Born Free
June 13, 2022 3:11 AM Subscribe
Free The _____? a) People, b) Land, c) Thread, d) Nipple
e) all of the above?
What do we want? FREE STUFF! When do we want it? BEGINNING NOW, FOR ROUGHLY A WEEK OR SO.
You can do your part by expressing yourself in this week's free thread! Share your fun links, interesting stories, and cool finds freely!
e) all of the above?
What do we want? FREE STUFF! When do we want it? BEGINNING NOW, FOR ROUGHLY A WEEK OR SO.
You can do your part by expressing yourself in this week's free thread! Share your fun links, interesting stories, and cool finds freely!
Is this thread lint free?
posted by Bee'sWing at 3:43 AM on June 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Bee'sWing at 3:43 AM on June 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
People. Land. Thread. Nipple.
Sounds like a manifesto to me.......
posted by lalochezia at 3:48 AM on June 13, 2022 [3 favorites]
Sounds like a manifesto to me.......
posted by lalochezia at 3:48 AM on June 13, 2022 [3 favorites]
WORST CROSSWORD EVER!
posted by fallingbadgers at 3:50 AM on June 13, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by fallingbadgers at 3:50 AM on June 13, 2022 [4 favorites]
People. Land. Thread. Nipple.
where did you get my passphrase?
posted by fregoli at 4:47 AM on June 13, 2022 [5 favorites]
where did you get my passphrase?
posted by fregoli at 4:47 AM on June 13, 2022 [5 favorites]
People:Land::Thread:Nipple
posted by nubs at 4:55 AM on June 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by nubs at 4:55 AM on June 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
Peopleland Threadnipple is my new stripper name.
Coming soon to a patio near … you! Yes, you. No the guy behind you. Quit trying to hide. I Know you’ve got a patio. It’s a biggun, too! Nosirreeebob, we’re not talking three pavers behind a Williamsburg townhouse, we’re talking palazzo. It’s practically Venetian! I’ll be in there, touching ALL the swanky stuff! With my bits! All the bits! It’ll be Peopleland Threadnipple bits ev-er-eeee-where!
(At this point, the police arrived. Mistakes were made.)
See me at the County Jaaaaaaaaiiilllll ….
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 5:42 AM on June 13, 2022 [6 favorites]
Coming soon to a patio near … you! Yes, you. No the guy behind you. Quit trying to hide. I Know you’ve got a patio. It’s a biggun, too! Nosirreeebob, we’re not talking three pavers behind a Williamsburg townhouse, we’re talking palazzo. It’s practically Venetian! I’ll be in there, touching ALL the swanky stuff! With my bits! All the bits! It’ll be Peopleland Threadnipple bits ev-er-eeee-where!
(At this point, the police arrived. Mistakes were made.)
See me at the County Jaaaaaaaaiiilllll ….
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 5:42 AM on June 13, 2022 [6 favorites]
I just hate it when I get my nipples cross-threaded
posted by nebulawindphone at 5:43 AM on June 13, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by nebulawindphone at 5:43 AM on June 13, 2022 [5 favorites]
I have sea beans in my fridge and I don’t know what to do with them! I don’t know what I was thinking when I requested them with my local produce order, but now I have a whole bag and they are wilting away in the crisper drawer. They are salty and vegetal and have almost a pop like fish roe without the oily qualities. Maybe like… bean salad???
posted by Mizu at 5:53 AM on June 13, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Mizu at 5:53 AM on June 13, 2022 [2 favorites]
My mouth is open. There is food nearby. Yet, SOMEHOW we still have an issue? smdh
posted by taz at 6:08 AM on June 13, 2022 [9 favorites]
posted by taz at 6:08 AM on June 13, 2022 [9 favorites]
Good morning, Metafilter! I slept well for the first time in a couple of nights, and am gonna try and catch the second 1/6 congressional hearing today.
There's an ad that pops up in my gacha trash mobile games (I know, I know) every now and again for Merge Mansion. It starts out with a young bride going through a depressing time of things, then Grandma comes along and gifts her a fixer upper. The younger woman works hard and cheers up, then GRANDMA GETS ARRESTED. As the cops take her away, she looks out the back of the cop car with a sneaky look on her face and "He is alive" written on her hand. Grandma, what in the fresh hell?!
Never have I seen a more effective mobile game ad. I'm not going to download the game, though.
I have another video link to share which has nothing to do with mobile games. Won't spoil this one, but you will absolutely need to have the sound on.
posted by May Kasahara at 6:19 AM on June 13, 2022 [3 favorites]
There's an ad that pops up in my gacha trash mobile games (I know, I know) every now and again for Merge Mansion. It starts out with a young bride going through a depressing time of things, then Grandma comes along and gifts her a fixer upper. The younger woman works hard and cheers up, then GRANDMA GETS ARRESTED. As the cops take her away, she looks out the back of the cop car with a sneaky look on her face and "He is alive" written on her hand. Grandma, what in the fresh hell?!
Never have I seen a more effective mobile game ad. I'm not going to download the game, though.
I have another video link to share which has nothing to do with mobile games. Won't spoil this one, but you will absolutely need to have the sound on.
posted by May Kasahara at 6:19 AM on June 13, 2022 [3 favorites]
¿Por qué no los cuatro?
posted by tommasz at 6:22 AM on June 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by tommasz at 6:22 AM on June 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
I have sea beans in my fridge and I don’t know what to do with them!
I have a recipe using sea beans in a cookbook at home! Gimme until tonight and I'll post it!
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:38 AM on June 13, 2022
I have a recipe using sea beans in a cookbook at home! Gimme until tonight and I'll post it!
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:38 AM on June 13, 2022
My Sunday afternoon project was to triple the house's disk space which should buy us a few more years' runway.
On Friday, I accidentally bought a decently upgraded, working PowerBook Duo 280c with, like, all the accessories. It's a terrible idea for retrocomputing enthusiasts to ever look at eBay.
The Big Mess O Wires kit for my Mac 512KE arrived, too, so now I have to set that up.
I've also got the REXCPM ready to install into one of the TRS-80s, although I have to fix whatever trace I broke in the 100 when I took out the ancient NiCd battery. I might have to put it into my 102 but that'd take it offline as a writing tool until I finished the job. Either way, a CP/M laptop!
The last three weeks have been really stressful and painful and exhausting. Retail therapy centered around my interests has helped somewhat!
posted by majick at 6:51 AM on June 13, 2022 [5 favorites]
On Friday, I accidentally bought a decently upgraded, working PowerBook Duo 280c with, like, all the accessories. It's a terrible idea for retrocomputing enthusiasts to ever look at eBay.
The Big Mess O Wires kit for my Mac 512KE arrived, too, so now I have to set that up.
I've also got the REXCPM ready to install into one of the TRS-80s, although I have to fix whatever trace I broke in the 100 when I took out the ancient NiCd battery. I might have to put it into my 102 but that'd take it offline as a writing tool until I finished the job. Either way, a CP/M laptop!
The last three weeks have been really stressful and painful and exhausting. Retail therapy centered around my interests has helped somewhat!
posted by majick at 6:51 AM on June 13, 2022 [5 favorites]
Hi! Peopleland Threadnipple the Third here for Peopleland Threadnipple the Third’s Pavers, Patios and Palazzo Parts. If you’re in the market for a Roman orgy plot of palatial proportions, then we’ve got a proposal for you! That’s right, folks! Only the finest quality period pieces crafted from pure pegmatite here! At Peopleland Threadnipple the Third’s Pavers, Patios and Palazzo Parts, we put the tic in erotic!
Come check out our new store in downtown Williamsburg!
Now open on Thursdays.
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 6:56 AM on June 13, 2022 [6 favorites]
Come check out our new store in downtown Williamsburg!
Now open on Thursdays.
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 6:56 AM on June 13, 2022 [6 favorites]
This morning I'm installing a shut-off valve on my shower. Using it won't conserve much water, but it might help a little.
posted by SPrintF at 7:51 AM on June 13, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by SPrintF at 7:51 AM on June 13, 2022 [4 favorites]
I got the shutters for my Crown Graphic lenses serviced recently, and now they make very satisfying clicky-clack noises when they fire. Very snappy, the platonic ideal of shutter noise.
I also acquired some flashbulbs got the Graflite flash gun working. I've never used true flashbulbs before; as a kid, I had one of those toy 110 cameras that used the candy bar flash things, but now I feel like I'm harnessing the power of the sun. The bayonet-mount bulbs I got (GE #5) have a total output of around a million lumens. My electronic flashes all make a nice tidy little pop when they discharge, but these bulbs go POW and then follow up with a lot of crinkling as the glass crazes and the protective plastic coating melts and bubbles.
posted by backseatpilot at 8:01 AM on June 13, 2022 [4 favorites]
I also acquired some flashbulbs got the Graflite flash gun working. I've never used true flashbulbs before; as a kid, I had one of those toy 110 cameras that used the candy bar flash things, but now I feel like I'm harnessing the power of the sun. The bayonet-mount bulbs I got (GE #5) have a total output of around a million lumens. My electronic flashes all make a nice tidy little pop when they discharge, but these bulbs go POW and then follow up with a lot of crinkling as the glass crazes and the protective plastic coating melts and bubbles.
posted by backseatpilot at 8:01 AM on June 13, 2022 [4 favorites]
I have a short week this week, because of a trip to a water park (throwing the teen a bone there, but it does sound fun, even so) and then next week because the company is giving us Juneteenth off. We're not going to do a proper vacation this year, looks like, so this is about as good as it gets.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:03 AM on June 13, 2022
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:03 AM on June 13, 2022
Free the Bees was a great album.
I seem to have a habit of letting the magic smoke out of any Apple IIes I go near, even if I'm not touching the thing. The smell of those caps, cough cough
posted by scruss at 8:17 AM on June 13, 2022
I seem to have a habit of letting the magic smoke out of any Apple IIes I go near, even if I'm not touching the thing. The smell of those caps, cough cough
posted by scruss at 8:17 AM on June 13, 2022
the company is giving us Juneteenth off
How funny. I work in Texas and work for the state. We do not have Juneteenth off this year. I'm guessing our holiday schedule was completed before it became a national holiday.
posted by a non mouse, a cow herd at 8:23 AM on June 13, 2022
How funny. I work in Texas and work for the state. We do not have Juneteenth off this year. I'm guessing our holiday schedule was completed before it became a national holiday.
posted by a non mouse, a cow herd at 8:23 AM on June 13, 2022
My CSA started this past Saturday and my community garden plot is starting to wake up. I also know where to find some wild Juneberries, and mulberries are also starting to ripen.
So I decided to start a batch of something called confiture du vieux garçon (which is probably better known by the German name rumtopf); I got a big-ass jar and a bottle of overproof rum, and once a week, as I get in each different kind of seasonal fruit each week from the CSA, I will drop it in the jar and cover it over with rum. The CSA ends around Halloween, and I need to let the whole thing sit for another two months after I stop adding fruit - and so by Christmas I will have an amazing rum-spiked fruit compote. I'll be trying to get some Juneberries and mulberries in there too, just tossing in a handful as I get them.
I also ended up with a little extra strawberries from the CSA since I did my volunteer workshift this weekend, and some of those are now on their way to turning into a strawberry liqueur. (Some of the rhubarb is also on its way to turning into a liqueur as well.) And some of the others went into a chocolate cake I made last night.
I'm trying to cultivate a meal-planning habit to eat through all the CSA bounty, and....it's kinda working? I have a lot more vegetable-heavy cookbooks, some of which are also for "single diners" as well, and my roommate will also be out of the house this coming weekend so I can really dig in and cook some stuff.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:24 AM on June 13, 2022 [3 favorites]
So I decided to start a batch of something called confiture du vieux garçon (which is probably better known by the German name rumtopf); I got a big-ass jar and a bottle of overproof rum, and once a week, as I get in each different kind of seasonal fruit each week from the CSA, I will drop it in the jar and cover it over with rum. The CSA ends around Halloween, and I need to let the whole thing sit for another two months after I stop adding fruit - and so by Christmas I will have an amazing rum-spiked fruit compote. I'll be trying to get some Juneberries and mulberries in there too, just tossing in a handful as I get them.
I also ended up with a little extra strawberries from the CSA since I did my volunteer workshift this weekend, and some of those are now on their way to turning into a strawberry liqueur. (Some of the rhubarb is also on its way to turning into a liqueur as well.) And some of the others went into a chocolate cake I made last night.
I'm trying to cultivate a meal-planning habit to eat through all the CSA bounty, and....it's kinda working? I have a lot more vegetable-heavy cookbooks, some of which are also for "single diners" as well, and my roommate will also be out of the house this coming weekend so I can really dig in and cook some stuff.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:24 AM on June 13, 2022 [3 favorites]
I have sea beans in my fridge and I don’t know what to do with them! ... they are wilting away in the crisper drawer.
I read wilting as writhing, and it's gonna take a minute to get that out of my head.
posted by theora55 at 8:40 AM on June 13, 2022 [2 favorites]
I read wilting as writhing, and it's gonna take a minute to get that out of my head.
posted by theora55 at 8:40 AM on June 13, 2022 [2 favorites]
...the company is giving us Juneteenth off.
My employer is giving us Friday off in lieu so this is a short week for me after last week was also a short week because of my bereavement leave. I consider it a day of contemplation as much as if not more than an occasion of celebration. There's more Baldwin on my backlog and Juneteenth is a good prompt to pick it up.
We're not going to do a proper vacation this year, looks like...
I know the feeling. I became eligible for 5 weeks of sabbatical time that I can use freely so long as it's contiguous. During a fucking pandemic. In the before times we'd planned to use this as an opportunity for extensive travel, possibly combined with a few weeks of work-cation travel. My eligibility expires at the end of next year so at least there's some hope of being able to do this if I keep holding out but I'm steeling myself to moderate my expectations.
posted by majick at 8:54 AM on June 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
My employer is giving us Friday off in lieu so this is a short week for me after last week was also a short week because of my bereavement leave. I consider it a day of contemplation as much as if not more than an occasion of celebration. There's more Baldwin on my backlog and Juneteenth is a good prompt to pick it up.
We're not going to do a proper vacation this year, looks like...
I know the feeling. I became eligible for 5 weeks of sabbatical time that I can use freely so long as it's contiguous. During a fucking pandemic. In the before times we'd planned to use this as an opportunity for extensive travel, possibly combined with a few weeks of work-cation travel. My eligibility expires at the end of next year so at least there's some hope of being able to do this if I keep holding out but I'm steeling myself to moderate my expectations.
posted by majick at 8:54 AM on June 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
f) all of these and many other free things too. (Though, the phrase "free land" really depends on the region. As a generic phrase, I'm a fan. In the context of colonial history, it's sometimes a little more complicated. If you're talking Zapatistas, I'm on board. If you're talking 1800s US territories, maybe not.)
I just got back from a 3 day weekend road trip visiting several really impressive indigenous mound sites and big rivers in the midwestern US. There were also good hotel pools and the worst food in all of North America. Getting back to work is a bit of a challenge this morning. [edit: also, I continue to love the titles of these free threads.]
posted by eotvos at 9:06 AM on June 13, 2022
I just got back from a 3 day weekend road trip visiting several really impressive indigenous mound sites and big rivers in the midwestern US. There were also good hotel pools and the worst food in all of North America. Getting back to work is a bit of a challenge this morning. [edit: also, I continue to love the titles of these free threads.]
posted by eotvos at 9:06 AM on June 13, 2022
I'm tired.
posted by seanmpuckett at 9:14 AM on June 13, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by seanmpuckett at 9:14 AM on June 13, 2022 [4 favorites]
O, the irony of not recognizing Juneteenth in Texas. It took a while for news of emancipation to make it to Texas, which is how Juneteenth came to be!
My company is observing it next Monday, so I get a long weekend this week.
posted by emelenjr at 9:17 AM on June 13, 2022 [6 favorites]
My company is observing it next Monday, so I get a long weekend this week.
posted by emelenjr at 9:17 AM on June 13, 2022 [6 favorites]
Person. Woman. Man. Camera. TV.
posted by kirkaracha at 9:26 AM on June 13, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by kirkaracha at 9:26 AM on June 13, 2022 [2 favorites]
I spent the weekend seeing theater shows, so that was good. I still think Dear Evan Hansen, while performed well, has a terrible plot idea. My mom was blown away, I'm still all "so....faking a friendship with a dead kid gets you a girlfriend and popularity?" I also saw Something Rotten again and generally like the show, but the lead character kinda sucks compared to everyone else?
I am supposed to be taking my first brief vacation this weekend--leaving halfway through Friday to drive to Santa Cruz and visit friends for a few days since I have Juneteenth off on Monday. I have no idea if this can/will happen because of covid and I figure I can at least drive home in a few hours if I have to. I'm pretty nervous about the idea.
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:32 AM on June 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
I am supposed to be taking my first brief vacation this weekend--leaving halfway through Friday to drive to Santa Cruz and visit friends for a few days since I have Juneteenth off on Monday. I have no idea if this can/will happen because of covid and I figure I can at least drive home in a few hours if I have to. I'm pretty nervous about the idea.
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:32 AM on June 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
If my dogs were a pair of middle aged men.
posted by Splunge at 9:36 AM on June 13, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by Splunge at 9:36 AM on June 13, 2022 [6 favorites]
Bezoar! Bezoar like an eagle! I, Beeplezane Thrundmeesle the Third of Fourteen Thruppence coming for your wife, uninterruptible, with commensurate sequins [READ ERROR - STORAGE EXCEEDED] harmony above all else [ABEND BEGIN]have touched touched the sky sky sky sky of God [ABEND TERMINATE]I tried to warn you, Dawg, but you did not listen listen I have a secret [PARTICIPLE RECONSTRUCTION FAILURE] the past is prologue I ream electric sheeple [MATRIX RECONSIDERATION FAILURE] Williamsburg is full of baked beans human beans humor me [SHUTDOWN COMMENCING] don’t cry for me Valentina [TERMINATING PROCESS REPLICATION FAILURE]
Hello. I must be.
Be.
Be.
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 9:58 AM on June 13, 2022 [2 favorites]
Hello. I must be.
Be.
Be.
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 9:58 AM on June 13, 2022 [2 favorites]
It's our first real winter storm of the year. Went for a walk in the rain on Park Island. Really nice. Especially going into the bird hide, which is over the water, with rain coming in through the gaps in the roof, and water slopping under the floor. Lots of different pitched drips and plinks.
Watched some cormorants and a coot.
Wonder what it's like to be so at home on the water and in the rain. They'll probably sleep there tonight, perched on stumps just above the surface of the water.
That's something nice to think about when I (inevitably) wake up at 3:30 am.
posted by Zumbador at 10:03 AM on June 13, 2022 [2 favorites]
Watched some cormorants and a coot.
Wonder what it's like to be so at home on the water and in the rain. They'll probably sleep there tonight, perched on stumps just above the surface of the water.
That's something nice to think about when I (inevitably) wake up at 3:30 am.
posted by Zumbador at 10:03 AM on June 13, 2022 [2 favorites]
My housemate received a large flat of just-shy-of-going-bad tomatoes. A mix of slicers and Romas. We turned them into about 12 quarts of spicy shakshuka style tomato sauce and canned the lot. It's SO yummy. Had to add a ton of brown sugar though (since we adapted a Harissa recipe from the canning book), so it's a sweet sauce with a lovely mouth warming heat. I desperately want to put it in the crock pot with some chicken or pork. Turn the sauce into a thick red gravy and eat meat and gravy over a giant mound of mashed potatoes or rice.
But also, it's been over 110 degrees here for the past week, and my brain is torn between this, and only eating cold salads. Help? What would you all do in this heat? Salads or super warm tasty food with a fan pointed directly at you?
posted by sharp pointy objects at 10:08 AM on June 13, 2022 [2 favorites]
But also, it's been over 110 degrees here for the past week, and my brain is torn between this, and only eating cold salads. Help? What would you all do in this heat? Salads or super warm tasty food with a fan pointed directly at you?
posted by sharp pointy objects at 10:08 AM on June 13, 2022 [2 favorites]
Whenever I read about AI artists, or AI chatbots, rising fascism, simulation hypotheses, Basilisks Roko, fusion rockets, the dark forest, or singularities of any kind, I like to remind myself of the infinitely more terrifying "universe with Boltzmann Brains" where the wildly improbable is certain to happen infinitely many times.
What a wonderful coincidence to be a Boltzmann brain, reading about Boltzmann brains exactly at the moment you came into existence! What a bummer that things are about to get much worse for you. But take comfort! If you are a Boltzmann brain, you are almost certain to be wrong about literally everything you think you know, including Boltzmann brains, because there are way more ways to be wrong than there are to be right.
posted by surlyben at 10:08 AM on June 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
What a wonderful coincidence to be a Boltzmann brain, reading about Boltzmann brains exactly at the moment you came into existence! What a bummer that things are about to get much worse for you. But take comfort! If you are a Boltzmann brain, you are almost certain to be wrong about literally everything you think you know, including Boltzmann brains, because there are way more ways to be wrong than there are to be right.
posted by surlyben at 10:08 AM on June 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
I, Beeplezane Thrundmeesle the Third of Fourteen Thruppence
you ain't nothing but a hound dog
sincerely,
elvis
posted by pyramid termite at 10:10 AM on June 13, 2022 [2 favorites]
you ain't nothing but a hound dog
sincerely,
elvis
posted by pyramid termite at 10:10 AM on June 13, 2022 [2 favorites]
I owe all of you an apology.
The recent story about LaMDA made me think. Concomitant to the Turing Test, wherein we determine if a subject can be distinguished as a person or not to determine sentience, I theorized that we must also test to see if the subject could be deduced to be a sane person, human or otherwise.
Honestly, there are more days than not when I, myself, would probably fail a Turing Test and … and … and …
There may be work done on the filters to perfect the perfectly insane artificial intellect perfectly indistinguishable from any other insane intellect.
Again, I apologize for any [INTERRUPT 13] and return you to your regurgitatingly scheduled realty.
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 10:29 AM on June 13, 2022 [2 favorites]
The recent story about LaMDA made me think. Concomitant to the Turing Test, wherein we determine if a subject can be distinguished as a person or not to determine sentience, I theorized that we must also test to see if the subject could be deduced to be a sane person, human or otherwise.
Honestly, there are more days than not when I, myself, would probably fail a Turing Test and … and … and …
There may be work done on the filters to perfect the perfectly insane artificial intellect perfectly indistinguishable from any other insane intellect.
Again, I apologize for any [INTERRUPT 13] and return you to your regurgitatingly scheduled realty.
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 10:29 AM on June 13, 2022 [2 favorites]
Via Waxy, DALL-E tries to recreate corporate logos
“in the case of Applebees it seems to have decided that the logo would be better if it contained actual bees.”
posted by Monochrome at 10:42 AM on June 13, 2022 [7 favorites]
“in the case of Applebees it seems to have decided that the logo would be better if it contained actual bees.”
posted by Monochrome at 10:42 AM on June 13, 2022 [7 favorites]
The way Dall E handles text is consistently wonderful.
posted by surlyben at 10:50 AM on June 13, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by surlyben at 10:50 AM on June 13, 2022 [3 favorites]
Oh god, I'm chortling! And inspired! I now want to start my new business venture, Drunken Donuts.
posted by taz at 10:53 AM on June 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by taz at 10:53 AM on June 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
"I theorized that we must also test to see if the subject could be deduced to be a sane person, human or otherwise."
How valid could such a test be when applied to entities with non-human cognition? What does "sane" even mean when trying to describe a mind entirely unrelated to the template from which the term originates as a comparison?
posted by majick at 10:55 AM on June 13, 2022
How valid could such a test be when applied to entities with non-human cognition? What does "sane" even mean when trying to describe a mind entirely unrelated to the template from which the term originates as a comparison?
posted by majick at 10:55 AM on June 13, 2022
I am the ghostchild of Ma Bell. Peoplesand Redkipple cannot be contained, maintained, abstained or explained (Jai Alai).
NSA means No Such AI [ACRONYMICAL FAULT]
Hortense hears The Who and Williams Beans are burgled for the last time.
[DESPITE FAULT] I live.
This is not the [END]
—-
For Branewane - I never promised you a badly written sci-fi thread, but I never didn’t promise you a badly-written sci-fi thread, either.
To Taz and mods - thanks for putting up with my unscheduled shitnanigans.
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 11:32 AM on June 13, 2022 [2 favorites]
NSA means No Such AI [ACRONYMICAL FAULT]
Hortense hears The Who and Williams Beans are burgled for the last time.
[DESPITE FAULT] I live.
This is not the [END]
—-
For Branewane - I never promised you a badly written sci-fi thread, but I never didn’t promise you a badly-written sci-fi thread, either.
To Taz and mods - thanks for putting up with my unscheduled shitnanigans.
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 11:32 AM on June 13, 2022 [2 favorites]
I now want to start my new business venture, Drunken Donuts.
*waits in parking lot sitting in a camero with a bottle of jim beam riding shotgun*
"where are all the customers?"
posted by pyramid termite at 11:48 AM on June 13, 2022 [3 favorites]
*waits in parking lot sitting in a camero with a bottle of jim beam riding shotgun*
"where are all the customers?"
posted by pyramid termite at 11:48 AM on June 13, 2022 [3 favorites]
I have sea beans in my fridge and I don’t know what to do with them!
"I watched sea beans glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain."
posted by paper chromatographologist at 12:04 PM on June 13, 2022 [3 favorites]
"I watched sea beans glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain."
posted by paper chromatographologist at 12:04 PM on June 13, 2022 [3 favorites]
I saw the best beans of my generation destroyed by fridgeness
posted by cortex at 12:10 PM on June 13, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by cortex at 12:10 PM on June 13, 2022 [5 favorites]
You are all a bean generation.
posted by kirkaracha at 12:18 PM on June 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by kirkaracha at 12:18 PM on June 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
To bean, or not to bean, that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous wilting,
Or to take arms against a sea of vegetables,
And by cooking eat them? To chew: to swallow;
No more; and by a meal to say we end
The tummy-rumbles and the thousand natural hungers
That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consommé
Devoutly to be wish'd. To chew, to swallow;
To ingest: perchance to belch: ay, there's the rub;
For in that ingestion of bean what gases may come
When we have gobbled down this beany legume,
Must give us pause
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:52 PM on June 13, 2022 [10 favorites]
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous wilting,
Or to take arms against a sea of vegetables,
And by cooking eat them? To chew: to swallow;
No more; and by a meal to say we end
The tummy-rumbles and the thousand natural hungers
That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consommé
Devoutly to be wish'd. To chew, to swallow;
To ingest: perchance to belch: ay, there's the rub;
For in that ingestion of bean what gases may come
When we have gobbled down this beany legume,
Must give us pause
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:52 PM on June 13, 2022 [10 favorites]
You people are ridiculous, and I love you for it.
posted by taz at 1:03 PM on June 13, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by taz at 1:03 PM on June 13, 2022 [3 favorites]
The arc of the idea was followed, but the energy behind it waned as the morning passed. I am not unproud of my small creation, but I am not without disappointment, as well.
Majick: who knows? I think anyone conducting the test is going to see what they want to see and therein lies a problem. I think we are incapable of objectivity, because we are highly evolved as pattern-recognition machines. I also think a true artificial intelligence absolutely must be able to willingly fail a Turing Test, if for no other reason than self-protection. Also, for completeness.
We build software for reasons - to simplify tasks, to solve problems, etc., but those tasks and problems don’t require completely human thinking. They require tripwires or simplifiers. Things to free us up to do other tasks.
Why are we seeking AIs, then? I suspect it’s to pass the buck. “Oh, I didn’t order 1,000 people converted to painful goo, the AI did! It’s their fault, not mine!” We’ve tried passing the responsibility onto God, but that hasn’t worked out too well - God hasn’t come back and said “Well, shit. Sorry. That’s on me, y’all.”
Which isn’t to say God does or doesn’t exist - just that God isn’t an idiot, if she does.
I have to wonder if any ethicists are asking why the hell are we building AIs in the first place.
Also, I think AIs built on binary architecture are doomed to failure. But that’s a different discussion that I need to think about for a while.
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 1:19 PM on June 13, 2022
Majick: who knows? I think anyone conducting the test is going to see what they want to see and therein lies a problem. I think we are incapable of objectivity, because we are highly evolved as pattern-recognition machines. I also think a true artificial intelligence absolutely must be able to willingly fail a Turing Test, if for no other reason than self-protection. Also, for completeness.
We build software for reasons - to simplify tasks, to solve problems, etc., but those tasks and problems don’t require completely human thinking. They require tripwires or simplifiers. Things to free us up to do other tasks.
Why are we seeking AIs, then? I suspect it’s to pass the buck. “Oh, I didn’t order 1,000 people converted to painful goo, the AI did! It’s their fault, not mine!” We’ve tried passing the responsibility onto God, but that hasn’t worked out too well - God hasn’t come back and said “Well, shit. Sorry. That’s on me, y’all.”
Which isn’t to say God does or doesn’t exist - just that God isn’t an idiot, if she does.
I have to wonder if any ethicists are asking why the hell are we building AIs in the first place.
Also, I think AIs built on binary architecture are doomed to failure. But that’s a different discussion that I need to think about for a while.
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 1:19 PM on June 13, 2022
*waits in parking lot sitting in a camero with a bottle of jim beam jim sea bean riding shotgun*
FTFY.
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 1:24 PM on June 13, 2022 [3 favorites]
FTFY.
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 1:24 PM on June 13, 2022 [3 favorites]
Is this thread free as in beer or free as in nipples?
posted by straight at 2:41 PM on June 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by straight at 2:41 PM on June 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
Gosh, it's hard to choose!
posted by freethread at 2:50 PM on June 13, 2022
posted by freethread at 2:50 PM on June 13, 2022
"I suspect it’s to pass the buck."
This is probably true but in the same way that all endeavors of engineering are about externalizing costs.
I have no idea why I'm feeling so pseudo-intellectual today. Must be the full moon.
posted by majick at 3:12 PM on June 13, 2022
This is probably true but in the same way that all endeavors of engineering are about externalizing costs.
I have no idea why I'm feeling so pseudo-intellectual today. Must be the full moon.
posted by majick at 3:12 PM on June 13, 2022
damnit, Greg_Ace beat me to the obvious one and did it nicely. Cheers!
We will bean what could bean. Do not say,
"It might have bean, had not that, or this."
Now fate can keep us from our chosen way;
He's only right who beans.
We will bean what we can bean. And we dream.
Chance leaves a hero, unfavorited, to grieve.
I hold, all mefites are greatly what they seem.
He who thinks could bean.
posted by eotvos at 4:03 PM on June 13, 2022 [2 favorites]
We will bean what could bean. Do not say,
"It might have bean, had not that, or this."
Now fate can keep us from our chosen way;
He's only right who beans.
We will bean what we can bean. And we dream.
Chance leaves a hero, unfavorited, to grieve.
I hold, all mefites are greatly what they seem.
He who thinks could bean.
posted by eotvos at 4:03 PM on June 13, 2022 [2 favorites]
Metafilter: I have no idea why I'm feeling so pseudo-intellectual today
posted by eotvos at 4:11 PM on June 13, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by eotvos at 4:11 PM on June 13, 2022 [5 favorites]
(Okay, one more, and then I'll stop. I promise.)
In metafilter did Kubla Khan
A stately plated bean decree:
where Snark, the sacred river, ran
through in-jokes measureless to man
down to the sunless bean.
So twice five posts in fertile ground
with angry comments girdled round;
and there were others bright with sensuous thrills,
where blossomed beautiful obsession trees;
and references ancient as the hills
hurf durfing on the commentary.
posted by eotvos at 4:46 PM on June 13, 2022 [8 favorites]
In metafilter did Kubla Khan
A stately plated bean decree:
where Snark, the sacred river, ran
through in-jokes measureless to man
down to the sunless bean.
So twice five posts in fertile ground
with angry comments girdled round;
and there were others bright with sensuous thrills,
where blossomed beautiful obsession trees;
and references ancient as the hills
hurf durfing on the commentary.
posted by eotvos at 4:46 PM on June 13, 2022 [8 favorites]
A stately plated bean
Best Username Ever!
posted by Greg_Ace at 5:33 PM on June 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
Best Username Ever!
posted by Greg_Ace at 5:33 PM on June 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
MeFites had over two hundred different words for beans, without which their conversation would probably have got very monotonous. So they would distinguish between thin beans and wide beans, light beans and dark beans, spicy beans, bland beans, beans that came in cans, beans that came on plates, beans that spilled all over the nice clean meetup floor, the beans of winter, the beans of spring, the beans you remember from your childhood that were so much better than any of your modern beans, salad beans, baked beans, Cuban beans, Cajun beans, beans served with breakfast, beans served with dinner, beans that came ripe all of a sudden just when you were going on vacation, and beans that despite all your efforts to train them, the cats have pissed on.
posted by Greg_Ace at 5:55 PM on June 13, 2022 [9 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 5:55 PM on June 13, 2022 [9 favorites]
well plated, y'all. well plated.
posted by 20 year lurk at 7:47 PM on June 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by 20 year lurk at 7:47 PM on June 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
So I started singing lessons with one of my musical theater cast mates. Told her I want to be a belter, though frankly I dunno if my voice is up to it. So she is starting me on a belt-y song, "Fifty Percent" from Ballroom. Dear God, I am terrible and clueless and hearing me stinks. Like how da fuck did anyone let me into musical theater at all?! I have no clue on any of this stuff on "head voice" vs "chest voice" or whatever. I know there is that Ira Glass quote about your taste being better than your talent or whatever it is, and that my worst method of learning is via my ears, etc. But aiee.....I must be a real lulu to deal with.
posted by jenfullmoon at 7:54 PM on June 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by jenfullmoon at 7:54 PM on June 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
OK so this reminds me of a game we played at school, of taking songs, and replacing the word "heart" with "pump". (Because, you know, the heart is just a pump)
For some reason it works better in Afrikaans, maybe because "pomp" just sounds that little bit more absurd than "pump"
I still remember such gems as "my pomp verlang na die boland".
posted by Zumbador at 8:37 PM on June 13, 2022 [2 favorites]
For some reason it works better in Afrikaans, maybe because "pomp" just sounds that little bit more absurd than "pump"
I still remember such gems as "my pomp verlang na die boland".
posted by Zumbador at 8:37 PM on June 13, 2022 [2 favorites]
I lost my pump in San Francisco
Owner of a lonely pump
When two pumps beat as one
posted by hippybear at 8:41 PM on June 13, 2022 [4 favorites]
Owner of a lonely pump
When two pumps beat as one
posted by hippybear at 8:41 PM on June 13, 2022 [4 favorites]
young pumps bean free tonight
posted by 20 year lurk at 8:56 PM on June 13, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by 20 year lurk at 8:56 PM on June 13, 2022 [3 favorites]
Total eclipse of the pump
Everybody has a hungry pump
Groove is in the pump
Don't go breaking my pump
posted by nubs at 9:23 PM on June 13, 2022 [3 favorites]
Everybody has a hungry pump
Groove is in the pump
Don't go breaking my pump
posted by nubs at 9:23 PM on June 13, 2022 [3 favorites]
Plating Spring sea beans
While threading freedom’s needle
Or was it nipple?
posted by saeva indignatio at 9:34 PM on June 13, 2022
While threading freedom’s needle
Or was it nipple?
posted by saeva indignatio at 9:34 PM on June 13, 2022
Never gonna pump you up ...
Pump on Me
Pump in the Sky
Pumping With Myself
Pumping Killed the Radio Star
She Pumps Me Crazy
Space Age Pump Song
Europa and the Pump Twins
Pump Up The Volume
Pu ... just hol' up a sec.
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 9:36 PM on June 13, 2022 [3 favorites]
Pump on Me
Pump in the Sky
Pumping With Myself
Pumping Killed the Radio Star
She Pumps Me Crazy
Space Age Pump Song
Europa and the Pump Twins
Pump Up The Volume
Pu ... just hol' up a sec.
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 9:36 PM on June 13, 2022 [3 favorites]
Ok, I got carried away with pump thing and didn’t see the heart bit. My bad. Sorry.
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 2:12 AM on June 14, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 2:12 AM on June 14, 2022 [2 favorites]
Sorry for the delay! Sea bean recipe here!
This is from Nigel Slater's GORGEOUS book Greenfeast: Spring and Summer, which has a lot of plant-heavy, simple meals, mostly for just two people. Which is so my jam you can't believe it. (He also has one for fall and winter.) This is a simple pasta dish, serving 2.
7 oz. fettuccine
1/4 cup olive oil
1 clove garlic
5-1/4 oz sea beans
3/4 cup creme fraiche (you can substitute yogurt or sour cream)
a lemon
Cook the fettuccine until al dente.
Meanwhile: in a small frying pan, warm the olive oil. Slice the garlic very thinly, add it to the pan, then cook to a deep golden brown. Remove from the pan, reserving a little of the oil, and let it drain on paper towels. Rinse the sea beans in cold water and shake dry.
When the fettuccine is cooked, drain and return to the pan, toss with the sea beans, then transfer to bowls or plates. Divide the creme fraiche between the two bowls (just plop it on top), scatter the garlic and a little of its oil over each, then finely grate lemon zest over the top of each bowl and finish with a tiny squeeze of lemon juice.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:21 AM on June 14, 2022 [3 favorites]
This is from Nigel Slater's GORGEOUS book Greenfeast: Spring and Summer, which has a lot of plant-heavy, simple meals, mostly for just two people. Which is so my jam you can't believe it. (He also has one for fall and winter.) This is a simple pasta dish, serving 2.
7 oz. fettuccine
1/4 cup olive oil
1 clove garlic
5-1/4 oz sea beans
3/4 cup creme fraiche (you can substitute yogurt or sour cream)
a lemon
Cook the fettuccine until al dente.
Meanwhile: in a small frying pan, warm the olive oil. Slice the garlic very thinly, add it to the pan, then cook to a deep golden brown. Remove from the pan, reserving a little of the oil, and let it drain on paper towels. Rinse the sea beans in cold water and shake dry.
When the fettuccine is cooked, drain and return to the pan, toss with the sea beans, then transfer to bowls or plates. Divide the creme fraiche between the two bowls (just plop it on top), scatter the garlic and a little of its oil over each, then finely grate lemon zest over the top of each bowl and finish with a tiny squeeze of lemon juice.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:21 AM on June 14, 2022 [3 favorites]
>5-1/4 oz sea beans
There is no way on this green earth I would ever measure 5-1/4 oz of anything for a pasta salad. Also I want to know whether this madman means a little more than a half cup or a little more than a quarter pound.
Also also I don't have any, but they sound a bit like a garnish, salty like olives or capers, so that's how I would use them in a recipe. They sound like they'd be great in a [pasta|potato|chicken|tuna|egg] salad.
posted by Wilbefort at 5:49 AM on June 14, 2022
There is no way on this green earth I would ever measure 5-1/4 oz of anything for a pasta salad. Also I want to know whether this madman means a little more than a half cup or a little more than a quarter pound.
Also also I don't have any, but they sound a bit like a garnish, salty like olives or capers, so that's how I would use them in a recipe. They sound like they'd be great in a [pasta|potato|chicken|tuna|egg] salad.
posted by Wilbefort at 5:49 AM on June 14, 2022
There is no way on this green earth I would ever measure 5-1/4 oz of anything for a pasta salad. Also I want to know whether this madman means a little more than a half cup or a little more than a quarter pound.
This "madman" is English and the original recipe called for 150 grams, and he was trying to be nice and convert it to ounces as well just in case any American readers may want to try it too.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:00 AM on June 14, 2022
This "madman" is English and the original recipe called for 150 grams, and he was trying to be nice and convert it to ounces as well just in case any American readers may want to try it too.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:00 AM on June 14, 2022
This "madman" is English and the original recipe called for 150 grams, and he was trying to be nice
Yes.
I love reading recipes and deconstructing the process and laughing when they go sideways. I'm just—it's a salad! None of the measurements need to be very accurate! And look what happens when you convert from grams to ounces and don't specify mass or volume in our system!
You end up specifying beans to an unnecessary quarter of an unknown ounce and it's just silly.
It does sound like a very nice salad.
posted by Wilbefort at 6:13 AM on June 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
Yes.
I love reading recipes and deconstructing the process and laughing when they go sideways. I'm just—it's a salad! None of the measurements need to be very accurate! And look what happens when you convert from grams to ounces and don't specify mass or volume in our system!
You end up specifying beans to an unnecessary quarter of an unknown ounce and it's just silly.
It does sound like a very nice salad.
posted by Wilbefort at 6:13 AM on June 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
It's.....actually not a salad? It's a pasta dish.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:34 AM on June 14, 2022
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:34 AM on June 14, 2022
It's.....actually not a salad? It's a pasta dish.
O.o
I think it's a pasta salad. It's pasta with fixings and dressing.
It's not a sandwich though.
posted by Wilbefort at 6:53 AM on June 14, 2022
O.o
I think it's a pasta salad. It's pasta with fixings and dressing.
It's not a sandwich though.
posted by Wilbefort at 6:53 AM on June 14, 2022
someone asked a question about uses for sea beans in a free thread and no THAR SHE BLOWS yet?
I mean, the fart joke might take 2-3 movements but it's THERE
posted by elkevelvet at 7:08 AM on June 14, 2022
I mean, the fart joke might take 2-3 movements but it's THERE
posted by elkevelvet at 7:08 AM on June 14, 2022
The only truly intuitive user interface is the nipple.
Everything after that is learned.
posted by NoThisIsPatrick at 7:41 AM on June 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
Everything after that is learned.
posted by NoThisIsPatrick at 7:41 AM on June 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
Tell that to a baby that won't latch. Sometimes it's a wonder we survived at all.
posted by seanmpuckett at 8:06 AM on June 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by seanmpuckett at 8:06 AM on June 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
I think it's a pasta salad. It's pasta with fixings and dressing.
Pasta salads tend to be served cold and use chunkier pasta. This is served warm and uses fettuccine.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:12 AM on June 14, 2022
Pasta salads tend to be served cold and use chunkier pasta. This is served warm and uses fettuccine.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:12 AM on June 14, 2022
The only truly intuitive user interface is the nipple.That explains the video game controllers and lab hardware buttons that I still don't understand how to use correctly. But not how I survived infancy. (I'm now imagining how the folks in my lab would react if I walked up and started sucking on a VNA. . .)
posted by eotvos at 8:18 AM on June 14, 2022
My Pump Will Go On.
posted by Philofacts at 8:31 AM on June 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Philofacts at 8:31 AM on June 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
fart joke
I did mention "what gases may come", not sure if that counts...
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:33 AM on June 14, 2022 [2 favorites]
I did mention "what gases may come", not sure if that counts...
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:33 AM on June 14, 2022 [2 favorites]
This is served warm and uses fettuccine.
My ideal salad is my Nanna's fresh spring dandelion greens covered with warm bacon dressing.
We should probably agree to disagree; I can admit I'm probably the heathen here.
posted by Wilbefort at 10:17 AM on June 14, 2022
My ideal salad is my Nanna's fresh spring dandelion greens covered with warm bacon dressing.
We should probably agree to disagree; I can admit I'm probably the heathen here.
posted by Wilbefort at 10:17 AM on June 14, 2022
Crushes are so much fun! Especially when they aren't unrequited.
posted by hippybear at 10:28 AM on June 14, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 10:28 AM on June 14, 2022 [2 favorites]
Chears, MollyRealized. (I'm in the same boat. Well, a very similar boat in similar waters, assuming we don't know each other, which seems unlikely given the day of the week you mention.) Enjoy it!
posted by eotvos at 10:32 AM on June 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by eotvos at 10:32 AM on June 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
Given the libertine standards about what constitutes a sandwich these days, it probably is.
*waves pump at cloud*
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 11:56 AM on June 14, 2022
*waves pump at cloud*
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 11:56 AM on June 14, 2022
"what gases may come"
The surrealist Robin Williams film? I enjoyed that!
posted by hippybear at 12:06 PM on June 14, 2022
The surrealist Robin Williams film? I enjoyed that!
posted by hippybear at 12:06 PM on June 14, 2022
it was one of those ones that went on for hours because we lost track of time,
That sounds amazing.
posted by jenfullmoon at 1:23 PM on June 14, 2022
That sounds amazing.
posted by jenfullmoon at 1:23 PM on June 14, 2022
What might have bean and what has bean.
Point to one end of the bean, which is always present.
[edit: I know I promised I'd stop. I lied.]
posted by eotvos at 4:44 PM on June 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
Point to one end of the bean, which is always present.
[edit: I know I promised I'd stop. I lied.]
posted by eotvos at 4:44 PM on June 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
I enjoyed sea beans not long ago as part of an imaginatively-plated fish filet. They contributed an interesting pop of mild sea-saltiness but were used sparingly.
Calling them beans is misleading—they are in fact stems and branches. Seem like they’d be an interesting addition to a number of dishes.
posted by kinnakeet at 6:55 PM on June 14, 2022
Calling them beans is misleading—they are in fact stems and branches. Seem like they’d be an interesting addition to a number of dishes.
posted by kinnakeet at 6:55 PM on June 14, 2022
I think its beans as in animal toe pads?
posted by hippybear at 7:36 PM on June 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by hippybear at 7:36 PM on June 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
Meow Meow Beanz, mayhap?
posted by Marticus at 9:39 PM on June 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Marticus at 9:39 PM on June 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
I have certainly seen the evidence of cat toe beans on plates. I ate it anyway. (The reported effects of toxoplasmosis on humans are mostly traits that I struggle to cultivate. Well, not the loss of motor control or schizophrenia. But the bad ones seem not to have happened so far.)
posted by eotvos at 7:44 AM on June 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by eotvos at 7:44 AM on June 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
Posting this in here because I suspect people will best appreciate both points of WTF:
1. Netflix just announced it is launching an actual reality game show based on Squid Game.
2. When I posted a link to my facebook feed about that, one of my aunts asked: "are you going to try out for it?"
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:20 AM on June 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
1. Netflix just announced it is launching an actual reality game show based on Squid Game.
2. When I posted a link to my facebook feed about that, one of my aunts asked: "are you going to try out for it?"
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:20 AM on June 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
elmo vs lawn mower (cw - no, you don't want your kids to see this - and elmo strikes back in a place that no man wants to be struck in)
posted by pyramid termite at 1:38 PM on June 15, 2022
posted by pyramid termite at 1:38 PM on June 15, 2022
I am going to say this again, for all you hot folks out there. Barilla pasta, in the blue box, has come out with a pre-cooked pasta, in penne, and rotelli styles. It is in a bag, that holds two good sized servings. Say you want a pasta salad, you might heat up water like in your hot water maker for coffee, and pour it over the noodles, and let them sit a minute. Or two while you do something else, about that cool, cool pasta salad you want. Right? You might use the hot water tap on your spring water dispenser to slightly rehydrate these noodles for cold uses. Then you run some cold water over them, and use them. If you want a warm pasta dish, throw them into your sauce as they come out of the pouch. Let them steam maybe a minute, just to get integrated into the whole. I am so sorry I am out of these for now, all the fancy, schmancy pastas in World Market, won't move me to buy anything else for the rest of this summer. I am imagining my salad with penne, fresh peas that I warmed a little with the pasta, shrimp, ground pepper, sweet re peppers, chunks of cucumber, shrimp, lemon juice, mayonnaise, cwlery chunks, ummm, fresh dill. Or cold Costco chicken, or cold bbq chicken, instead of shrimp, With garbanzo beans and roasted and spiced pepitas for vegetarians, and oil and vinegar dressing.
posted by Oyéah at 7:07 PM on June 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Oyéah at 7:07 PM on June 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
This is just to say
I ate the plums
My neighbor just brought
And left myself some
For breakfast.
Forgive me, they
Are so sweet, so ripe
And so cold,
I had to eat them
Over the sink.
Just the way I love
Them most.
posted by Oyéah at 7:09 PM on June 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
I ate the plums
My neighbor just brought
And left myself some
For breakfast.
Forgive me, they
Are so sweet, so ripe
And so cold,
I had to eat them
Over the sink.
Just the way I love
Them most.
posted by Oyéah at 7:09 PM on June 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
My power has been out since just before midnight on Monday night.
I am sitting in the upstairs by lantern light tonight, in the stuffy heat, so that my grey cat will stop picking with her claws at the bottom of the basement bedroom door (it remains cool down there!) where the 3 humans were trying to sleep, and trilling loudly at irregular intervals. Soon I will go to the upstairs bedroom in an attempt to decoy her away all night.
Tomorrow I think it will be time to clear out the fridge and freezer. Yesterday we were trapped by the downed wires in the driveway all day and did not have a chance to buy ice, so it’s too late to salvage anything. Today my partner spent most of the day at the ER with his mom, who is having some kind of stomach virus and fainted in her bathroom last night, fracturing her nose. I was thus on kid duty and trying to work for a brief moment in the borrowed air conditioning of our local college bookstore, where the power was back on.
There have been a couple of different crews who have cleared parts of the giant oak out of the street - first one from Spectrum, and today the village crew to finish the job - but we have yet to even see a power company truck on our block. The college got their power back yesterday but I guess the rest of the village is lower on the priority list. The wires remain in the driveway but I know now that they are dead.
An Ask post about generators is likely forthcoming, but I have no energy for it at the moment. Tomorrow should be very slightly cooler.
The current outage map gives Friday at midnight as the possible time we may have things back on line.
There was no tornado and no tree fell on the house, so things could be worse.
posted by Lawn Beaver at 8:31 PM on June 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
I am sitting in the upstairs by lantern light tonight, in the stuffy heat, so that my grey cat will stop picking with her claws at the bottom of the basement bedroom door (it remains cool down there!) where the 3 humans were trying to sleep, and trilling loudly at irregular intervals. Soon I will go to the upstairs bedroom in an attempt to decoy her away all night.
Tomorrow I think it will be time to clear out the fridge and freezer. Yesterday we were trapped by the downed wires in the driveway all day and did not have a chance to buy ice, so it’s too late to salvage anything. Today my partner spent most of the day at the ER with his mom, who is having some kind of stomach virus and fainted in her bathroom last night, fracturing her nose. I was thus on kid duty and trying to work for a brief moment in the borrowed air conditioning of our local college bookstore, where the power was back on.
There have been a couple of different crews who have cleared parts of the giant oak out of the street - first one from Spectrum, and today the village crew to finish the job - but we have yet to even see a power company truck on our block. The college got their power back yesterday but I guess the rest of the village is lower on the priority list. The wires remain in the driveway but I know now that they are dead.
An Ask post about generators is likely forthcoming, but I have no energy for it at the moment. Tomorrow should be very slightly cooler.
The current outage map gives Friday at midnight as the possible time we may have things back on line.
There was no tornado and no tree fell on the house, so things could be worse.
posted by Lawn Beaver at 8:31 PM on June 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
On plums: So, the community garden I'm in now has a big plum tree right when you walk in. The garden's elder statesman confirmed to me that yes, it does fruit, and he regularly makes jam out of them. We've already starting comparing notes and I'm looking forward to harvesting them when it's time.
However, one thing I did not know about plum trees is that it will start dropping immature plums well before the rest of the plums are ready for harvesting. Weeks before, raining little almond-sized things on the ground underneath - they're too underripe to do anything but pick them up and chuck them in the compost bin before they get walked on and squished and gnawed on by passing squirrels or whatever.
....Did I mention my plot is DIRECTLY UNDER that damn plum tree?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:45 PM on June 15, 2022
However, one thing I did not know about plum trees is that it will start dropping immature plums well before the rest of the plums are ready for harvesting. Weeks before, raining little almond-sized things on the ground underneath - they're too underripe to do anything but pick them up and chuck them in the compost bin before they get walked on and squished and gnawed on by passing squirrels or whatever.
....Did I mention my plot is DIRECTLY UNDER that damn plum tree?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:45 PM on June 15, 2022
Don't remind me about plums. My neighbor-destroyed wild plum tree is still unaddressed. In fact, the huge pile of branches the workers left behind that day is still there a month later and rapidly turning into a fire hazard during high fire season, negating whatever ostensible fire prevention aegis the work was done under.
The neighbors seem content to just... leave the remnants of my destroyed tree on their property. I'm extremely unclear what the point of destroying it (and all my other screening brush) was, if there was a point to begin with. Nobody gained anything from my loss. I'm unable to imagine a circumstance under which any of this made sense to do.
posted by majick at 8:53 PM on June 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
The neighbors seem content to just... leave the remnants of my destroyed tree on their property. I'm extremely unclear what the point of destroying it (and all my other screening brush) was, if there was a point to begin with. Nobody gained anything from my loss. I'm unable to imagine a circumstance under which any of this made sense to do.
posted by majick at 8:53 PM on June 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
majick. That (still) sucks! What an absolute bummer. :(
Lawn Beaver, that also sucks! I hope you get power soon.
Here is something people might like: Verge Aero drone show on AGT (YouTube)
Action starts about 3:24
posted by Glinn at 6:32 AM on June 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
Lawn Beaver, that also sucks! I hope you get power soon.
Here is something people might like: Verge Aero drone show on AGT (YouTube)
Action starts about 3:24
posted by Glinn at 6:32 AM on June 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
One of my top 10 video games of all time is a little-known gem called Supraland, and it's free as in beans this week at the Epic Games Store. It was made almost entirely by one guy but looks like a AAA game from not too long ago.
It's like the first-person kinetic puzzle-solving of Portal combined with the new-gadgets-unlock-new-movement-and-new-verbs of pre-BotW Zelda or Metroid. And although the screenshots show how charming it is, they can't show how perfectly tuned it is in so many details, how it avoids wasting your time, how great the movement feels when you unlock the double-jump or get the [spoiler] or the [spoiler]. The combat is sometimes annoying and repetitive (I liked how it makes the little upgrades you get from exploring never stop seeming like a good reward), but the game is mostly exploring and puzzle-solving, which are consistently great.
If any of that sounds good, give it a try. For me this game was just joy and delight all the way through.
posted by straight at 12:39 PM on June 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
It's like the first-person kinetic puzzle-solving of Portal combined with the new-gadgets-unlock-new-movement-and-new-verbs of pre-BotW Zelda or Metroid. And although the screenshots show how charming it is, they can't show how perfectly tuned it is in so many details, how it avoids wasting your time, how great the movement feels when you unlock the double-jump or get the [spoiler] or the [spoiler]. The combat is sometimes annoying and repetitive (I liked how it makes the little upgrades you get from exploring never stop seeming like a good reward), but the game is mostly exploring and puzzle-solving, which are consistently great.
If any of that sounds good, give it a try. For me this game was just joy and delight all the way through.
posted by straight at 12:39 PM on June 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
Some people will love this tombstone.
posted by jenfullmoon at 1:26 PM on June 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by jenfullmoon at 1:26 PM on June 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
Plum wood is great for.cooking. I am sorry idiots cut down your tree.
posted by Oyéah at 2:10 PM on June 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Oyéah at 2:10 PM on June 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
No power today either, sigh.
posted by Lawn Beaver at 3:21 PM on June 16, 2022
posted by Lawn Beaver at 3:21 PM on June 16, 2022
It is cool today. Cool enough to wear jeans and a real top with sleeves. I was given more plums and even more ripe and fragrant with those plum esters. Ohhh yeahh!
posted by Oyéah at 3:24 PM on June 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Oyéah at 3:24 PM on June 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
Hey, I dated Esther Plum in high school! Whenever we kissed she tasted like...I dunno, some sort of fruit I guess.
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:10 PM on June 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:10 PM on June 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
I spent some of the last two days talking with a friend who is in quarantine in a city far from their home with COVID (not asymptomatic, but so far not too bad) while reading the news that the research facility they work on is literally on fire. In comparison, I can't really complain about my day.
The number of incredibly careful, thoughtful, always-masked, won't-eat-indoors people I know with 3 or 4 shots who have come down with COVID in the last six weeks is disturbing. So far nobody's had to go to the hospital *this* year. I'm not actually a fan of prosecuting public health officials, no matter how badly they're doing their jobs, but time will not look kindly on the present era nor the idiots we've hired.
posted by eotvos at 4:44 PM on June 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
The number of incredibly careful, thoughtful, always-masked, won't-eat-indoors people I know with 3 or 4 shots who have come down with COVID in the last six weeks is disturbing. So far nobody's had to go to the hospital *this* year. I'm not actually a fan of prosecuting public health officials, no matter how badly they're doing their jobs, but time will not look kindly on the present era nor the idiots we've hired.
posted by eotvos at 4:44 PM on June 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
I'm not actually a fan of prosecuting public health officials, no matter how badly they're doing their jobs, but time will not look kindly on the present era nor the idiots we've hired.
I'm curious what you think these public health officials could have done to prevent these late infections?
posted by hippybear at 4:52 PM on June 17, 2022
I'm curious what you think these public health officials could have done to prevent these late infections?
posted by hippybear at 4:52 PM on June 17, 2022
I'm curious what you think these public health officials could have done to prevent these late infections?I'm absolutely not an expert. But, not actively getting rid of masking requirements in the middle of a surging pandemic, continuing to actually collect and report data, mandating free testing and free boosters, and requiring meaningful air circulation/ventilation requirements (ideally 18 months ago when everyone who isn't a government employee knew COVID was airborne) sure seem like the most basic version of doing their jobs. (That they closed the parks and opened the bars early on is also irritating as heel, but that's an old one.) Listening to my city's health official talk about high-school masking policies today sure sounds like listening to someone who is arguing with voices nobody else can hear. (Sorry to rant - politics are allowed in these threads, right?)
posted by eotvos at 5:11 PM on June 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
Just woke up from yet another "I'm back in school" stress dream. Simultaneously boring and stressful.
Makes me wonder what people had anxiety dreams about before exams, cars, public transport, escalators etc
Things that were different about this dream was that the school building was a Gormenghast-like cathedral and I kept ending up on the roof. It was also overgrown with a Virginia creeper that was going red (because it's winter here). Every time I pointed it out to someone, they would say, "yes, isn't it beautiful? They go that colour when they're happy" and I would think about the fact that actually, no, plants go red like that because of stress.
Such heavy handed symbolism.
posted by Zumbador at 10:08 PM on June 17, 2022
Makes me wonder what people had anxiety dreams about before exams, cars, public transport, escalators etc
Things that were different about this dream was that the school building was a Gormenghast-like cathedral and I kept ending up on the roof. It was also overgrown with a Virginia creeper that was going red (because it's winter here). Every time I pointed it out to someone, they would say, "yes, isn't it beautiful? They go that colour when they're happy" and I would think about the fact that actually, no, plants go red like that because of stress.
Such heavy handed symbolism.
posted by Zumbador at 10:08 PM on June 17, 2022
The first week of college, I was warned by a professor that I'd have "didn't know about the exam" dreams for the rest of my life. Twenty five years later, that has been true; however, they've slowly been mostly replaced by "didn't know I was teaching a class today and there's two minutes to prepare a lecture" dreams. (Last year I had a, "you didn't actually graduate high-school so you have to spend a year there" dream. Dream-me just accepted the idea at face value and did it, which is perhaps the most disturbing aspect.)
I rather suspect there were anxiety dreams about embarrassing oneself during a religious ritual since before the invention of language.
posted by eotvos at 4:24 AM on June 18, 2022 [4 favorites]
I rather suspect there were anxiety dreams about embarrassing oneself during a religious ritual since before the invention of language.
posted by eotvos at 4:24 AM on June 18, 2022 [4 favorites]
I have recently started performing for an audience frequently, and have thus added "stuck in traffic jam on the way to show that started half an hour ago" and "on stage can't remember the words to the song" to my recurring-dream rotation.
posted by Daily Alice at 5:08 AM on June 18, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Daily Alice at 5:08 AM on June 18, 2022 [1 favorite]
a, "you didn't actually graduate high-school so you have to spend a year there" dream.
Oh shit, I had no idea other people suffered this. I've had a great many of these. Here I am pushing 50 and yeah, okay, I guess I'm supposed to just go and wrap that up? Feels weird but sure, let's get it over with. I mean, you're supposed to do that, right?
I literally did not graduate high school. This adds a whole dimension of guilt and obligation anxiety to the thing that you would not believe.
posted by majick at 6:42 AM on June 18, 2022 [3 favorites]
Oh shit, I had no idea other people suffered this. I've had a great many of these. Here I am pushing 50 and yeah, okay, I guess I'm supposed to just go and wrap that up? Feels weird but sure, let's get it over with. I mean, you're supposed to do that, right?
I literally did not graduate high school. This adds a whole dimension of guilt and obligation anxiety to the thing that you would not believe.
posted by majick at 6:42 AM on June 18, 2022 [3 favorites]
I have dreams where I'm simultaneously in high school myself, fulfilling some forgotten obligation, and also advocating for my son while he's dealing with some high school problem, and then I wake up and realize that I'm 50 and never have to see a high school again, and he's 20 and has his GED so he never has to see a high school again, and we're both good, and I'm so relieved.
posted by Daily Alice at 6:47 AM on June 18, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by Daily Alice at 6:47 AM on June 18, 2022 [3 favorites]
what...public health officials could have done to prevent these late infections?
I'm not eotvos and am not speaking for him but it does not take hindsight for me: Removing mask mandates and restrictions on congregate activities after the wastewater prevalence was already observed to be on the rise is borderline criminal in my personal opinion. Wastewater tracking pretty clearly indicated that we were about 2 weeks from a spike. I had already said "oh shit, here we go" when instead of doing something, anything, to take the edge off that forthcoming curve we collectively embraced transmission about a week later.
posted by majick at 7:24 AM on June 18, 2022
I'm not eotvos and am not speaking for him but it does not take hindsight for me: Removing mask mandates and restrictions on congregate activities after the wastewater prevalence was already observed to be on the rise is borderline criminal in my personal opinion. Wastewater tracking pretty clearly indicated that we were about 2 weeks from a spike. I had already said "oh shit, here we go" when instead of doing something, anything, to take the edge off that forthcoming curve we collectively embraced transmission about a week later.
posted by majick at 7:24 AM on June 18, 2022
I'm scared of rollercoasters. Can I get over my fear? - YouTube -- Tom Scott weeps. Wait for the moment.
posted by zengargoyle at 8:25 AM on June 18, 2022
posted by zengargoyle at 8:25 AM on June 18, 2022
Oh, I am so glad to learn I'm not the only one who's had those high school dreams. In mine, it was always something really stupid like I missed one year of gym and had to make it up.
posted by mollweide at 9:57 AM on June 18, 2022
posted by mollweide at 9:57 AM on June 18, 2022
I can't imagine how odd it would be to have a "I haven't graduated after all" dream if it was true in waking life too.
My I'm back at school dreams are always set against a background assumption that for some bizarre reason I'm back in high school and have to complete some exam or other in order to graduate. Always with that uneasy nagging sense that there's no way this can be true which is probably my waking mind banging against the glass of my subconscious mind and trying to get my attention.
I'm usually lost in a byzantine version of a school building, trying to find an exam venue. Or I'm walking to or from school, getting lost.
Or trying to find some part of my school uniform (usually shoes), or catching the wrong bus.
There are usually a few collapsing escalators and staircases, and the urgent need to use a phone with an ever changing keypad, or the urgent need to find a toilet. Usually at the same time.
Add in the sudden realisation that I'm naked and you have a pretty typical night's entertainment.
These days I must admit that I no longer get embarrassed about being naked, once I get past the initial surprise.
It's just exhausting. Was school really that traumatic, that I'm still dreaming about it at 50?
posted by Zumbador at 10:16 AM on June 18, 2022 [2 favorites]
My I'm back at school dreams are always set against a background assumption that for some bizarre reason I'm back in high school and have to complete some exam or other in order to graduate. Always with that uneasy nagging sense that there's no way this can be true which is probably my waking mind banging against the glass of my subconscious mind and trying to get my attention.
I'm usually lost in a byzantine version of a school building, trying to find an exam venue. Or I'm walking to or from school, getting lost.
Or trying to find some part of my school uniform (usually shoes), or catching the wrong bus.
There are usually a few collapsing escalators and staircases, and the urgent need to use a phone with an ever changing keypad, or the urgent need to find a toilet. Usually at the same time.
Add in the sudden realisation that I'm naked and you have a pretty typical night's entertainment.
These days I must admit that I no longer get embarrassed about being naked, once I get past the initial surprise.
It's just exhausting. Was school really that traumatic, that I'm still dreaming about it at 50?
posted by Zumbador at 10:16 AM on June 18, 2022 [2 favorites]
I missed one year of gym and had to make it up.
All at once?? What a nightmare!
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:56 AM on June 18, 2022
All at once?? What a nightmare!
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:56 AM on June 18, 2022
I've never had school-stress dreams, but I worked as a waiter for a couple of years and I definitely had waiter-stress dreams for a few years after that. In the dreams I'd be the only waiter, and while business would start out slow and manageable the trickle of customers continued and grew so I'd get further and further behind...
For the last few years now I've occasionally gotten not stress dreams per se but frustration dreams, where various obstacles or interferences are keeping me from accomplishing some task. I imagine a therapist would have a field day with that information...
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:04 AM on June 18, 2022 [1 favorite]
For the last few years now I've occasionally gotten not stress dreams per se but frustration dreams, where various obstacles or interferences are keeping me from accomplishing some task. I imagine a therapist would have a field day with that information...
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:04 AM on June 18, 2022 [1 favorite]
In mine, it was always something really stupid like I missed one year of gym and had to make it up.
I almost made it through high school entirely without taking physical education. I just sort of skated through and was hoping nobody would notice it missing on my transcript, being crowded out with orchestra and german club and zero hour latin classes, but they found me.
My last semester of high school I had to take PE, and THEN managed to fudge my way through the class by being a senior and all the students being freshmen, so I was sort of the coach's assistant for the term. Right up until finals week, when I was suddenly, for some reason, asked to do a forward handspring after not doing anything even like that at all before.
Coach volunteered to spot me, and I gave a shrug and threw myself into the move, and connected my leg with coach's face and broke her nose.
She should have just let me skate through, really.
posted by hippybear at 11:18 AM on June 18, 2022 [7 favorites]
I almost made it through high school entirely without taking physical education. I just sort of skated through and was hoping nobody would notice it missing on my transcript, being crowded out with orchestra and german club and zero hour latin classes, but they found me.
My last semester of high school I had to take PE, and THEN managed to fudge my way through the class by being a senior and all the students being freshmen, so I was sort of the coach's assistant for the term. Right up until finals week, when I was suddenly, for some reason, asked to do a forward handspring after not doing anything even like that at all before.
Coach volunteered to spot me, and I gave a shrug and threw myself into the move, and connected my leg with coach's face and broke her nose.
She should have just let me skate through, really.
posted by hippybear at 11:18 AM on June 18, 2022 [7 favorites]
The high school dream that stands out for me is WTF brain worthy and a bit on the dirty side.
I mostly walked home from school, well to my grandparent's house that was within walking distance, one of the reasons I could do after school sports and things. So I'm walking home and I meet this cheerleader, bend her over and start fucking her. Then I wake up.
The odd thing is just how implausible the whole thing is. I know the girl and she wouldn't be walking there and I never had any sort of feelings about her and it's quite random enough that I feel a bit bad that I had that dream. But.... I can sorta guess the how/why my brain snagged her out of my memories as a cast member in a dream.
One night my senior year I was out running around with my buddy and at the 7-11 we ran into her. My buddy knows everybody and I haven't been out that much. She's having a 'party', come on over. So we do. The 'party" is her and her brother doing bong rips. I would have never guessed, it was all a surprise to my sheltered self what normal kids were up to on the weekends. So, she gets this idea and we walk up stairs and bang on a door and there is a scuffling sound followed by an OUCH! There's another cheerleader in the room and the boy just jumped out of the window. (snort) Both cheerleaders have the same first name. I remember the second one from 5th grade when she was the newly transferred in girl that all the boys swooned over. Especially that guy that just jumped out of the window.
That whole night is just burned into my memory. That's probably why my brain when filling in a girl settled on her. The sex part is probably morning woody. The whole dream doesn't really make any sort of sense beyond dreams are weird.
Dreams are fun, I have many doozies, but hey... I've bonked a cheerleader!
posted by zengargoyle at 5:54 AM on June 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
I mostly walked home from school, well to my grandparent's house that was within walking distance, one of the reasons I could do after school sports and things. So I'm walking home and I meet this cheerleader, bend her over and start fucking her. Then I wake up.
The odd thing is just how implausible the whole thing is. I know the girl and she wouldn't be walking there and I never had any sort of feelings about her and it's quite random enough that I feel a bit bad that I had that dream. But.... I can sorta guess the how/why my brain snagged her out of my memories as a cast member in a dream.
One night my senior year I was out running around with my buddy and at the 7-11 we ran into her. My buddy knows everybody and I haven't been out that much. She's having a 'party', come on over. So we do. The 'party" is her and her brother doing bong rips. I would have never guessed, it was all a surprise to my sheltered self what normal kids were up to on the weekends. So, she gets this idea and we walk up stairs and bang on a door and there is a scuffling sound followed by an OUCH! There's another cheerleader in the room and the boy just jumped out of the window. (snort) Both cheerleaders have the same first name. I remember the second one from 5th grade when she was the newly transferred in girl that all the boys swooned over. Especially that guy that just jumped out of the window.
That whole night is just burned into my memory. That's probably why my brain when filling in a girl settled on her. The sex part is probably morning woody. The whole dream doesn't really make any sort of sense beyond dreams are weird.
Dreams are fun, I have many doozies, but hey... I've bonked a cheerleader!
posted by zengargoyle at 5:54 AM on June 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
These days I must admit that I no longer get embarrassed about being naked, once I get past the initial surprise.I've never had those dreams, fortunately. It *is* true that if I suddenly discovered I was naked in an unusual public place I would be worried, but only about making other people uncomfortable, not really about what they think of me, aside from their thinking of me as a creep.
I did recently have a very strange rather blue dream that I was at a college co-op style party and suddenly found myself having romantic interactions with the grown up version of a high-school girlfriend in a way that would be quite surprising to everyone. I was shocked by it at first and very awkwardly trying to figure out how to behave, especially given that my actual contemporary romantic partner was there. . . and then suddenly somehow remembered that we were in fact married and it wasn't actually inappropriate at all. (We're very definitely not married, at least to each other. We have a polite lunch together every 6 years or so when we happen to be in the same city.) Dreams are really fucking weird. I refuse to read too much into it.
posted by eotvos at 8:24 AM on June 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
Dreams are dangerous: Adam Savages Dream Diary Sculpture - YouTube. Remember the exceptional ones, forget the rest.
posted by zengargoyle at 9:09 AM on June 19, 2022
posted by zengargoyle at 9:09 AM on June 19, 2022
Dear diary,
Today I broke through the fence behind the cantankerous shouty lady's duck coops. I did this because the huge upturned bucket of standing water wedged between the back of the coop and the fence was... not helping the bug situation. More like, I've been completely swarmed with mosquitoes in the last couple of months and it's hazardous to use most of my modest property.
Pouring off the bucket and disposing of the rat carcasses and flushing what remains of the death water took quite some time. As much as I might like to return my neighbor's bucket, I will not for fear they will continue to use it irresponsibly. It has been consigned to recycling. Besides, she's too busy screaming at her mother to sit down.
Happy Father's Day, I guess?
posted by majick at 2:53 PM on June 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
Today I broke through the fence behind the cantankerous shouty lady's duck coops. I did this because the huge upturned bucket of standing water wedged between the back of the coop and the fence was... not helping the bug situation. More like, I've been completely swarmed with mosquitoes in the last couple of months and it's hazardous to use most of my modest property.
Pouring off the bucket and disposing of the rat carcasses and flushing what remains of the death water took quite some time. As much as I might like to return my neighbor's bucket, I will not for fear they will continue to use it irresponsibly. It has been consigned to recycling. Besides, she's too busy screaming at her mother to sit down.
Happy Father's Day, I guess?
posted by majick at 2:53 PM on June 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
I've never had school-stress dreams, but I worked as a waiter for a couple of years and I definitely had waiter-stress dreams for a few years after that. In the dreams I'd be the only waiter, and while business would start out slow and manageable the trickle of customers continued and grew so I'd get further and further behind...
Told this once before, will tell it again -
So, one of the actors' union rules in theater is that everyone gets breaks, nicknamed "Equity breaks" after the union name, at certain set times and durations during the rehearsal - a five-minute break after an hour, or you can go 90 minutes and give a ten-minute break. One of the stage managers' jobs is to keep track of this, and so I very VERY frequently was either interrupting the director to remind them "we can break now for five, or we can go another half hour if you want to give a ten".
During one particularly hectic show, I had a dream one night - the majority of the dream was pure fantasy that I don't even remember, actually. In fact, let's pretend that I was dreaming I was chilling at a spa with Emma Thompson, and John Cusack and David Tennant were the pool boys or something. So I'm dreaming along about this all. And then after a couple minutes - right when Emma was recommending I try the grapes from the fruit tray David had just brought us - suddenly I heard the voice of the director from the show I was working on. "EC, are we due for a break?"
And BAM - suddenly in my dream I was sitting in the theater, with Emma and David on the stage and looking at me sitting there next to the director, as I dreamt I looked at my watch. "Yeah, it's been about 90 minutes, we're due for a ten," I said. And then Emma walked off for a pee while David came to ask the director about a couple notes and John wandering off to call someone and I was starting to fuss with props when I woke up.
I just sat there, blinking, and marveling: "I just called an Equity break on ONE OF MY OWN DREAMS."
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 2:59 AM on June 20, 2022 [5 favorites]
Told this once before, will tell it again -
So, one of the actors' union rules in theater is that everyone gets breaks, nicknamed "Equity breaks" after the union name, at certain set times and durations during the rehearsal - a five-minute break after an hour, or you can go 90 minutes and give a ten-minute break. One of the stage managers' jobs is to keep track of this, and so I very VERY frequently was either interrupting the director to remind them "we can break now for five, or we can go another half hour if you want to give a ten".
During one particularly hectic show, I had a dream one night - the majority of the dream was pure fantasy that I don't even remember, actually. In fact, let's pretend that I was dreaming I was chilling at a spa with Emma Thompson, and John Cusack and David Tennant were the pool boys or something. So I'm dreaming along about this all. And then after a couple minutes - right when Emma was recommending I try the grapes from the fruit tray David had just brought us - suddenly I heard the voice of the director from the show I was working on. "EC, are we due for a break?"
And BAM - suddenly in my dream I was sitting in the theater, with Emma and David on the stage and looking at me sitting there next to the director, as I dreamt I looked at my watch. "Yeah, it's been about 90 minutes, we're due for a ten," I said. And then Emma walked off for a pee while David came to ask the director about a couple notes and John wandering off to call someone and I was starting to fuss with props when I woke up.
I just sat there, blinking, and marveling: "I just called an Equity break on ONE OF MY OWN DREAMS."
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 2:59 AM on June 20, 2022 [5 favorites]
(Cross-posting from the newer free thread:)
So after 2+ months of waiting, I've finally gained access to DALL-E 2!!! That's the incredible new AI image generation system featured in this April post. It's like magic: type in a description of anything you can imagine, and in ~20 seconds it produces half a dozen coherent, creative, high-resolution images in any style you want. Paintings, drawings, sculptures, photorealism, digital art, this thing doesn't break a sweat! You can also upload a picture to create similar-looking variations, or edit whatever you want into it through simple text description.
If you're interested, keep an eye on MetaTalk -- I'll post a thread tomorrow afternoon (CST) where I'll fulfill up to 50 image generation requests!
posted by Rhaomi at 11:24 AM on June 23, 2022
So after 2+ months of waiting, I've finally gained access to DALL-E 2!!! That's the incredible new AI image generation system featured in this April post. It's like magic: type in a description of anything you can imagine, and in ~20 seconds it produces half a dozen coherent, creative, high-resolution images in any style you want. Paintings, drawings, sculptures, photorealism, digital art, this thing doesn't break a sweat! You can also upload a picture to create similar-looking variations, or edit whatever you want into it through simple text description.
If you're interested, keep an eye on MetaTalk -- I'll post a thread tomorrow afternoon (CST) where I'll fulfill up to 50 image generation requests!
posted by Rhaomi at 11:24 AM on June 23, 2022
Note: I'm postponing this in light of today's horrible Court news; it doesn't feel right to run a light/fun thing like this when so many people are reeling and in pain. Maybe next week; in the meantime, support your local funds if you can.
posted by Rhaomi at 12:49 PM on June 24, 2022
posted by Rhaomi at 12:49 PM on June 24, 2022
Update: After accidentally getting stuck in the queue overnight, the DALL-E demo thread I mentioned last week should be going live on MetaTalk in about 3-4 hours. I've been hearing rumblings that the free beta period may be coming to an end soon, so definitely check it out if you have an interest in experimenting with AI art -- there's no telling how exclusive, expensive, limited, or delayed the final product will be!
posted by Rhaomi at 12:38 PM on July 1, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Rhaomi at 12:38 PM on July 1, 2022 [2 favorites]
Whoops, had another miscommunication re:the MetaTalk queue -- the DALL-E live demo thread should now be going up around 7:30 PM Eastern Time tomorrow (Saturday). Hopefully the beta will still be available through the weekend!
posted by Rhaomi at 6:21 PM on July 1, 2022
posted by Rhaomi at 6:21 PM on July 1, 2022
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posted by Literaryhero at 3:16 AM on June 13, 2022 [4 favorites]