You say you want a revolution
December 5, 2022 4:19 AM Subscribe
Joyeux lundi, mes amis! For today's quiz, please identify the best French word: a) Liberté, b) Égalité, c) Fraternité, d) Apostrophe, e) Ce fil
La réponse est: ce sont tous de bons mots, Brent. S'il vous plaît profiter de votre chat gratuit!
La réponse est: ce sont tous de bons mots, Brent. S'il vous plaît profiter de votre chat gratuit!
No cat, no revolution. I don't make the rules.
posted by taz at 4:32 AM on December 5, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by taz at 4:32 AM on December 5, 2022 [6 favorites]
Aw man, we just finished placements for our last batch of free cats!
In other news, I took this week off for a staycation. Trying to get off on the right foot with exercise. Five minutes on the rowing machine and I’m winded. Being banished from the bicycle by neck arthritis has come home to roost. This time last year, I was doing 20 minutes on the rowing machine and then biking 7 miles each way to work.
I got a (very fancy, very expensive) recumbent bike this year, which is a lot easier on my neck, but it’s not a perfect replacement. Big, heavy, and did I mention expensive? Pricey enough that I’m not going to ride it through Chicago winter. So it’s the rowing machine or nothing, for my winter cardio.
posted by notoriety public at 4:45 AM on December 5, 2022 [1 favorite]
In other news, I took this week off for a staycation. Trying to get off on the right foot with exercise. Five minutes on the rowing machine and I’m winded. Being banished from the bicycle by neck arthritis has come home to roost. This time last year, I was doing 20 minutes on the rowing machine and then biking 7 miles each way to work.
I got a (very fancy, very expensive) recumbent bike this year, which is a lot easier on my neck, but it’s not a perfect replacement. Big, heavy, and did I mention expensive? Pricey enough that I’m not going to ride it through Chicago winter. So it’s the rowing machine or nothing, for my winter cardio.
posted by notoriety public at 4:45 AM on December 5, 2022 [1 favorite]
There were two cats, a British cat named One Two Three Cat and a French cat named Un Deux Trois Cat, who decided to have a swimming race across the English channel. Who won?
posted by an octopus IRL at 4:56 AM on December 5, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by an octopus IRL at 4:56 AM on December 5, 2022 [3 favorites]
Cats don’t swim. They get stuck in scanners instead.
posted by MtDewd at 5:06 AM on December 5, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by MtDewd at 5:06 AM on December 5, 2022 [1 favorite]
Obviously the quatre who didn’t cinq was the winner.
“Hebdomadaire” seems a weirdly opaque word for “weekly.” I am guessing it comes ultimately from the Greek for “seven” but I have never bothered to look into the etymology too closely. I just pick up the word once on a while and appreciate its strange edges and surfaces.
And the nature of a lot of longer and more formal terms coming into English from Romance languages leads to some lovely words — I saw an ad in the métro in Paris one time for a theatrical production which had extended its run. The pallid English “held over” lacks a certain je ne sais quoi when compared with the French term: there was a big sticker slapped on reading “prolongation exceptionelle.”
posted by ricochet biscuit at 5:13 AM on December 5, 2022 [8 favorites]
“Hebdomadaire” seems a weirdly opaque word for “weekly.” I am guessing it comes ultimately from the Greek for “seven” but I have never bothered to look into the etymology too closely. I just pick up the word once on a while and appreciate its strange edges and surfaces.
And the nature of a lot of longer and more formal terms coming into English from Romance languages leads to some lovely words — I saw an ad in the métro in Paris one time for a theatrical production which had extended its run. The pallid English “held over” lacks a certain je ne sais quoi when compared with the French term: there was a big sticker slapped on reading “prolongation exceptionelle.”
posted by ricochet biscuit at 5:13 AM on December 5, 2022 [8 favorites]
It's Apostrophé.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 5:43 AM on December 5, 2022
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 5:43 AM on December 5, 2022
As long as I am telling linguistics jokes I originally learned from Metafilter: what did the Latin verb say to the Latin noun?
posted by an octopus IRL at 5:58 AM on December 5, 2022
posted by an octopus IRL at 5:58 AM on December 5, 2022
I had brunch at a French restaurant this weekend. The food was great, but the omelets were pretty skimpy. Apparently for the French, one egg is un oeuf.
posted by uncleozzy at 6:12 AM on December 5, 2022 [8 favorites]
posted by uncleozzy at 6:12 AM on December 5, 2022 [8 favorites]
My cat is toothless, has had crippling arthritis since we got her, and now has cataracts and glaucoma but by gum (!) she appreciates food, litter pans, and laps.
Yesterday an acquaintance unexpectedly went out of his way to do something nice for me and I was surprised and charmed because he is NOT that person. My kid pointed out that "it's like a surly cat choosing your lap," and that was exactly it.
posted by Peach at 6:16 AM on December 5, 2022 [3 favorites]
Yesterday an acquaintance unexpectedly went out of his way to do something nice for me and I was surprised and charmed because he is NOT that person. My kid pointed out that "it's like a surly cat choosing your lap," and that was exactly it.
posted by Peach at 6:16 AM on December 5, 2022 [3 favorites]
It's Apostrophé.
Quelle catastrophe !
e) Ce fil
A French speaker approached me and very gravely confided to me: Vous avez un fil. Indeed, I did have a loose thread hanging from my clothing. But I was new to French at the time and thought he said, Vous avez un fils, which means, YOU HAVE A SON. Which threw me off balance a bit.
posted by jabah at 6:19 AM on December 5, 2022 [2 favorites]
Quelle catastrophe !
e) Ce fil
A French speaker approached me and very gravely confided to me: Vous avez un fil. Indeed, I did have a loose thread hanging from my clothing. But I was new to French at the time and thought he said, Vous avez un fils, which means, YOU HAVE A SON. Which threw me off balance a bit.
posted by jabah at 6:19 AM on December 5, 2022 [2 favorites]
Hebdomadaire just might be the perfect example of a perfectly cromulent word.
posted by From Bklyn at 6:20 AM on December 5, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by From Bklyn at 6:20 AM on December 5, 2022 [1 favorite]
The two words I love the most in French are "ouiseau" and "grenouille" because they are so much fun to say out loud.
posted by briank at 6:32 AM on December 5, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by briank at 6:32 AM on December 5, 2022 [4 favorites]
Le petit oiseau qui n'a pas maîtrisé l'art du vol est la proie préférée des chats français.
posted by y2karl at 6:55 AM on December 5, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by y2karl at 6:55 AM on December 5, 2022 [1 favorite]
Hebdomadaire just might be the perfect example of a perfectly cromulent word.
I have always like trash can: poubelle. Aah.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:21 AM on December 5, 2022 [3 favorites]
I have always like trash can: poubelle. Aah.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:21 AM on December 5, 2022 [3 favorites]
Along those lines, the Quebec French word for (e-mail) spam is pourriel, which is a mix of poubelle and courriel (e-mail, itself a mix of courrier [mail] and électronique).
I'm also quite fond of clavardage, a mix of clavier (keyboard) and bavardage (chatter).
Sometimes I find the OQLF (Office québécois de la langue française) a bit much, but they've got some real gems in their lexicon.
posted by invokeuse at 7:41 AM on December 5, 2022 [10 favorites]
I'm also quite fond of clavardage, a mix of clavier (keyboard) and bavardage (chatter).
Sometimes I find the OQLF (Office québécois de la langue française) a bit much, but they've got some real gems in their lexicon.
posted by invokeuse at 7:41 AM on December 5, 2022 [10 favorites]
Quincaillerie is the one that Rosetta Stone always believed I said wrong when I was doing that almost 15 years ago. I don't know if that makes it best for me, but it makes it something.
But the best PAIR of French words for English speakers is easy. (I've told this story before, but I think it's been a while.) I don't know if this happens in France, but in francophone West Africa, lots of roadside stands sell brochettes, ie, kebabs, and sometimes they shorten that to "bro" for the sign. Sometimes they also sell bread. And thus, as you cruise down the street in your transportation method of choice, you will find you have several opportunities to stop along the side of the road to check out stands selling "pain bro".
an octopus IRL, I started writing this comment almost an hour ago, then kept it on preview so I wouldn't break the flow of your joke, but since there have been comments in the meantime...what DID the latin verb say to the latin noun???
posted by solotoro at 7:50 AM on December 5, 2022 [5 favorites]
But the best PAIR of French words for English speakers is easy. (I've told this story before, but I think it's been a while.) I don't know if this happens in France, but in francophone West Africa, lots of roadside stands sell brochettes, ie, kebabs, and sometimes they shorten that to "bro" for the sign. Sometimes they also sell bread. And thus, as you cruise down the street in your transportation method of choice, you will find you have several opportunities to stop along the side of the road to check out stands selling "pain bro".
an octopus IRL, I started writing this comment almost an hour ago, then kept it on preview so I wouldn't break the flow of your joke, but since there have been comments in the meantime...what DID the latin verb say to the latin noun???
posted by solotoro at 7:50 AM on December 5, 2022 [5 favorites]
what DID the latin verb say to the latin noun???
I'd ask you to conjugate, but I'm afraid you'd decline
(:
posted by an octopus IRL at 7:59 AM on December 5, 2022 [13 favorites]
I'd ask you to conjugate, but I'm afraid you'd decline
(:
posted by an octopus IRL at 7:59 AM on December 5, 2022 [13 favorites]
meanwhile ... randomly from my Facebook wall ...
"When will my husband return from the war on Christmas?"
posted by philip-random at 8:30 AM on December 5, 2022 [4 favorites]
"When will my husband return from the war on Christmas?"
posted by philip-random at 8:30 AM on December 5, 2022 [4 favorites]
Dearest Belle,
The elves are wee but their numbers are legion and I fear that the territory we now hold north of the Arctic Circle will soon be re-taken. Already they have cut off our supply line, and our store of candy canes has been almost entirely depleted. This morning we awoke to find that Private Cratchit had deserted and could be heard wishing a Merry Christmas to all in the distance. Morale is perilously low among the remaining men and I fear we may all be decking the halls long before Christmas Eve.
Yours in humbug,
Col. Scrooge
posted by uncleozzy at 8:47 AM on December 5, 2022 [4 favorites]
The elves are wee but their numbers are legion and I fear that the territory we now hold north of the Arctic Circle will soon be re-taken. Already they have cut off our supply line, and our store of candy canes has been almost entirely depleted. This morning we awoke to find that Private Cratchit had deserted and could be heard wishing a Merry Christmas to all in the distance. Morale is perilously low among the remaining men and I fear we may all be decking the halls long before Christmas Eve.
Yours in humbug,
Col. Scrooge
posted by uncleozzy at 8:47 AM on December 5, 2022 [4 favorites]
Christmas baking may be a bit sad for me this year because one close relative has to watch their diabetes, which means that making sugary delights for the rest of us seems a little rude. So I am experimenting with baking with store-brand Splenda. The banana bread recipe on the bag was awful -- constant aftertaste and no sweetness up front. But I tried an applesauce oatmeal bread recipe from King Arthur, with a little dried fruit added, using only about 3/4 as much Splenda as you would sugar, and it's much nicer. I think the thing may be to rely on the natural sweetness and interest of other ingredients and not try to make Splenda pretend to be sugar. I wonder if pfeffernusse or snickerdoodles would work well with it.
posted by Countess Elena at 9:06 AM on December 5, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Countess Elena at 9:06 AM on December 5, 2022 [2 favorites]
This very morning I learned that the French word for remote, as in a TV remote, is telecommande. I'm going to call it that from now on. That way when it vanishes, as remotes are wont to do, we can say, "Ou sont les telecommandes d'antan?"
posted by scratch at 9:14 AM on December 5, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by scratch at 9:14 AM on December 5, 2022 [4 favorites]
Countess Elena, try allulose for diabetic-compatible baking. It's crazy expensive, but works well for a great many desserts, and tastes more like sugar than anything else I have tried. It even caramelizes. Just be aware that it's only about half as sweet per gram as sugar. Allulose might work well with a little neotame to punch it up, but the time I tried all-neotame for chocolate mousse, it was extremely unpleasant, so now I just use my neotame for iced tea.
posted by novalis_dt at 9:35 AM on December 5, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by novalis_dt at 9:35 AM on December 5, 2022 [2 favorites]
It's Apostrophé.
En effet, c'est le nœud du biscuit.
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:59 AM on December 5, 2022 [1 favorite]
En effet, c'est le nœud du biscuit.
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:59 AM on December 5, 2022 [1 favorite]
Somewhat off topic but is it safe to eat these?
posted by y2karl at 10:07 AM on December 5, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by y2karl at 10:07 AM on December 5, 2022 [1 favorite]
I'm also quite fond of clavardage, a mix of clavier (keyboard) and bavardage (chatter).
Silly me read that and initially thought "I wonder if that refers to this clavinet style (ex. from ~0:35-0:45)?"
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:26 AM on December 5, 2022
Silly me read that and initially thought "I wonder if that refers to this clavinet style (ex. from ~0:35-0:45)?"
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:26 AM on December 5, 2022
This very morning I learned that the French word for remote, as in a TV remote, is telecommande.
Colloquially known as zapette. As in "Ousketa encore mis la zapette ?"
posted by elgilito at 10:28 AM on December 5, 2022 [2 favorites]
Colloquially known as zapette. As in "Ousketa encore mis la zapette ?"
posted by elgilito at 10:28 AM on December 5, 2022 [2 favorites]
I think pamplemousse is a great word.
And I love the way hippopotame is pronounced.
posted by jgirl at 10:29 AM on December 5, 2022
And I love the way hippopotame is pronounced.
posted by jgirl at 10:29 AM on December 5, 2022
Operation Rat Battle continues apace.
My super is RIGHT NOW kneeling in my closet, his head and shoulders poking through an access hole cut into the wall for the pipes leading to the heater for my unit. I'd seen a mouse in my closet last week (sitting on a top shelf), and he came by to investigate - and found one tiny hole towards the floor, and three BIG holes inside that access hole. He has shoved poison in all orifices and is sealing them all up with steel wool and spray foam; we're hoping that the poison inside the holes will also try to do something about the rats in the walls as well.
And before he got to work, I remarked that I'd heard he'd caught some rats already - and he proudly whipped out his phone to show me a photo he'd taken of the nine he'd caught already. And I am hearing less and less of the buggers.
My roommate still has an issue in his ceiling, and I have pointed that out to the landlord again. And reminded the super - the issue is still trying to get at the alley we can't get in. My super tried calling a couple times but is getting ghosted; my landlord will have to try. Our exterminator also had a brain fart and forgot to come this Sunday, so they are going to call me and arrange a special return trip at my landlord's behest.
My roommate and I are both home from work because of colds (we checked that they WERE colds, for safety's sake), and this has all been kinda entertaining to watch.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:48 AM on December 5, 2022 [3 favorites]
My super is RIGHT NOW kneeling in my closet, his head and shoulders poking through an access hole cut into the wall for the pipes leading to the heater for my unit. I'd seen a mouse in my closet last week (sitting on a top shelf), and he came by to investigate - and found one tiny hole towards the floor, and three BIG holes inside that access hole. He has shoved poison in all orifices and is sealing them all up with steel wool and spray foam; we're hoping that the poison inside the holes will also try to do something about the rats in the walls as well.
And before he got to work, I remarked that I'd heard he'd caught some rats already - and he proudly whipped out his phone to show me a photo he'd taken of the nine he'd caught already. And I am hearing less and less of the buggers.
My roommate still has an issue in his ceiling, and I have pointed that out to the landlord again. And reminded the super - the issue is still trying to get at the alley we can't get in. My super tried calling a couple times but is getting ghosted; my landlord will have to try. Our exterminator also had a brain fart and forgot to come this Sunday, so they are going to call me and arrange a special return trip at my landlord's behest.
My roommate and I are both home from work because of colds (we checked that they WERE colds, for safety's sake), and this has all been kinda entertaining to watch.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:48 AM on December 5, 2022 [3 favorites]
Dogs at work! (warning: depicts killing of rats)
posted by elkevelvet at 10:59 AM on December 5, 2022
posted by elkevelvet at 10:59 AM on December 5, 2022
My favorite French word trivia is avocat (avocado) and avocat (lawyer). Same word! Figure it out from context! I have been happily imagining the goings on at a trial, if, say, there was a terrible avocado disaster with loose avocados all over the highway.
I need a moment to bitch. My adult kids (AND THEIR SIGNIFICANT OTHERS and ONE (1) toddler, who is as is the way of toddlers essentially the equivalent in chaos of 3 - 5 feral hogs) have moved in with me. It's been 2 weeks. I have a really small house. I invited them to do this as their personal economies hit the proverbial fan and the rising cost of living and the rent/housing bubble and that is okay! I love them! BUT I now need them to accept a) each other and b) that there's a certain amount of chaos that ensues in the middle of moving around, so please try to ameliorate it as best you can with grace and kindness and c) give me some goddamn credit and/or gratitude for the fact that you have a home to move into, however damn inconvenient and uncomfortable and too small it may be. Nonstop complaints are not endearing my darlings to me right now. The SOs are much nicer or at least quieter.
I respect that moving back in with your mother because the world is collapsing, etc., in your 30s is hard. I am sorry that they had to do this. I'm glad that I can help and that they are here. But they need to act like they are in their 30s and not like they are 15.
thank you that feels better. stay tuned for an askme about resources for intergenerational shared housing.
posted by mygothlaundry at 11:15 AM on December 5, 2022 [20 favorites]
I need a moment to bitch. My adult kids (AND THEIR SIGNIFICANT OTHERS and ONE (1) toddler, who is as is the way of toddlers essentially the equivalent in chaos of 3 - 5 feral hogs) have moved in with me. It's been 2 weeks. I have a really small house. I invited them to do this as their personal economies hit the proverbial fan and the rising cost of living and the rent/housing bubble and that is okay! I love them! BUT I now need them to accept a) each other and b) that there's a certain amount of chaos that ensues in the middle of moving around, so please try to ameliorate it as best you can with grace and kindness and c) give me some goddamn credit and/or gratitude for the fact that you have a home to move into, however damn inconvenient and uncomfortable and too small it may be. Nonstop complaints are not endearing my darlings to me right now. The SOs are much nicer or at least quieter.
I respect that moving back in with your mother because the world is collapsing, etc., in your 30s is hard. I am sorry that they had to do this. I'm glad that I can help and that they are here. But they need to act like they are in their 30s and not like they are 15.
thank you that feels better. stay tuned for an askme about resources for intergenerational shared housing.
posted by mygothlaundry at 11:15 AM on December 5, 2022 [20 favorites]
Why did “parasol” make it to English, but “parapluie” did not?
posted by TedW at 11:18 AM on December 5, 2022
posted by TedW at 11:18 AM on December 5, 2022
Greg_Ace, you made the comment I was going to make far better than I would have!
posted by TedW at 11:23 AM on December 5, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by TedW at 11:23 AM on December 5, 2022 [1 favorite]
My attempt at French:
[clears throat]
"I fart in your general direction! Your mother was a hamster, and your father smelled of elderberries!"
How'd I do?
In other news, I recently started Ozempic for my diabetes; yesterday was my first injection, which was the first time that I'd injected myself with/for anything. Only side effect so far was mild nausea this morning, so I'm hopeful.
posted by Halloween Jack at 11:25 AM on December 5, 2022 [3 favorites]
[clears throat]
"I fart in your general direction! Your mother was a hamster, and your father smelled of elderberries!"
How'd I do?
In other news, I recently started Ozempic for my diabetes; yesterday was my first injection, which was the first time that I'd injected myself with/for anything. Only side effect so far was mild nausea this morning, so I'm hopeful.
posted by Halloween Jack at 11:25 AM on December 5, 2022 [3 favorites]
My favorite French word trivia is avocat (avocado) and avocat (lawyer).
English has the soundalikes for young people and for those who excavate ore: “minor” and “miner.” French makes do with mineur for both.
Why did “parasol” make it to English, but “parapluie” did not?
Because “umbrella” (“little shadow”) got imported by Thomas Coryate directly from Italy.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 11:37 AM on December 5, 2022 [3 favorites]
English has the soundalikes for young people and for those who excavate ore: “minor” and “miner.” French makes do with mineur for both.
Why did “parasol” make it to English, but “parapluie” did not?
Because “umbrella” (“little shadow”) got imported by Thomas Coryate directly from Italy.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 11:37 AM on December 5, 2022 [3 favorites]
Your last theater update for an indefinite period of time (likely six months....wah), and referencing the end of the last one, where uncleozzy mentioned a similar situation.
On Friday, I arrived at 5 p.m. to find out that one of my castmates had been dubbed, circa 2 p.m., to play Present. This fellow was previously playing the policeman, it's his first acting role EVER (the entire family is doing the show), and he was deemed "the only one who can do it." (It probably helped that he's retired/owns a business and I think that meant he didn't *have* to be at work that afternoon.) The original fellow was playing Present in Act 2 and Young Marley in Act 1, so another actor was dubbed to play Young Marley in two scenes (he doesn't say/do too much in those so that was an easy swap), and the director's husband was recruited to play the police officer. The director announced what went on at the start of the show and Present had his script in hand and was told to just improvise and skip the dancing. He wasn't that much of an improviser, but he probably did as well as could be expected under the circumstances.
Then Saturday it poured rain all day. I note that the last time it was pouring rain and flash flooding in October, a leak was discovered happening right over the stage. The landlord is awful (raises the rent every few months, charges $14k, won't do maintenance, but the theater people are utterly stuck dealing with it and can't find elsewhere and have a custom space) and hadn't bothered to do anything since then and blames the theater people for the leak and won't lift a finger, so it leaked during both the afternoon kids' show and our show. Literally raining in London (I'm surprised the line about "it rains every day in London" didn't get a big laugh that night) and at one point both raining and snowing when the snow machine was on. We had to reconfigure the show for like 50 minutes--show was supposed to start at 7:30 and at 7:20 nobody was fully dressed/made up/had mics on, that's how messy that was to essentially be all "push back to only use the back half of the stage," har har. But we managed, again. And while it was still raining Sunday, it wasn't bad enough to start the leaking again, so Sunday was more or less normal-ish again. One lady who'd come to a second show said we did a good job of rolling with the changes!
I hate to end a show, but I was pretty tired after all of this stuff. I didn't call in sick today at work because work stuff was going on today, but warned them I may do so tomorrow if nothing's going on. Also a friend of mine who kept putting off buying a ticket every weekend but told me they'd go decided to flake and bail--I had to hear this from their grandmother, of all people--so I'm pretty ticked off. I clearly should have taken the hint of "I don't actually want to go" and will never believe/mention it to them again. A good chunk of my friends have been flakeasses on getting together this fall and I'm feeling angry about it, but there's nothing I can do, obviously, other than "welp, not inviting your ass again." Supposedly "the whole group" is supposed to get together to see another upcoming show at our old theater, but I just bought my own ticket for this week because at this point I think they are all going to flake and I don't feel like waiting until the dead last showing to find out that everyone's flaking again because they can't agree on when to go and blah blah. Fuck 'em.
(Also, folks, if you want to see a show and you don't HAVE to wait until the last weekend to see it? GO SEE IT EARLIER in case of covid, or natural disaster, or god knows what happening. I'm really amazed we made it through the last weekend without canceling. Disasters have become commonplace in the 2020's.)
I am sad to not have any upcoming shows any more. I really don't like the next four the theater is doing and/or don't fit the show, I want to audition for some at other theaters but they aren't likely to take me. It's hard to be optimistic when I've learned over the years that I don't fit roles outside of generic ensemble/being old and fat and plain/not a man, blah de blah and really just kind of good as a reliable warm body who shows up every night. I did get some really nice compliments at the end of this show, I just...wish more people in power saw me like that, you know?
Anyway. December is off, and time to collapse and go see some other shows, probably alone :P
posted by jenfullmoon at 11:44 AM on December 5, 2022 [8 favorites]
On Friday, I arrived at 5 p.m. to find out that one of my castmates had been dubbed, circa 2 p.m., to play Present. This fellow was previously playing the policeman, it's his first acting role EVER (the entire family is doing the show), and he was deemed "the only one who can do it." (It probably helped that he's retired/owns a business and I think that meant he didn't *have* to be at work that afternoon.) The original fellow was playing Present in Act 2 and Young Marley in Act 1, so another actor was dubbed to play Young Marley in two scenes (he doesn't say/do too much in those so that was an easy swap), and the director's husband was recruited to play the police officer. The director announced what went on at the start of the show and Present had his script in hand and was told to just improvise and skip the dancing. He wasn't that much of an improviser, but he probably did as well as could be expected under the circumstances.
Then Saturday it poured rain all day. I note that the last time it was pouring rain and flash flooding in October, a leak was discovered happening right over the stage. The landlord is awful (raises the rent every few months, charges $14k, won't do maintenance, but the theater people are utterly stuck dealing with it and can't find elsewhere and have a custom space) and hadn't bothered to do anything since then and blames the theater people for the leak and won't lift a finger, so it leaked during both the afternoon kids' show and our show. Literally raining in London (I'm surprised the line about "it rains every day in London" didn't get a big laugh that night) and at one point both raining and snowing when the snow machine was on. We had to reconfigure the show for like 50 minutes--show was supposed to start at 7:30 and at 7:20 nobody was fully dressed/made up/had mics on, that's how messy that was to essentially be all "push back to only use the back half of the stage," har har. But we managed, again. And while it was still raining Sunday, it wasn't bad enough to start the leaking again, so Sunday was more or less normal-ish again. One lady who'd come to a second show said we did a good job of rolling with the changes!
I hate to end a show, but I was pretty tired after all of this stuff. I didn't call in sick today at work because work stuff was going on today, but warned them I may do so tomorrow if nothing's going on. Also a friend of mine who kept putting off buying a ticket every weekend but told me they'd go decided to flake and bail--I had to hear this from their grandmother, of all people--so I'm pretty ticked off. I clearly should have taken the hint of "I don't actually want to go" and will never believe/mention it to them again. A good chunk of my friends have been flakeasses on getting together this fall and I'm feeling angry about it, but there's nothing I can do, obviously, other than "welp, not inviting your ass again." Supposedly "the whole group" is supposed to get together to see another upcoming show at our old theater, but I just bought my own ticket for this week because at this point I think they are all going to flake and I don't feel like waiting until the dead last showing to find out that everyone's flaking again because they can't agree on when to go and blah blah. Fuck 'em.
(Also, folks, if you want to see a show and you don't HAVE to wait until the last weekend to see it? GO SEE IT EARLIER in case of covid, or natural disaster, or god knows what happening. I'm really amazed we made it through the last weekend without canceling. Disasters have become commonplace in the 2020's.)
I am sad to not have any upcoming shows any more. I really don't like the next four the theater is doing and/or don't fit the show, I want to audition for some at other theaters but they aren't likely to take me. It's hard to be optimistic when I've learned over the years that I don't fit roles outside of generic ensemble/being old and fat and plain/not a man, blah de blah and really just kind of good as a reliable warm body who shows up every night. I did get some really nice compliments at the end of this show, I just...wish more people in power saw me like that, you know?
Anyway. December is off, and time to collapse and go see some other shows, probably alone :P
posted by jenfullmoon at 11:44 AM on December 5, 2022 [8 favorites]
I’ll throw a joke on the pile:
Q: How do you get fifty drunk Canadians out of your swimming pool?
A: “Could you please get out of my swimming pool?“
posted by Mister Moofoo at 12:12 PM on December 5, 2022 [5 favorites]
Q: How do you get fifty drunk Canadians out of your swimming pool?
A: “Could you please get out of my swimming pool?“
posted by Mister Moofoo at 12:12 PM on December 5, 2022 [5 favorites]
Started doing CPAP treatment this past week and...
posted by drewbage1847 at 12:42 PM on December 5, 2022 [4 favorites]
- Hate having anything strapped to my face while trying to sleep
- 25 year old me would be horrified that I slept an excessive 6-7 hours (I used to sleep closer to 4)
- stupid thing is waking me up during the night, but....
- I do feel better and more refreshed in the morning...
posted by drewbage1847 at 12:42 PM on December 5, 2022 [4 favorites]
On the French words:
When I was last in Paris, I walked around a lot and often passed by a side street called "Rue Pas Des [whatever the word for mules is]". I later learned that this translated to something like "Mule Step Street", but I greatly prefer what I initially thought it meant - "The Street of No Mules".
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:48 PM on December 5, 2022 [1 favorite]
When I was last in Paris, I walked around a lot and often passed by a side street called "Rue Pas Des [whatever the word for mules is]". I later learned that this translated to something like "Mule Step Street", but I greatly prefer what I initially thought it meant - "The Street of No Mules".
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:48 PM on December 5, 2022 [1 favorite]
I think "toxicomanie" is a superior word to "addiction," just because it seems like it's doing a lot more work.
Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha! is my favourite Quebec place name, but Chibougamau is pretty fun to say out loud. The "-mau" is pronounced "moo."
Chibougamau.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 1:08 PM on December 5, 2022 [2 favorites]
Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha! is my favourite Quebec place name, but Chibougamau is pretty fun to say out loud. The "-mau" is pronounced "moo."
Chibougamau.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 1:08 PM on December 5, 2022 [2 favorites]
mygothlaundry, my heart goes out to you. I may have said something like this previously but I will repeat it. If you look at the statistics of murder, the most likely place for you to be killed is at your home or that of a relative or friend and the murderer mostly likely will be a relative or friend. By far. Because they or you are likely to say something you or they would never dare say to a stranger. For fear of being killed or seriously injured.
I am currently at my wits end.
I have various legal and medical forms and documents that need to be filled out pronto and I have no working computer at home at present. I go into the local Fed Ex/Kinkos to print them out and cannot sign into Gmail or Google. They were sending all their messages to a dead phone that was lost or stolen six months ago. And rejecting every password I have over and over, then asking me to type in a series of letters splashed across a jpeg that look like a hillbilly family bowl of noodle soup of Arabic, Farsi and Korean calligraphy. Result: rinse and repeat ad infinitum. I'd much rather click on all the pictures of traffic signals or fire hydrants but no.... I have crawl on my back under barbed wire under live fire.
Google online customer service seems designed to make sure you never ever attempt to call, text or email them again. I'm tapping out a reply and they keep interrupting me clickety click. I am so frazzled at present.
posted by y2karl at 1:15 PM on December 5, 2022 [3 favorites]
I am currently at my wits end.
I have various legal and medical forms and documents that need to be filled out pronto and I have no working computer at home at present. I go into the local Fed Ex/Kinkos to print them out and cannot sign into Gmail or Google. They were sending all their messages to a dead phone that was lost or stolen six months ago. And rejecting every password I have over and over, then asking me to type in a series of letters splashed across a jpeg that look like a hillbilly family bowl of noodle soup of Arabic, Farsi and Korean calligraphy. Result: rinse and repeat ad infinitum. I'd much rather click on all the pictures of traffic signals or fire hydrants but no.... I have crawl on my back under barbed wire under live fire.
Google online customer service seems designed to make sure you never ever attempt to call, text or email them again. I'm tapping out a reply and they keep interrupting me clickety click. I am so frazzled at present.
posted by y2karl at 1:15 PM on December 5, 2022 [3 favorites]
Google is terrible. I don't use it but when I started this job, I HAD to have a G-mail account. Fine, I made one just so I could have access to our share Google Docs, but I haven't really used it in three years. The other day I needed a GMail address, so I thought I'd log in and use it. Except Google won't let me in, despite the fact that the Gmail address is linked to my actual work address that I use constantly. But no, it doesn't matter if I say send a link to my work address and I'll verify it's me, Google won't let me in. It's demanding that I supply a phone number so it can text me 2FA stuff. No way. That's not happening. If a second email address--a verified company one that Google does accept for Google docs access isn't good enough, Google can go jump in a lake.
posted by sardonyx at 1:28 PM on December 5, 2022
posted by sardonyx at 1:28 PM on December 5, 2022
So far in 2022, sixty posts here on the blue mention pomme de terre in either the title or the text body.
There's still 26 days of this year to go...
posted by Wordshore at 1:44 PM on December 5, 2022
There's still 26 days of this year to go...
posted by Wordshore at 1:44 PM on December 5, 2022
Chibougamau II: Electric Boogaloo
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:48 PM on December 5, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:48 PM on December 5, 2022 [1 favorite]
Pomegranate
Pomme grenade
Granatapfel
Literally: hand-grenade apple.
The one time I passed through St Louis du Ha!Ha! It was the middle of July. It snowed. I think, geologically it is the very last, northernmost gasp of the Appalachians.
posted by From Bklyn at 1:54 PM on December 5, 2022 [1 favorite]
Pomme grenade
Granatapfel
Literally: hand-grenade apple.
The one time I passed through St Louis du Ha!Ha! It was the middle of July. It snowed. I think, geologically it is the very last, northernmost gasp of the Appalachians.
posted by From Bklyn at 1:54 PM on December 5, 2022 [1 favorite]
drewbage1847, fellow CPAPer here, and I got used to it with a quickness--not an extreme quickness, but my brainmeat seemed to recognize that having something strapped to my face all night was an acceptable cost for sleeping and breathing at the same time. I still wake up in the middle of the night, and still occasionally get nights when the brainmeat just refuses to turn off, but overall it's much better than it was.
posted by Halloween Jack at 1:56 PM on December 5, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by Halloween Jack at 1:56 PM on December 5, 2022 [3 favorites]
Chibougamau II: Electric Boogaloo
Not to be confused with Les Foufounes Électriques.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 2:40 PM on December 5, 2022
Not to be confused with Les Foufounes Électriques.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 2:40 PM on December 5, 2022
Astérix, Obélix ou rien du tout!
Right now the tram is stopping at Genbaku-dome Mae (Atomic Bomb Dome) station and as often happens, I’m reminded of the relativity of things.
My bout of COVID two weeks ago seems to have left me with eye pain and semipermanent migraines, but right now my head is clear and I’m going to work where I play with toddlers all day. Things could be worse, things have been worse, for me, for Hiroshima and the world.
The tram just passed a patisserie called Rabelais that makes a reportedly divine fig and chocolate holiday cake that my in-laws love. I miss baked goods, but I don’t miss the food allergies and the lethargy and swollen tongue.
Always an even trade, say the Bridgeburners. In exchange for all things wheat and dairy, I look and feel like I did in college (when I’m not recovering from COVID, that is) and I reckon I’ll live a few years longer if I keep it up.
It’s cloudy and brisk but the sun is breaking through and that’s life. I love you, you’re beautiful, and I hope you have a wonderful week.
posted by Ice Cream Socialist at 2:44 PM on December 5, 2022 [4 favorites]
Right now the tram is stopping at Genbaku-dome Mae (Atomic Bomb Dome) station and as often happens, I’m reminded of the relativity of things.
My bout of COVID two weeks ago seems to have left me with eye pain and semipermanent migraines, but right now my head is clear and I’m going to work where I play with toddlers all day. Things could be worse, things have been worse, for me, for Hiroshima and the world.
The tram just passed a patisserie called Rabelais that makes a reportedly divine fig and chocolate holiday cake that my in-laws love. I miss baked goods, but I don’t miss the food allergies and the lethargy and swollen tongue.
Always an even trade, say the Bridgeburners. In exchange for all things wheat and dairy, I look and feel like I did in college (when I’m not recovering from COVID, that is) and I reckon I’ll live a few years longer if I keep it up.
It’s cloudy and brisk but the sun is breaking through and that’s life. I love you, you’re beautiful, and I hope you have a wonderful week.
posted by Ice Cream Socialist at 2:44 PM on December 5, 2022 [4 favorites]
Well, Halloween Jack and drewbage1847, at least you are both at one degree of William Shatner. It's a small world indeed.
posted by y2karl at 2:46 PM on December 5, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by y2karl at 2:46 PM on December 5, 2022 [2 favorites]
Best French word? Toss up between baguette and croissant.
posted by Splunge at 3:00 PM on December 5, 2022
posted by Splunge at 3:00 PM on December 5, 2022
It took me three days of fairly steady to figure out how to cancel the AppleCare for my former iPhone, which I had abandoned in favor of my late husband's newer iPhone, which also has AppleCare but I'm gonna have to find his iTunes password and see if I can transfer it, y2karl. They are ALL completely unavailable when you want to ask a simple question, except for chat bots that return you to the screen you started with.
posted by Peach at 3:03 PM on December 5, 2022
posted by Peach at 3:03 PM on December 5, 2022
Apostrophe.
* * *
My uncle (mon oncle) once had a SONY reel-to-reel stereo portable recorder that he was proud of. (TC-200; 1960's) I have great memories of him pulling it out and us kids messing with it, recording fart sounds and whatnot.
This fall I fell across the same deck in mint condition (like, almost new) for a pittance so I grabbed it. It's taken very little in the way of repairs to get it running well: new counter belts, new motor capacitor, clean all controls, clean and oil where necessary... but it runs like new again.
I recorded a reel of Christmas music on one of my other decks, and today I packaged the deck and tape up and it's on it's way to him. Btw, he's 90, still a producing artist (pen & ink, painting, printmaking), still sharp as a tack, and fairly active, and he was thrilled to hear that I had this recorder for him. He still has some tapes in storage. I can't wait for him to get it.
posted by Artful Codger at 3:49 PM on December 5, 2022 [10 favorites]
* * *
My uncle (mon oncle) once had a SONY reel-to-reel stereo portable recorder that he was proud of. (TC-200; 1960's) I have great memories of him pulling it out and us kids messing with it, recording fart sounds and whatnot.
This fall I fell across the same deck in mint condition (like, almost new) for a pittance so I grabbed it. It's taken very little in the way of repairs to get it running well: new counter belts, new motor capacitor, clean all controls, clean and oil where necessary... but it runs like new again.
I recorded a reel of Christmas music on one of my other decks, and today I packaged the deck and tape up and it's on it's way to him. Btw, he's 90, still a producing artist (pen & ink, painting, printmaking), still sharp as a tack, and fairly active, and he was thrilled to hear that I had this recorder for him. He still has some tapes in storage. I can't wait for him to get it.
posted by Artful Codger at 3:49 PM on December 5, 2022 [10 favorites]
Good for you and him both. You win the best Christmas Gift of 2022 as far as I am concerned.
posted by y2karl at 4:37 PM on December 5, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by y2karl at 4:37 PM on December 5, 2022 [1 favorite]
from kalamazoo to chibougamau
posted by pyramid termite at 4:49 PM on December 5, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by pyramid termite at 4:49 PM on December 5, 2022 [1 favorite]
I love the idea of a pâtisserie Rabelais. I hope they do a gargantuan chocolate cake.
I speak French decently enough, which is good, because last Friday just after lunch I was asked to sing in a concert performance of Carmen the next evening as Carmen's friend Mercédès.
I told the conductor I knew the role. The truth is, I had studied it but never performed it. But for a score-in-hand concert gig I figured that was good enough.
In my longish ?career? I have fallen on my ass enough times that I feel justified in bragging now. Reader, I totally got away with it. I jumped into the fast, notoriously tricky Quintet for the first time ever and it was okay! I got all the "de nous?" in the right places. (No one but opera singers will ever know how badass that feels, but trust me, it feels EXTREMELY badass.) In the Card Trio, the soprano singing Frasquita had learnt Mercédès's usual part, and I was able to swap round without incident. The one scene I got wrong in rehearsal I was able to learn overnight. Some of the ensemble lines may have been kind of... busked, but at 24 hours' notice I think that's allowable, and the important bits were there.
My point is, that never happens. Usually after a concert I'm angsting over mistakes and inadequacies. But this time it was... fine????
(They made a recording. I'm not going to listen to the recording. That way lies shame-spiral land)
The secret of how I did this: as a high-school mezzo, I knew I would sing Carmen one day, so of course I studied, practiced and listened obsessively to the Georges Prêtre recording with Callas (her last recording ever). I never got the chance to sing Carmen, and now I've aged out of it. Still, having the opera in my bones for all these years meant I could deliver when the unexpected moment came.
posted by Pallas Athena at 6:03 PM on December 5, 2022 [14 favorites]
I speak French decently enough, which is good, because last Friday just after lunch I was asked to sing in a concert performance of Carmen the next evening as Carmen's friend Mercédès.
I told the conductor I knew the role. The truth is, I had studied it but never performed it. But for a score-in-hand concert gig I figured that was good enough.
In my longish ?career? I have fallen on my ass enough times that I feel justified in bragging now. Reader, I totally got away with it. I jumped into the fast, notoriously tricky Quintet for the first time ever and it was okay! I got all the "de nous?" in the right places. (No one but opera singers will ever know how badass that feels, but trust me, it feels EXTREMELY badass.) In the Card Trio, the soprano singing Frasquita had learnt Mercédès's usual part, and I was able to swap round without incident. The one scene I got wrong in rehearsal I was able to learn overnight. Some of the ensemble lines may have been kind of... busked, but at 24 hours' notice I think that's allowable, and the important bits were there.
My point is, that never happens. Usually after a concert I'm angsting over mistakes and inadequacies. But this time it was... fine????
(They made a recording. I'm not going to listen to the recording. That way lies shame-spiral land)
The secret of how I did this: as a high-school mezzo, I knew I would sing Carmen one day, so of course I studied, practiced and listened obsessively to the Georges Prêtre recording with Callas (her last recording ever). I never got the chance to sing Carmen, and now I've aged out of it. Still, having the opera in my bones for all these years meant I could deliver when the unexpected moment came.
posted by Pallas Athena at 6:03 PM on December 5, 2022 [14 favorites]
Continuing my bad thing that to Windopaene series of freethread posts. You may recall my taking three punches in the face in a Fred Meyer bathroom
So a week ago on Sunday I woke up with a lump in my butt cheeck, and went to urgent care.Doctor said she thought I had an abscess, and should go to the ER. I go there, get a CT scan, and they say they need to admit me to the hospital. The lump is now two, and they are much bigger. Things get a bit hazy at this point. I come out of surgery. and wake up. Turns out it is now Wednesday. I have a necrotic skin infection, have been on a ventilator for two days, and am now in the ICU. And it was a close run thing. So then I had to have an ileostomy, to keep shit out of the wounds where they had removed two big chunks of dead flesh. Tomorrow I go into surgery to close up one of the two incisions. Then who knows. Glad I am still here to read you all's posts. Cherish every sandwich and time with your friends and loved ones. They were pretty much sure I was going to die.
posted by Windopaene at 7:06 PM on December 5, 2022 [23 favorites]
So a week ago on Sunday I woke up with a lump in my butt cheeck, and went to urgent care.Doctor said she thought I had an abscess, and should go to the ER. I go there, get a CT scan, and they say they need to admit me to the hospital. The lump is now two, and they are much bigger. Things get a bit hazy at this point. I come out of surgery. and wake up. Turns out it is now Wednesday. I have a necrotic skin infection, have been on a ventilator for two days, and am now in the ICU. And it was a close run thing. So then I had to have an ileostomy, to keep shit out of the wounds where they had removed two big chunks of dead flesh. Tomorrow I go into surgery to close up one of the two incisions. Then who knows. Glad I am still here to read you all's posts. Cherish every sandwich and time with your friends and loved ones. They were pretty much sure I was going to die.
posted by Windopaene at 7:06 PM on December 5, 2022 [23 favorites]
Wow, Winopaene. I'm glad you're still with us. That whole situation sounds like a huge pain in the ass.
posted by hippybear at 7:13 PM on December 5, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 7:13 PM on December 5, 2022 [3 favorites]
....Dang, Windopaene....I thought my own adventure today of "take yourself to an ENT because your ear has weird stuff in it" was bad. Please feel better!
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:13 PM on December 5, 2022
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:13 PM on December 5, 2022
English has the soundalikes for young people and for those who excavate ore: “minor” and “miner.”
Q: What do you get when you drop a piano down a mine shaft?
A: A flat miner/minor
I heard someone explain that joke to a French speaker. It took about ten minutes.
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 8:45 PM on December 5, 2022 [2 favorites]
Q: What do you get when you drop a piano down a mine shaft?
A: A flat miner/minor
I heard someone explain that joke to a French speaker. It took about ten minutes.
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 8:45 PM on December 5, 2022 [2 favorites]
So far in 2022, sixty posts here on the blue mention pomme de terre in either the title or the text body.
Let me add to the tally* — pomme de terre, of course, means “potato” but the literal translation is “apple of the earth.” I am told that in Uruguay (?), apples are sometimes referred to as papas de los arboles.
*”Tally” is from the French verb tailler, meaning to cut. I have read that in preliterate days, this was how your tab was kept down at the tavern: each patron had a stick behind the bar, and as you got each drink, a new cut was notched in the stick. When it got to twenty, you had to settle up, so a tally was the total of drinks on your account. It later became a more general term for the total number of anything, particularly those things gradually accrued.
If you’ve ever wondered why “score” in English signifies variously a total of all the accrued units, twenty of something, and a cut or notch in a hard surface, there ya go.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 9:28 PM on December 5, 2022 [6 favorites]
Let me add to the tally* — pomme de terre, of course, means “potato” but the literal translation is “apple of the earth.” I am told that in Uruguay (?), apples are sometimes referred to as papas de los arboles.
*”Tally” is from the French verb tailler, meaning to cut. I have read that in preliterate days, this was how your tab was kept down at the tavern: each patron had a stick behind the bar, and as you got each drink, a new cut was notched in the stick. When it got to twenty, you had to settle up, so a tally was the total of drinks on your account. It later became a more general term for the total number of anything, particularly those things gradually accrued.
If you’ve ever wondered why “score” in English signifies variously a total of all the accrued units, twenty of something, and a cut or notch in a hard surface, there ya go.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 9:28 PM on December 5, 2022 [6 favorites]
Them gosh-darn mules have me thinking that there's probably an overused bit of dialogue in French cowboy movies (baguette-y westerns) about "we'll head 'em off at the pas".
posted by bartleby at 1:28 AM on December 6, 2022
posted by bartleby at 1:28 AM on December 6, 2022
I think it's not the actual origin of the word; but I'm invested in the name of the game (that's like bocce) being based on the sound of the metal balls hitting each other - pétanque. pe-tank! pa-tonk!
posted by bartleby at 1:43 AM on December 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by bartleby at 1:43 AM on December 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
Wow, Windopaene. I'm glad you're still with us. That whole situation sounds like a huge pain in the ass.
We see what you did there hippybear.
posted by y2karl at 3:42 AM on December 6, 2022 [2 favorites]
We see what you did there hippybear.
posted by y2karl at 3:42 AM on December 6, 2022 [2 favorites]
OMG Windopaene!
That sounds like an ordeal and a half. I hope it's smooth going from now on.
I'm now struck by the fact that there are quite a few people here that I feel I know, at least a little bit, but if something happens to them I'd probably never hear about it. 😐
I'm learning how to manage my anxiety through the power of autism!!!
It's amazing how much stimming reduces my stress.
At the moment my morning routine looks like this:
Go for a early cycle. Scatter some seeds in the bathroom. Gather the rats, and release them in the bathroom. Put on the STIM playlist, which includes Plastikman, Talking Heads, The Clash, Orb. Have a cold shower, dancing, while watching the rats hunt for seeds.
Dance myself dry (careful not to step on rats). Cuddle with the rats for a bit. Return rats to their cage, where they fall asleep, exhausted and full of seeds.
It's a good start to my day.
posted by Zumbador at 5:23 AM on December 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
That sounds like an ordeal and a half. I hope it's smooth going from now on.
I'm now struck by the fact that there are quite a few people here that I feel I know, at least a little bit, but if something happens to them I'd probably never hear about it. 😐
I'm learning how to manage my anxiety through the power of autism!!!
It's amazing how much stimming reduces my stress.
At the moment my morning routine looks like this:
Go for a early cycle. Scatter some seeds in the bathroom. Gather the rats, and release them in the bathroom. Put on the STIM playlist, which includes Plastikman, Talking Heads, The Clash, Orb. Have a cold shower, dancing, while watching the rats hunt for seeds.
Dance myself dry (careful not to step on rats). Cuddle with the rats for a bit. Return rats to their cage, where they fall asleep, exhausted and full of seeds.
It's a good start to my day.
posted by Zumbador at 5:23 AM on December 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
I’ll throw another joke in here.
How do you stop Canadian bacon from curling in the pan?
You take away their little brooms.
posted by azpenguin at 6:37 AM on December 6, 2022 [9 favorites]
How do you stop Canadian bacon from curling in the pan?
You take away their little brooms.
posted by azpenguin at 6:37 AM on December 6, 2022 [9 favorites]
I am also glad Windopaene is still among us!
Them gosh-darn mules have me thinking that there's probably an overused bit of dialogue in French cowboy movies (baguette-y westerns) about "we'll head 'em off at the pas".
I dreamt once, years ago, that I was talking to some Manitobans about their hometown, The Pas. The town, which is close to the Saskatchewan border and some 500km northwest of Winnipeg, is a place I am pretty sure I have never set foot in*.
In the dream, these folks told me that the first European settlers were francophones and a very pessimistic lot, hence the very negative name of the town.
(In fact, the town is at the confluence of the Pasquia and Saskatchewan rivers, and was initially known as Pasquoyac, shortened to Le Pas. I just learned this from Wikipedia. Jimmy Wales: deflating dreams since 2001.)
*Pas also means “steps,” so this was actually an inadvertent bilingual quasi-pun, which I did not notice until after I had written it.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:00 AM on December 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
Them gosh-darn mules have me thinking that there's probably an overused bit of dialogue in French cowboy movies (baguette-y westerns) about "we'll head 'em off at the pas".
I dreamt once, years ago, that I was talking to some Manitobans about their hometown, The Pas. The town, which is close to the Saskatchewan border and some 500km northwest of Winnipeg, is a place I am pretty sure I have never set foot in*.
In the dream, these folks told me that the first European settlers were francophones and a very pessimistic lot, hence the very negative name of the town.
(In fact, the town is at the confluence of the Pasquia and Saskatchewan rivers, and was initially known as Pasquoyac, shortened to Le Pas. I just learned this from Wikipedia. Jimmy Wales: deflating dreams since 2001.)
*Pas also means “steps,” so this was actually an inadvertent bilingual quasi-pun, which I did not notice until after I had written it.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:00 AM on December 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
I have always like trash can: poubelle. Aah.
"Felix La Poubelle..."
"oh that's what I know him from, he's an asshole."
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 7:48 AM on December 6, 2022
"Felix La Poubelle..."
"oh that's what I know him from, he's an asshole."
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 7:48 AM on December 6, 2022
Whoa, Windopaene, that's a hell of a turn of events. Glad you're still here.
posted by Pallas Athena at 9:21 AM on December 6, 2022
posted by Pallas Athena at 9:21 AM on December 6, 2022
drewbage1847, I, too, Wear The Mask nightly.
You get used to it in a couple of weeks, though every so often it surprises you -- e.g., by wrapping the hose around your throat as you sleep and suddenly tightening like a boa constrictor when you roll over.
I wear a full-face mask, and humidity builds up until it clogs the tiny holes around the valve, creating a whistling so high and fast that I can't believe all the neighborhood dogs hear it. I have to sit up, turn off the damn machine, take off the mask and wipe it dry, then blow air through the holes, and finally reverse everything. Takes like two minutes.
I mutter how much I hate it...but I used to doze off while driving home so this is a real improvement. And my wife likes not being kept awake by my snoring, so I suck it up.
posted by wenestvedt at 10:12 AM on December 6, 2022 [2 favorites]
You get used to it in a couple of weeks, though every so often it surprises you -- e.g., by wrapping the hose around your throat as you sleep and suddenly tightening like a boa constrictor when you roll over.
I wear a full-face mask, and humidity builds up until it clogs the tiny holes around the valve, creating a whistling so high and fast that I can't believe all the neighborhood dogs hear it. I have to sit up, turn off the damn machine, take off the mask and wipe it dry, then blow air through the holes, and finally reverse everything. Takes like two minutes.
I mutter how much I hate it...but I used to doze off while driving home so this is a real improvement. And my wife likes not being kept awake by my snoring, so I suck it up.
posted by wenestvedt at 10:12 AM on December 6, 2022 [2 favorites]
It's more like you have it blown into you than you actually doing any sucking.
posted by hippybear at 10:54 AM on December 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by hippybear at 10:54 AM on December 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
I am told that in Uruguay (?), apples are sometimes referred to as papas de los arboles
Apples shall forever more be "tree taters" as far as I'm concerned!
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:55 AM on December 6, 2022 [2 favorites]
Apples shall forever more be "tree taters" as far as I'm concerned!
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:55 AM on December 6, 2022 [2 favorites]
humidity builds up until it clogs the tiny holes around the valve
Are you using a heated hose?
posted by neuron at 12:30 PM on December 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
Are you using a heated hose?
posted by neuron at 12:30 PM on December 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
I am, with a fleece sock.
posted by wenestvedt at 12:44 PM on December 6, 2022
posted by wenestvedt at 12:44 PM on December 6, 2022
Do any of you CPAPers sleep on your stomach? Or, I suppose, did any of you before you got the CPAP?
Asking for a friend, by which I mean possibly myself in the near future. (I got diagnosed with "very minor sleep apnea" about a decade ago, but it was so minor they didn't think it was worth treating-- now ten years later there's reasons to think it may not be so minor any more).
posted by nat at 12:53 PM on December 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
Asking for a friend, by which I mean possibly myself in the near future. (I got diagnosed with "very minor sleep apnea" about a decade ago, but it was so minor they didn't think it was worth treating-- now ten years later there's reasons to think it may not be so minor any more).
posted by nat at 12:53 PM on December 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
I didn't. I was nearly exclusively a back sleeper. Before the CPAP, the doc had me switch to side sleeping, which was odd, but I did. Now with the CPAP the past week, it doesn't feel comfortable to be sleeping that way, so back to the back.
And I have to say, the way that the machine judges me for not sleeping 7+ hours I could do without. Stupid device, I'm a 5-6 hour sleeper.
posted by drewbage1847 at 1:34 PM on December 6, 2022
And I have to say, the way that the machine judges me for not sleeping 7+ hours I could do without. Stupid device, I'm a 5-6 hour sleeper.
posted by drewbage1847 at 1:34 PM on December 6, 2022
And... wow... Windopaene... that is an astonishing story. I am glad you survived!
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 3:02 PM on December 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 3:02 PM on December 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
I was a side sleeper all my life but recently, after like five years with The Machine, I find myself sleeping on my back.
I have no explanation, but I am not inclined to ask too many questions when I can get a good night's sleep!
posted by wenestvedt at 7:09 PM on December 6, 2022
I have no explanation, but I am not inclined to ask too many questions when I can get a good night's sleep!
posted by wenestvedt at 7:09 PM on December 6, 2022
Windopaene, oh my, so happy you're still here! I know people who wound up very quickly in bad ways from seemingly minor skin infections. I'm glad you caught it time.
posted by mollweide at 7:37 PM on December 6, 2022
posted by mollweide at 7:37 PM on December 6, 2022
Twitter finally glitched for me today - nothing over 2 hours old displays in either my timeline or my lists. I'm surprised it took this long for me to see any actual failures...I'm not counting terrible posts from terrible people, I've avoided those all along by using the "Lists" feature.
(I'm not participating on Twitter anymore, but there's still a few people I follow who haven't moved elsewhere yet)
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:10 PM on December 7, 2022
(I'm not participating on Twitter anymore, but there's still a few people I follow who haven't moved elsewhere yet)
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:10 PM on December 7, 2022
On a good news note, my castmate tested negative today. ("Four days too late," the stage manager snarked.)
My work has been annoying me because UPS is refusing to deliver packages here indefinitely and I said on the day I found this out, a month ago, can we move our mailing address? No, no, no, no, they told me. Why? Because OPTIMISM! "They MIGHT deliver!" I was told, repeatedly. They would only move the mailing address individually after a package was gone. It took one month and three lost, stolen, and returned packages (and paying to have the address moved...and then the package was lost) to convince them to change the mailing address and that Optimism! is not working or having our packages delivered. I'm pretty sure at this point UPS is just fucking with us, especially with the package delivered to a locked building after 5 p.m. on Saturday, and immediately returning the last package across the country.
I note two more packages are supposed to be coming here next week and I asked if we could get those changed. No word, of course, so I guess we'll have two more packages lost. Perhaps they'll be delivered to an alternate dimension, or set on fire, or delivered but first peed on by the UPS guy, who knows?
This is why I could never be a leader: literally nobody listens to me about anything, I could have saved everyone some money and time HAD THEY JUST LISTENED TO ME, but nooooooooooo. God, I miss my old guy boss, because if he said anything to anybody, they listened to him and he'd be Christian to my Cyrano whenever possible. That, alas, does not work in an office full of women.
posted by jenfullmoon at 3:52 PM on December 8, 2022
My work has been annoying me because UPS is refusing to deliver packages here indefinitely and I said on the day I found this out, a month ago, can we move our mailing address? No, no, no, no, they told me. Why? Because OPTIMISM! "They MIGHT deliver!" I was told, repeatedly. They would only move the mailing address individually after a package was gone. It took one month and three lost, stolen, and returned packages (and paying to have the address moved...and then the package was lost) to convince them to change the mailing address and that Optimism! is not working or having our packages delivered. I'm pretty sure at this point UPS is just fucking with us, especially with the package delivered to a locked building after 5 p.m. on Saturday, and immediately returning the last package across the country.
I note two more packages are supposed to be coming here next week and I asked if we could get those changed. No word, of course, so I guess we'll have two more packages lost. Perhaps they'll be delivered to an alternate dimension, or set on fire, or delivered but first peed on by the UPS guy, who knows?
This is why I could never be a leader: literally nobody listens to me about anything, I could have saved everyone some money and time HAD THEY JUST LISTENED TO ME, but nooooooooooo. God, I miss my old guy boss, because if he said anything to anybody, they listened to him and he'd be Christian to my Cyrano whenever possible. That, alas, does not work in an office full of women.
posted by jenfullmoon at 3:52 PM on December 8, 2022
Used to love taking the kids to certain places - notably Calais- and get them all psyched up to get there. Then we roll up to the exit on the autoroute and I point to the big sign and say "Oh non! Il n'y a Pas de Calais - on doit rentrer à la maison!" (Old repurposed Belgian joke). (Works for Morgins also, on the Swiss side...).
posted by biboch at 4:29 AM on January 4, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by biboch at 4:29 AM on January 4, 2023 [1 favorite]
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...wait, I don't especially want a cat...
posted by From Bklyn at 4:21 AM on December 5, 2022 [2 favorites]