I'm looking for music to listen to tonight while I work on some sad writing and wanted recommendations for the most heartbreaking, saddest, depressing albums you know. I've googled and read lists on music websites, but would love your opinion. (I also read a MeFi post on optimistic/pessimistic music.) But I will also be writing coming-through-the-storm stuff, so I'm also looking for recs of albums that are redeeming, like they really make you feel like you've survived or you're a better person for having heard them. I mostly listen to indie rock and classic rock. I like a lot of contemporary classical, but I prefer music with vocals. I am also looking for albums rather than individual songs, preferably. Thank you!
posted to Ask MetaFilter by mermaidcafe at 4:57 PM on June 23, 2013 (70 comments)

25 Things I'm Learning From Closing a Bookstore. (previously)
posted to MetaFilter by telstar at 1:19 PM on June 16, 2013 (138 comments)

Cow tools: Revisiting a Comic Masterpiece
posted to MetaFilter by bq at 9:27 PM on June 13, 2013 (88 comments)

There was no wink and they never sold it out for these half-hour, densely, beautifully produced pieces, which is, for all possibilities, obscuring that this doesn’t at all sound like a comedy show. It is all the production elements you would use in a full-scale news production. All the gravitas, but just inflated to a point that it has no gravitas whatsoever. And I think that is where it became this excitingly subversive thing because it just showed that BBC Radio 4 and everything it stood for was just a big bag of shit.

John Oliver on why he's a fan of On the Hour. On the Hour, of course, is the legendary BBC news radio program created by, among other people, Armando Iannucci (The Thick of It, In The Loop, Veep), Christopher Morris (Jam, Brass Eye, Four Lions, Why Bother?), Stewart Lee (41st best stand-up comic ever), and Steve Coogan (Knowing Me Knowing You With Alan Partridge, I'm Alan Partridge). Short-lived but influential, On the Hour mimicked the tone and production of other radio news shows but replaced the content with what Oliver describes as "unremitting bullshit". On the Hour was aired in two six-episode series (S1E1 S1E2 S1E3 S1E4 S1E5 S1E6; S2E1 S2E2 S2E3 S2E4 S2E5 S2E6), and begat a television series called The Day Today. That show in turn added Graham Linehan (Black Books, Father Ted, The IT Crowd) to On the Hour's already all-star lineup, upped the already-insane levels of overproduction, and ran for six short-but-glorious episodes (one two three four five (WAR!) six), as well as a special 9/11 radio report.
posted to MetaFilter by Rory Marinich at 5:16 AM on June 10, 2013 (62 comments)

Please help me find this retro wedding dress boutique in NYC that caters to plus-sized women. I may have totally made up this place in my head.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by AlisonM at 7:05 PM on June 8, 2013 (3 comments)

While coping with his decision to end a long-term relationship (and being vilified by his family and friends as a result), a friend of mine recently commented that "People only write songs about the guy being dumped. Nobody sings about the other guy." Intuitively, this feels untrue to me, but I'm having a surprisingly tough time coming up with counter-examples. Metafilter: Can you recommend some songs written for/about being the person who initiates the end of a relationship?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by schmod at 9:50 AM on June 3, 2013 (126 comments)

Guest Photographers or: Why You Should Have an Unplugged Wedding

Pro photographer Corey Ann explains, with examples, what causes her so many problems in getting the wedding photographs her clients have paid her for: their guests.

Pushing in front of her, standing in the frame of posed photos, flooding pictures with flash, and above all assuming that their invitation entitles them to take precedence over a photographer who is being expected to get a perfect record of the couple's perfect day.

Her proposal: politely, but firmly, ask your guests to enjoy the highlights of the wedding themselves, and leave taking photographs of those parts to the photographer.
posted to MetaFilter by Major Clanger at 4:33 AM on May 18, 2013 (93 comments)

This one has been driving me nuts for years, and I'm going to turn to the hive mind. When I was a kid, around 10 or 11 (making it around 1992-1993), I got a book that was something akin to the Babysitters' Club books: targeted at young girls, about a group of young girls all doing something together. The first of a potential series, although I don't know if I read any more. I remember very few details of this book other than the fact that it was mentioned that the main character/narrator's mother had had A LOBOTOMY. She had been depressed or had some other mental problem before, so she had a voluntary lobotomy and was now fun and freewheeling and wore cowboy hats in the kitchen. This wasn't an important plot point, just a throwaway character detail. If anyone has any memory or clue to what this book or book series could have been, I'd be thrilled. I'd just like to know that I'm not just making it up, for one thing.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by whitneyarner at 2:23 PM on May 11, 2013 (8 comments)

I aspire to write beautifully -- what is some great writing that uses colorful, creative language and style?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by switcheroo at 10:02 PM on April 29, 2013 (53 comments)

I haven't been to Manchester, UK in like ten years, what's changed and what should I do?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by The Whelk at 12:42 AM on May 29, 2011 (4 comments)

There are commercial films that have a structure unlike anything else in cinema - radically different than even other other films by the same director or producers. Take for example My Dinner With Andre's real-time documentation of a dinner between two men, the way The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is completely sung, but like an operetta and not a musical, Timecode's real-time quadruple-screen, or the way Incubus used Esperanto. What are some other examples of films that have had a truly unique structure or key formal device?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by eschatfische at 8:49 AM on April 14, 2013 (76 comments)

The Sally Draper Poems by Jennica Harper.
posted to MetaFilter by alicat at 12:09 PM on April 3, 2013 (22 comments)

I watched Nina Conti: A Ventriloquist's Story - Her Master's Voice yesterday and it was so amazing I forgot how long it's been since I saw a really good documentary. I've watched everything Herzog has done in the past 6-7, Being Elmo, Carl Sagan's Cosmos, the 7 Up films and Jarvis Cocker's Outsider Art series. What are your favourite documentary films/series? (except nature docs? I can never get into them). I'm happy to watch films from any english-speaking country - but will also give it a go if they're subtitled.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by abbagoochie at 5:36 PM on March 22, 2013 (36 comments)

I've got my nose buried in Bonfire of the Vanities and Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx is Burning. What books should I read next? What are the must-reads from or about this era of New York City?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by johnnybeggs at 9:43 PM on March 15, 2013 (19 comments)

It doesn't have to 100% match the sentiment, but I'd love if it has the same general lesson (and is more concise than the following): "An idea that you keep in your head, incessantly perfecting, is worth nothing. Whereas the person who is willing to actually act on an idea, even if it's imperfect, has accomplished something. So instead of getting hung up on perfection, just DO something and learn from it for the next time." I'm kind of looking for what, say, Diablo Cody would say to her hipster haters who have never finished a screenplay. Or what you'd tell your friend who wants to be a writer but has been tinkering with their novel for the last 200 years. Oh, and I know about "perfect is the enemy of the good."
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Anonymousness at 6:47 PM on March 10, 2013 (52 comments)

There are a lot of questions on here about early dating warning signs, but I'm curious to know what are some early dating positive signs that people have gathered in their relationships for picking out emotionally healthy partners. I'm particularly interested in men who fit this profile. Because I grew up in a dysfunctional family sometimes a good man seems like an elusive creature, and it's hard for me to even visualize how he would appear or come across at the beginning.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by timsneezed at 2:18 PM on March 12, 2013 (56 comments)

Zine-publishing 13-year old girls from 1996, outcast as "Dirty Girls", talk about their experience.
posted to MetaFilter by urbanwhaleshark at 12:19 PM on March 10, 2013 (24 comments)

Can you help me to better distinguish cheery lovebird songs vs. the squawks of ailing canaries in my dating coal mine?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by argonauta at 3:44 PM on January 30, 2013 (85 comments)

Why do publishers slap on "A Novel" to the titles and/or covers of, well, novels?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by CKmtl at 1:41 PM on October 16, 2008 (22 comments)

How do I look like a professional young working woman when my body-type gets in the way? Fat (pear-shaped), with curly crazy hair. I look fine in casual, float-y, "girly" clothes like wrap dresses and tunics, but put me in a suit and I look really frumpy.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Anonymous at 7:18 PM on November 1, 2011 (40 comments)

I live in London. I am going to Toronto on Sunday where, according to the weather forecast, there will be lows of -16C. I have literally never *been* in weather like that before, and do not own, or know where I should purchase, clothing which will deal with it. Special circumstance to note: I am a large person. I'm a woman, but men's XXXL does well by me .
posted to Ask MetaFilter by acalthla at 11:43 AM on February 25, 2013 (37 comments)

"We can't give everything away under the public purse. Books are part of the entertainment industry. Literature has been something elite, but it is not any more. This is not the Roman empire, where we give away free bread and circuses to the masses."

UK children's author Terry Deary (Horrible Histories series) on Britain's public libraries. Neil Gaiman and others respond.
posted to MetaFilter by Rykey at 5:34 PM on February 22, 2013 (103 comments)

Is it a grand gesture to anonymously give a woman I think is beautiful a banjo? At the beginning of this semester, I briefly was in a relationship with a woman who I cared a great deal about. It didn’t end well, and really, it couldn’t have ended well. We have nothing in common. But as it is, I still think she is beautiful, and I’d like to do something truly grand, both to make this world a better (albeit stranger) place, and to give myself some closure.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Anonymous at 2:09 PM on December 12, 2009 (126 comments)

The cockatoos are talking, and they're borrowing our words. Wild cockatoos, native to Australia, have been heard to utter English phrases. Escaped or freed pet birds pass phrases to others as they move up the hierarchy of their flock, as explained in an 8 minute news clip (MP3 linked in the page) featuring an interview with Martyn Robinson at the Australian Museum.
posted to MetaFilter by filthy light thief at 10:21 AM on September 15, 2011 (79 comments)

Help me find non-boring media that wraps you in a warm (or fierce) blanket of compassion or simply leaves you with a sense of gentle warmth, safety, or contentment?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by zeek321 at 9:10 AM on February 15, 2013 (54 comments)

"Who is Adaptive Systems and where did he come from? How did he have an encyclopedic knowledge of everything from molecular biology to European intellectual history? Is it possible he was a famous author or an artificial intelligence? What is he doing now? Is he writing a book?
posted to MetaFilter by Charlemagne In Sweatpants at 7:58 PM on January 26, 2013 (66 comments)

How do I politely and kindly dissuade a dear friend from trying to get me involved in various MLM schemes without offending her or hurting her feelings?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by biscotti at 2:11 PM on November 5, 2007 (22 comments)

I've noticed that a few professions seem to have a semi-common veiled insult specific to their field. These tend to be used in the same way that many southerners say "bless your heart" in lieu of calling someone stupid. For example, certain academics will say that a colleague is a gadfly (like Socrates...in an annoying way), and I've known nurses to say that another nurse "really should have been a doctor" when they think that colleague is full of it. What are some others?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by lemonadeheretic at 1:38 PM on February 4, 2013 (201 comments)

I'm getting married this summer, in a small, casual, non-religious wedding. We're not planning to have a wedding party, and haven't been able to come up with any good ideas for an officiant, so we're probably going to try to do without one of those as well. Have you done something similar? How will the logistics work out here?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by duien at 8:11 AM on January 28, 2013 (42 comments)

What new tools, apps, or environmental changes have you started using in the last few years that have improved your life the most (or at least made it less worse)?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Andrhia at 3:59 PM on January 9, 2013 (25 comments)

What do you with your "stuff" as you try to create an uncluttered living space?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by atayah at 11:53 AM on March 7, 2012 (27 comments)

Seen any good movies or TV lately, or ever? The hard part: must be Bechdel-positive.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Corvid at 3:03 PM on December 8, 2012 (70 comments)

Smash Hits! was a UK music magazine, first published at the end of 1978. It charted the progress of pop styles, including the rise of 2-Tone, and included a number of freebie discs, first as flexi discs, and later on CDs. The magazine faltered in the 1990s, and closed shop in 2006. Since then there have been a few one-off "special editions," first a 2009 tribute to Michael Jackson, and then a Lady Gaga special in 2010. 30 years after the first issue went on sale, a fan posted the first issue online. So far, new scans have been posted fort-nightly, following the original release schedule. 73 issues are online to date, each three decades after they first were sold. (via MetaChat)
posted to MetaFilter by filthy light thief at 7:45 AM on June 14, 2011 (20 comments)

What TV shows consumed your life?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by frizzle at 8:52 PM on December 17, 2012 (139 comments)

Photography: A Guardian Masterclass
posted to MetaFilter by fearfulsymmetry at 8:16 AM on November 17, 2012 (14 comments)

Please recommend funny, charming, gentle movies and TV shows.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by kristi at 9:47 AM on January 24, 2012 (54 comments)

UK Estate Agents - worth taking a stand?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Marzipan at 8:21 PM on November 15, 2012 (9 comments)

What are some items you purchased that have had the net effect of simplifying your life or reducing the clutter in your home?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by 2bucksplus at 3:55 PM on May 16, 2012 (36 comments)

Santana’s Supernatural was 1999’s most surprisingly successful album.
posted to MetaFilter by josher71 at 8:56 AM on November 13, 2012 (733 comments)

You've done the research; what's the best?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by sportbucket at 1:24 PM on November 8, 2012 (46 comments)

How have you gamified your life?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by inbetweener at 9:06 AM on October 14, 2012 (19 comments)

When checking out potential new apartments, what problems do you wish you hadn't overlooked?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by corey flood at 9:38 AM on October 13, 2012 (72 comments)

My self esteem is at an all time low. I have a huge case of impostor syndrome. I feel like I half ass everything, this has got to stop, it's making my life miserable.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Anonymous at 7:24 AM on October 12, 2012 (26 comments)

There is a hole left in my life where the Academic Chic blog used to live. Help me find new inspiration?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Nimmie Amee at 1:44 PM on October 10, 2012 (11 comments)

Many writers are using software to fight what they call Internet Addiction that is interfering with their work. Zadie Smith thanked the programs, Freedom and Self Control, in the acknowledgements of her new novel,NW, which has a character who is addicted to online message boards. Other writers, including Booker short lister Will Self, prefer to use typewriters instead of being tempted by the Web's lures. Scientists have recently linked internet addiction with a nicotine addiction gene, although there is no consensus on whether it is addiction or habituation.
posted to MetaFilter by Isadorady at 8:55 PM on September 7, 2012 (83 comments)

There are things that I genuinely want to do and like doing, but something in me rebels. Help.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by summer sock at 4:07 PM on September 14, 2012 (21 comments)

What small indulgences can I get for myself instead of snacks?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by 168 at 6:38 AM on September 5, 2012 (36 comments)

Looking for recommendations for novels, short stories, or character-heavy nonfiction about life as an American adolescent boy or young man during the first half of the 20th century.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Countess Elena at 9:21 AM on September 1, 2012 (29 comments)

Moving to England! Help us make our UK renting experience go as smoothly as possible.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by harujion at 4:20 AM on August 29, 2012 (16 comments)

A friend and I had a friendly disagreement about whether society as a whole has changed significantly since the 1980s. Can you help me bolster my side?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by suburbanbeatnik at 2:16 PM on July 24, 2012 (71 comments)