ask if there are other tricks I have forgotten.
posted by mumimor at 5:04 AM on April 3, 2022
posted by mumimor at 5:04 AM on April 3, 2022
Last night I made Frijoles Puercos for dinner; I may have overdone it on the chipotles plus pickled jalapeno slices (which my digestive system is grousing about today), but otherwise very tasty. I spooned it into warm soft tortillas and ate it like a taco. I ended up making a whole bunch so I'll be freezing most of it in small servings.
Also, thanks to this thread I'll be gathering shakshuka ingredients at the grocery store today!
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:14 AM on April 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
Also, thanks to this thread I'll be gathering shakshuka ingredients at the grocery store today!
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:14 AM on April 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
Yes you will. It is very tasty. Why are those linked Frijoles Puercos so yellow/orange?
And you can never overdo it with chipotles... So good, so good
posted by Windopaene at 12:59 PM on April 3, 2022
And you can never overdo it with chipotles... So good, so good
posted by Windopaene at 12:59 PM on April 3, 2022
I guess it's the ranchera sauce. Always thought of that as redder. Good luck on the shakshuka! Leftover chorizo goes well in it!
posted by Windopaene at 1:10 PM on April 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Windopaene at 1:10 PM on April 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
Why are those linked Frijoles Puercos so yellow/orange?
Mine was brown with a tinge of red from the chorizo; it didn't have ranchera or tomato in it. And thanks for the leftover-chorizo tip!
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:22 PM on April 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
Mine was brown with a tinge of red from the chorizo; it didn't have ranchera or tomato in it. And thanks for the leftover-chorizo tip!
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:22 PM on April 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
OK, so the mice are back and have somehow managed to forage ramps/wild garlic on the way home from work and have created a feast that I cannot smell or taste, only look at and marvel.
But I asked about the poached eggs. The reply was: yes, put a lid on it. But, if you are in a cheffy mood, put in the egg, then when the yolk is firm enough to touch without breaking, carefully take it out with a spoon and keep it aside till the white is opaque. They believe they have learnt this from Ottolenghi, and they just stand with the yolks in spoons and look at the pan till the yolks can go back. They may break up the whites for speed if they are impatient.
posted by mumimor at 1:43 PM on April 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
But I asked about the poached eggs. The reply was: yes, put a lid on it. But, if you are in a cheffy mood, put in the egg, then when the yolk is firm enough to touch without breaking, carefully take it out with a spoon and keep it aside till the white is opaque. They believe they have learnt this from Ottolenghi, and they just stand with the yolks in spoons and look at the pan till the yolks can go back. They may break up the whites for speed if they are impatient.
posted by mumimor at 1:43 PM on April 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
OMG
Too complicated!!! I am not at that level yet.
Looking forward to my next attempt. Still think it needs potatoes somewhere.
posted by Windopaene at 2:53 PM on April 3, 2022
Too complicated!!! I am not at that level yet.
Looking forward to my next attempt. Still think it needs potatoes somewhere.
posted by Windopaene at 2:53 PM on April 3, 2022
Metafilter: just stand with the yolks in spoons
posted by Greg_Ace at 3:04 PM on April 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Greg_Ace at 3:04 PM on April 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
OMG
Too complicated!!!
I know. They have outgrown me in every sense of the word. The kitchen is perfectly clean after their ramp feast, too.
But try just putting a lid on it.
posted by mumimor at 3:09 PM on April 3, 2022
Too complicated!!!
I know. They have outgrown me in every sense of the word. The kitchen is perfectly clean after their ramp feast, too.
But try just putting a lid on it.
posted by mumimor at 3:09 PM on April 3, 2022
So, every day I play the NYT Spelling Bee game. I don't have a subscription, so I can't play the full game, but I just try to get the pangrams using all the letters, which is the funnest part. I usually get the pangrams, but also, almost every day I come up with words that don't exist, but probably should, and if I had even the teeniest bit of stick-to-itiveness (← a word that should exist, and does), I'd collect all these nonwords and use them for something fun. Today's nonwords so far are "headglue" and "hugdeal." I think headglue speaks for itself, and don't we all need this, all too often? 🤯 Hugdeal is a little more intriguing, and I am imagining scenarios where people say stuff like, "Person A: How did John manage to get all that headglue? I've been trying to buy some for weeks, and they're all sold out wherever I look. Person B: Oh, from what I understand, it was some sort of hugdeal. Person A: aahhh."
posted by taz at 1:16 AM on April 4, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by taz at 1:16 AM on April 4, 2022 [2 favorites]
My first try at shakshuka turned out pretty OK. Used essentially this recipe, though I had no red capsicum handy so I substituted green.
Having tasted the harissa, an ingredient I've not cooked with before, I was a little alarmed by the idea of putting in two tablespoons and used maybe a third of that. Even so I got a nice chilli sweat going off the result, which was also rejected as "too spicy" by the rest of the household. So there's plenty of leftovers in the fridge for my next breakfast (probably Friday, I think).
I added half a teaspoon of turmeric while softening the onions, and a lemon myrtle leaf and a sprig of rosemary once the tomatoes were in, and I think those worked. Didn't have any feta on hand, so I served it with Greek yoghurt instead.
Warned of difficulty with egg whites not setting, I got the lid of my cast iron combo cooker extremely hot on a second hotplate before clapping it on over the eggs to get a bit of Death From Above radiant bake action happening along with the steam, and that worked pretty well. The yolks had just started to set by the time the whites were done, still dark gold inside rather than pale and very soft.
Will definitely make this again. Thanks, mumimor!
posted by flabdablet at 7:13 AM on April 4, 2022 [2 favorites]
Having tasted the harissa, an ingredient I've not cooked with before, I was a little alarmed by the idea of putting in two tablespoons and used maybe a third of that. Even so I got a nice chilli sweat going off the result, which was also rejected as "too spicy" by the rest of the household. So there's plenty of leftovers in the fridge for my next breakfast (probably Friday, I think).
I added half a teaspoon of turmeric while softening the onions, and a lemon myrtle leaf and a sprig of rosemary once the tomatoes were in, and I think those worked. Didn't have any feta on hand, so I served it with Greek yoghurt instead.
Warned of difficulty with egg whites not setting, I got the lid of my cast iron combo cooker extremely hot on a second hotplate before clapping it on over the eggs to get a bit of Death From Above radiant bake action happening along with the steam, and that worked pretty well. The yolks had just started to set by the time the whites were done, still dark gold inside rather than pale and very soft.
Will definitely make this again. Thanks, mumimor!
posted by flabdablet at 7:13 AM on April 4, 2022 [2 favorites]
You are welcome!
That recipe does seem very spicy, with both cayenne and so much harissa. But the avocado on top is genius. I'll have to try that soon. And I really like your addition of lemon myrtle. I've only tasted it once, in an Australian pop-up here, and I think it fits perfectly.
We use a lot of harissa in our cooking, but rarely in the shakshuka, I can't tell you why, it certainly isn't a bad idea. My very first, much anticipated, shakshuka was in a kibbutz in the north of Israel and it was totally bland, with no discernible spice at all and made in huge pans in the industrial oven. But still delicious. There are no rules, just whatever you like.
So I hope you can persuade the family to try again an other time. If not, we often make little individual servings and you get those a lot in North Africa/The Middle East, too. You can freeze portions of the sauce and then thaw them on the stovetop before popping them under the broiler with an egg on top.
posted by mumimor at 2:11 PM on April 4, 2022 [1 favorite]
That recipe does seem very spicy, with both cayenne and so much harissa. But the avocado on top is genius. I'll have to try that soon. And I really like your addition of lemon myrtle. I've only tasted it once, in an Australian pop-up here, and I think it fits perfectly.
We use a lot of harissa in our cooking, but rarely in the shakshuka, I can't tell you why, it certainly isn't a bad idea. My very first, much anticipated, shakshuka was in a kibbutz in the north of Israel and it was totally bland, with no discernible spice at all and made in huge pans in the industrial oven. But still delicious. There are no rules, just whatever you like.
So I hope you can persuade the family to try again an other time. If not, we often make little individual servings and you get those a lot in North Africa/The Middle East, too. You can freeze portions of the sauce and then thaw them on the stovetop before popping them under the broiler with an egg on top.
posted by mumimor at 2:11 PM on April 4, 2022 [1 favorite]
There are no rules, just whatever you like.
There's presumably some essential idea that needs to be in a dish to make it count as a shakshuka, though. Could I legitimately use that name for eggs poached atop any tomato-based concoction?
posted by flabdablet at 8:31 PM on April 4, 2022
There's presumably some essential idea that needs to be in a dish to make it count as a shakshuka, though. Could I legitimately use that name for eggs poached atop any tomato-based concoction?
posted by flabdablet at 8:31 PM on April 4, 2022
There's the italian version, eggs in purgatory. Here's NYT's. Kitchn.
posted by snuffleupagus at 8:33 PM on April 4, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by snuffleupagus at 8:33 PM on April 4, 2022 [1 favorite]
That's a good looking recipe, but the name would make it a tough sell. Eggs halfway to Hell? Doesn't bode well for the quality of the sauce. Uncomfortably close to "purgative" too.
"Shakshuka" sounds much more like something I might actually want to eat.
posted by flabdablet at 8:48 PM on April 4, 2022
"Shakshuka" sounds much more like something I might actually want to eat.
posted by flabdablet at 8:48 PM on April 4, 2022
We use a lot of harissa in our cooking
This was the one I bought. It's OK, but the heat so completely dominates all its other flavours that I probably won't bother replacing it once I've used it up.
I enjoy using a mortar and pestle to grind my own spice mixes, and whenever I want a bit of fiery heat I've always just thrown a dose of fresh or dried chilli in with whatever else I'm grinding that day: usually jalapeno if cooking for the family, birdseye or habanero if it's just for me.
Coriander, caraway and garlic all make regular appearances well, and I'm not convinced that bundling all four together in fixed ratios is the easiest way to achieve the flavours I'm aiming for.
posted by flabdablet at 9:32 PM on April 4, 2022
This was the one I bought. It's OK, but the heat so completely dominates all its other flavours that I probably won't bother replacing it once I've used it up.
I enjoy using a mortar and pestle to grind my own spice mixes, and whenever I want a bit of fiery heat I've always just thrown a dose of fresh or dried chilli in with whatever else I'm grinding that day: usually jalapeno if cooking for the family, birdseye or habanero if it's just for me.
Coriander, caraway and garlic all make regular appearances well, and I'm not convinced that bundling all four together in fixed ratios is the easiest way to achieve the flavours I'm aiming for.
posted by flabdablet at 9:32 PM on April 4, 2022
Eggs halfway to Hell?
Uova in Purgatorio.
Fried eggs. Like the second part of Dante’s Divine Comedy. Trapped between heaven and hell. Uova in Purgatorio, Ova ‘mpriatorio in Neapolitan, or Eggs in Purgatory, this could only be a Neapolitan dish. Taking its inspiration from Il culto delle anime del Purgatorio, the cult of the Souls of Purgatory, this classic “secondo” comes directly from the pages of Cucina Povera Napoletana.
My drift was more that I'm sure this exists in different cultures under different names so go nuts. (Although I wouldn't put nuts in it.)
posted by snuffleupagus at 9:43 PM on April 4, 2022
Uova in Purgatorio.
Fried eggs. Like the second part of Dante’s Divine Comedy. Trapped between heaven and hell. Uova in Purgatorio, Ova ‘mpriatorio in Neapolitan, or Eggs in Purgatory, this could only be a Neapolitan dish. Taking its inspiration from Il culto delle anime del Purgatorio, the cult of the Souls of Purgatory, this classic “secondo” comes directly from the pages of Cucina Povera Napoletana.
My drift was more that I'm sure this exists in different cultures under different names so go nuts. (Although I wouldn't put nuts in it.)
posted by snuffleupagus at 9:43 PM on April 4, 2022
(Plus pain perdu is cooler than french toast; let breakfast be damned)
posted by snuffleupagus at 9:53 PM on April 4, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by snuffleupagus at 9:53 PM on April 4, 2022 [1 favorite]
Today's nonwords so far are "headglue" and "hugdeal." I
What, 'hugglue' was too hard?
posted by dg at 10:42 PM on April 4, 2022 [2 favorites]
What, 'hugglue' was too hard?
posted by dg at 10:42 PM on April 4, 2022 [2 favorites]
This was the one I bought.
I like that one, but two tablespoons is really a lot, and there is already cayenne in the recipe. If I use it directly in a stew I'm just putting together ad hoc, I'll maybe use 1 cm from the tube, so much less than one tablespoon. I wonder if the author meant 2 teaspoons?
Another thing I do if I have a big soupy stew is to take some of the broth out of the stew and mix it with harissa to make a hot somewhat thin sauce, separate from the milder stew. Then people can pour as much or as little they want over their own serving.
But harissa is (like mayo and ice cream) one of those things where every time you make it from scratch, you wonder why you don't always make it from scratch. Here's a recipe: harissa. But again, there are hundreds, if not thousands of variations.
There's presumably some essential idea that needs to be in a dish to make it count as a shakshuka, though. Could I legitimately use that name for eggs poached atop any tomato-based concoction?
Good question! It's basically eaten throughout the Mediterranean, so naturally, there are thousands of variations. Even if one sticks to the version that is called shakshuka and not eggs in purgatory or menemen, it's eaten from Morocco to Lebanon in homes and street kitchens and fine dining restaurants.
I would think tomatoes and eggs are the basic ingredients, I have a book of Middle Eastern food from 1955, and in it checkchouka is just garlic, tomatoes, eggs, oil for frying and salt and pepper. But as in any breakfast hash-type dish, there is room for all the leftovers. I like aubergines in there, or potatoes.
Also, it is from a region where most people are Muslim or Jewish, so pork isn't usually an ingredient. But there are Christians in most of the countries, and specially in Egypt and Lebanon, so you can't even count on that.
posted by mumimor at 12:15 AM on April 5, 2022 [2 favorites]
I like that one, but two tablespoons is really a lot, and there is already cayenne in the recipe. If I use it directly in a stew I'm just putting together ad hoc, I'll maybe use 1 cm from the tube, so much less than one tablespoon. I wonder if the author meant 2 teaspoons?
Another thing I do if I have a big soupy stew is to take some of the broth out of the stew and mix it with harissa to make a hot somewhat thin sauce, separate from the milder stew. Then people can pour as much or as little they want over their own serving.
But harissa is (like mayo and ice cream) one of those things where every time you make it from scratch, you wonder why you don't always make it from scratch. Here's a recipe: harissa. But again, there are hundreds, if not thousands of variations.
There's presumably some essential idea that needs to be in a dish to make it count as a shakshuka, though. Could I legitimately use that name for eggs poached atop any tomato-based concoction?
Good question! It's basically eaten throughout the Mediterranean, so naturally, there are thousands of variations. Even if one sticks to the version that is called shakshuka and not eggs in purgatory or menemen, it's eaten from Morocco to Lebanon in homes and street kitchens and fine dining restaurants.
I would think tomatoes and eggs are the basic ingredients, I have a book of Middle Eastern food from 1955, and in it checkchouka is just garlic, tomatoes, eggs, oil for frying and salt and pepper. But as in any breakfast hash-type dish, there is room for all the leftovers. I like aubergines in there, or potatoes.
Also, it is from a region where most people are Muslim or Jewish, so pork isn't usually an ingredient. But there are Christians in most of the countries, and specially in Egypt and Lebanon, so you can't even count on that.
posted by mumimor at 12:15 AM on April 5, 2022 [2 favorites]
I wonder if the author meant 2 teaspoons?
I wondered that too, so I double checked, and "tablespoons" is spelled out in words. Could be careless transcription from an old handwritten recipe maybe.
But yeah, using as much as I did (which was still nowhere near two tablespoons) definitely turned this into a chilli dish rather than a tomato dish, and I didn't even put in any cayenne or paprika because we'd luckily run out of both. Next batch I make will have the heat backed way off, and I'll probably throw in a bit of Massel's excellent faux chicken stock powder to fatten up the tomato a bit more as well.
posted by flabdablet at 7:56 AM on April 5, 2022 [2 favorites]
I wondered that too, so I double checked, and "tablespoons" is spelled out in words. Could be careless transcription from an old handwritten recipe maybe.
But yeah, using as much as I did (which was still nowhere near two tablespoons) definitely turned this into a chilli dish rather than a tomato dish, and I didn't even put in any cayenne or paprika because we'd luckily run out of both. Next batch I make will have the heat backed way off, and I'll probably throw in a bit of Massel's excellent faux chicken stock powder to fatten up the tomato a bit more as well.
posted by flabdablet at 7:56 AM on April 5, 2022 [2 favorites]
Here is one of Ottolenghi's many recipes: Shakshuka
Not very hot.
posted by mumimor at 10:16 AM on April 5, 2022 [2 favorites]
Not very hot.
posted by mumimor at 10:16 AM on April 5, 2022 [2 favorites]
Interesting, that's closer to the Italian-style eggs in Purgatory I've found online...
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:51 AM on April 5, 2022
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:51 AM on April 5, 2022
Huevos Ahogados -- drowned eggs -- is pretty much the same as shakshouka, but Mexican.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 11:14 AM on April 5, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 11:14 AM on April 5, 2022 [3 favorites]
So what we're saying here is, people worldwide all agree that eggs with tomato is The Most Perfect Food?
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:41 AM on April 5, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:41 AM on April 5, 2022 [3 favorites]
If the eggs don't make it out of Purgatory, the deviled eggs get them.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 12:38 PM on April 5, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by The Underpants Monster at 12:38 PM on April 5, 2022 [2 favorites]
Leftover too-spicy first-try shakshuka that's been waiting in the fridge for three days makes a gooooooood breakfast.
Mmmmmmmmmm.
45kg down as of today.
posted by flabdablet at 9:23 PM on April 7, 2022 [1 favorite]
Mmmmmmmmmm.
45kg down as of today.
posted by flabdablet at 9:23 PM on April 7, 2022 [1 favorite]
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