Let's put the cards on the table.

November 16, 2012 7:12 PM

Whether we use them as bookmarks or +1s, many/most of us have multiple things marked as favo(u)rite. But let's get real here for a second: if you really had to name one favo(u)rite post and/or one favo(u)rite comment -- right now, that's it, that's all you get -- what would it be?
posted by davidjmcgee to MetaFilter-Related at 7:12 PM (119 comments total)

The Wheel.
posted by benito.strauss at 7:15 PM on November 16, 2012 [8 favorites]

The reverse trick-or-treaters.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 7:21 PM on November 16, 2012 [5 favorites]

You.
posted by shakespeherian at 7:23 PM on November 16, 2012 [4 favorites]

Assuming your favorite should be memorable enough to leap to mind unbidden, my favorite all-time classic post is a very close race between TIME FOR SOME STORIES (for amazing single-link hilarity) and ThruYou (for collaborative web musical genius). I'm sure some other ones would bubble to the top if you could do some kind of Hot-or-Not/Flickchart-esque contest amongst all your favorites*, but those are definitely up there.

Comments? I don't even know where to begin. The commenter likely rhymes with "schmonascope" though.

* please tell me this is a remotely plausible thing
posted by Rhaomi at 7:26 PM on November 16, 2012 [6 favorites]

This post, right now. Because I have the attention span of a methed-up squirrel.
posted by Capt. Renault at 7:27 PM on November 16, 2012 [8 favorites]

Tip of My Tongue, aka the most useful thing eveerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
posted by Mizu at 7:28 PM on November 16, 2012

I've decided to be smart from the very beginning and not choose any.
posted by maudlin at 7:30 PM on November 16, 2012 [2 favorites]

Presumably: The Wheel; Reverse Trick or Treaters; me?
posted by davidjmcgee at 7:38 PM on November 16, 2012 [4 favorites]

The Falco post stands out in my mind for revealing extraordinary depths to a subject that I never would have imagined could be there.
posted by Egg Shen at 7:38 PM on November 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

Sesame Street Fisher Price Little People Do The Right Thing.
posted by box at 7:44 PM on November 16, 2012

Love The Wheel, but I'd have to say Fedora Guy.
posted by supercres at 7:45 PM on November 16, 2012 [4 favorites]

I don't use favorites much at all, but Pastabagel's theory of ownership is way up there for me.

(And, after scanning my favorites, it becomes plain that I am an absolute fucking sucker for Jewish jokes. Apparently my time in Texas among the goyim has made me thirst for my people's self-mockery.)
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 7:48 PM on November 16, 2012 [4 favorites]

Well, fedora guy and his seemingly- happy ending.
posted by supercres at 7:49 PM on November 16, 2012 [3 favorites]

Just to save anybody else the Googlin': Falco; Sesame Street Fisher Price Little People Do The Right Thing

These are all rad.
posted by davidjmcgee at 7:53 PM on November 16, 2012

HE'S A CRUSHED ASIAN COVERED IN CRUSTACEANS
posted by elizardbits at 7:57 PM on November 16, 2012

This one.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 8:01 PM on November 16, 2012

The nice thing about Metafilter that one doesn't have to choose just one post. There's plenty to like.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:03 PM on November 16, 2012 [5 favorites]

There will come soft rains rewritten to explain why people can't queue up multiple AskMe questions. (Sorry, mobiley inhibited from tracking down the link.)
posted by alms at 8:10 PM on November 16, 2012 [2 favorites]

Favorite comment: Meeting Macho Man Randy Savage, which makes me smile. Not laugh, smile, which is a much harder accomplishment.
posted by themanwho at 8:19 PM on November 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

Really, how hard could this be?
posted by sweetkid at 8:20 PM on November 16, 2012 [5 favorites]

I'd link to it, but I'm rather busy disposing of a body at the moment.
posted by arcticseal at 8:21 PM on November 16, 2012 [9 favorites]

There will come soft rains rewritten to explain why people can't queue up multiple AskMe questions. (Sorry, mobiley inhibited from tracking down the link.)

Oh here I got you a present.

(also one of my all-time faves)
posted by lalex at 8:30 PM on November 16, 2012 [3 favorites]

The-a VAGINA, que BELLA!
posted by A dead Quaker at 8:43 PM on November 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

GenjiandProust's story of how a theologically untested, googly-eyed chicken puppet led to him becoming an atheist is my favorite comment ever.
posted by tzikeh at 8:43 PM on November 16, 2012 [4 favorites]

And as for posts, if anyone claims that there has been a better post than Miko's exquisite Alice's Restaurant extravaganza, I will fight you.
posted by tzikeh at 8:46 PM on November 16, 2012

This'n.
posted by phunniemee at 9:11 PM on November 16, 2012

elizardbitsed.

It's just that... ok. I know, we're not a culture of snark. We're not defined by our one-liners. We are deep, we are weighty. But... however... you know. There's a verbing that happens. When a thread goes from good to ow I laughed out a spleen I hope I have another. That particular watershed is...

elizardbitsed.
posted by Slap*Happy at 9:14 PM on November 16, 2012 [3 favorites]

Also, I had to favorite that just now because I had forgot to earlier.
posted by Slap*Happy at 9:15 PM on November 16, 2012

Start with three sentences representing the beginning, middle and end of your story. ... Take each sentence and expand it into three sentences.

I just always liked that particular insight.
posted by cribcage at 9:16 PM on November 16, 2012 [5 favorites]

today that comment would probably be "free bananas in the break room"
posted by nadawi at 9:17 PM on November 16, 2012 [3 favorites]

The bit about the Starlight Lines intranet. But also that Pixar one.
posted by Glinn at 9:17 PM on November 16, 2012 [3 favorites]

The Wheel is probably the most entertaining and creative, but this one is probably the most useful for a very, very specific subset of readers. Thanks, scarabic.
posted by blaneyphoto at 9:25 PM on November 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

Banjo guy
posted by dfriedman at 9:31 PM on November 16, 2012 [5 favorites]

You kinda have to read the article and all the comments before it, but passerby's first me-fi comment in GOOD ONE HONEY! Did not see that coming is the one comment I can remember favouriting. The Comment
posted by panaceanot at 9:35 PM on November 16, 2012 [6 favorites]

Oh man I had totally forgotten about GOOD ONE HONEY! Thank you thank you thank you.
posted by davidjmcgee at 9:50 PM on November 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

Can't think of a favourite post, it changes from day-to-day, but scarabic's will always and forever be my favourite comment.

Ya see, I stumbled on some way-cool website I'd never even heard of, browsed around a bit, forked out $5 to join, browsed around a bit more, and the mention of a comment by scarabic kept on popping up. So I searched it out. And as I read it, my eyes got bigger and bigger, and I kept thinking, "damn, this is amazing!".

And here I still am. (And I bet Reddit doesn't have a comment that would make my eyes grow bigger and bigger in amazement. In disgust or disbelief, maybe, but not amazement.)
posted by malibustacey9999 at 10:03 PM on November 16, 2012

Disclaimer: I have never actually used scarabic's advice. Yet.
posted by malibustacey9999 at 10:05 PM on November 16, 2012

DU on hipsters

loquacious on marijuana and living on a grow-farm

(╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻ because i love when mefi goes bananas over something ridiculous
posted by ninjew at 10:20 PM on November 16, 2012 [3 favorites]

here, but read the short thread first.
posted by Brian B. at 10:57 PM on November 16, 2012 [2 favorites]

Dirty talk and, even though I don't really believe in it, what's on men's minds. Both crack me up every single time.
posted by naoko at 11:00 PM on November 16, 2012 [4 favorites]

Geese are fucking assholes is the comment I use when people ask me to prove MetaFilter's worth to them. Other comments are more epic, more labored-upon, maybe more life-changing, but this is the kind of hilarious yarn that only a very smart, very talented person could write.

My local Greg Nog fan club (there are about five of us) were actually talking about him earlier today (oh God why is this true) and we discussed whether I whip my hair back and forth could top it, but that has the problem of having too good a punchline: it's so good that you invariably forget all the wonderful things that came before it.
posted by Rory Marinich at 11:10 PM on November 16, 2012 [5 favorites]

Hole-ass.
posted by dizziest at 11:11 PM on November 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

All your words are my bitches.
posted by Burhanistan at 11:14 PM on November 16, 2012

I just forwarded the Alice's Restaurant post to some friends & family, because hey, Thanksgiving! Plus best post ever.
posted by wallabear at 11:16 PM on November 16, 2012

passerby's first me-fi comment in GOOD ONE HONEY! Did not see that coming

This is my favorite of the things from this thread I hadn't seen before. I'm not sure whether that last sentence parses but I keep trying to type but then I just think "warn of the rotors and feed as you must" and start laughing hysterically again
posted by junco at 11:24 PM on November 16, 2012

finding your passion
posted by John Cohen at 11:39 PM on November 16, 2012 [2 favorites]

Oh man I came in to mention the geese one, too; I didn't think I'd be too late. The last line is so brilliant.
posted by neuromodulator at 11:41 PM on November 16, 2012

there is no wisdom in the pepper
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 11:55 PM on November 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

quonsar's spectacular drop down image of flagging a post as Rothko. Image sadly no longer available.
posted by juiceCake at 12:10 AM on November 17, 2012

Where the heck is that Greg Nog comment about dressing dogs up in clothes? That one.
posted by koeselitz at 12:17 AM on November 17, 2012 [2 favorites]

Aww I thought the geese comment you guys were referring to was this one, so I guess I'll put that one forward, if only because it's the one time I remember successfully nominating something for the sidebar. (Also it's fucking hilarious).
posted by mannequito at 12:52 AM on November 17, 2012

Where the heck is that Greg Nog comment about dressing dogs up in clothes?

HERE.
posted by davidjmcgee at 1:12 AM on November 17, 2012 [4 favorites]

This one, for easy access to all the awesome. *greedyhands*
posted by zennish at 1:26 AM on November 17, 2012

Sleep is where Ralph is a Viking
posted by Room 641-A at 1:43 AM on November 17, 2012 [5 favorites]

first favourite, best favourite
posted by the.carol.baxter.experience at 2:05 AM on November 17, 2012

My favorite is the comment where garius proves no one queues like the Brits.
posted by RichardP at 2:33 AM on November 17, 2012 [7 favorites]

I have a problem with this question.
posted by unliteral at 3:13 AM on November 17, 2012

Is there a way to sort things I have favorited by the number of times other people have favorited them? Good stories would float to the top.
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 3:53 AM on November 17, 2012 [1 favorite]

Robots ain't shit, and many other Nattie comments.
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 4:13 AM on November 17, 2012 [1 favorite]

places to look for an errant cat
posted by lwb at 5:09 AM on November 17, 2012 [2 favorites]

You're asking me to choose among the children, aren't you?

"You'll Put Your Eye Out" remains a treasure trove of stories of childhood danger.

And the best overlooked comments threads (for 2009, 2010, 2011) are packed with links to great stuff.

GenjiandProust's mitten chicken puppet continues to speak to me.
posted by MonkeyToes at 5:50 AM on November 17, 2012 [2 favorites]

Pastabagel's boring men comment, no question.
posted by Melismata at 6:40 AM on November 17, 2012

codacorolla's absolutely brilliant description of the limitations poverty puts on a person and how public libraries fill a gap that is almost unimaginable to the "wired" is a freakin' treasure. Everyone should read this and policy makers should have to read it every day. Jesus.
posted by GenjiandProust at 6:52 AM on November 17, 2012 [8 favorites]

I'm in the lucky position that I can sidebar the things that I really like, but I like listening to grumblebee explain things including passion, education and how to not be an asshole.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 6:55 AM on November 17, 2012 [5 favorites]

Oh dear. This. I still think of it, fondly. I remember staying up that night.
posted by infini at 6:56 AM on November 17, 2012

Also I quote that codacorolla comment All The Time.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 6:56 AM on November 17, 2012 [1 favorite]

Also, although this makes me look like a shameless log-roller, I read MonkeyToes' description of life with turkeys when I need a quick cheer up.

And, yes, I realize that that is two favorite comments, and I have defied the spirit of the thread, but here I stand. I can do no other. God help me, as Martin Luther, theologian, reformer, and constipation sufferer, once said.
posted by GenjiandProust at 6:57 AM on November 17, 2012 [1 favorite]

The Wheel.
posted by flabdablet at 7:07 AM on November 17, 2012

once said.

Or is alleged to have said. Or is said to have been alleged to have said (but in German or maybe Latin) but probably didn't. All of which seems appropriate to MetaFilter.
posted by GenjiandProust at 7:08 AM on November 17, 2012 [1 favorite]

I don't think anyone mentioned Bongo yet (there's also an interesting follow-up).
posted by rjs at 7:11 AM on November 17, 2012 [2 favorites]

anything with miguel?
posted by clavdivs at 7:20 AM on November 17, 2012

Whenever I need a quick laugh, I go back to the Famous Poems as Limericks thread.
posted by Daily Alice at 7:24 AM on November 17, 2012 [2 favorites]

Last time someone asked this, it was the piglet rant. Right now, it's the piglet rant tied with The Ballad of Shelby and Ricky the Roomba.
posted by FelliniBlank at 8:38 AM on November 17, 2012 [1 favorite]

Sleep is where I'm a Viking. (An Actual literal Viking with a horned helmet and everything.)
posted by capnsue at 8:49 AM on November 17, 2012 [1 favorite]

There are many comments that I have found insightful and hilarious and thought-provoking, but if I had to narrow it down to a single comment that within its context remains amazingly moving, it would be "I have them". I wasn't even part of that thread as it was happening, and that moment still makes me realize I have something in my eye.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 9:01 AM on November 17, 2012 [2 favorites]

One of my favorites is certainly another Greg Nog comment (but of course) on what it really means to order a 32 oz milkshake.
posted by grouse at 10:16 AM on November 17, 2012

After lurking for years, one of my quiet pleasures on joining Metafilter was finally being able to actually favourite a Greg Nog comment, or an elizardbits comment, or a sonascope comment.

That being said, the Ask Culture vs. Guess Culture comment is the one I feel I've gotten the most use out of, and is my favourite in how it made me feel like I understand the world a little better because of it.
posted by gadge emeritus at 10:29 AM on November 17, 2012 [2 favorites]

Pastabagel's theory of possessions actually caused me to disencumber myself of almost everything I own, except the things that can't be replaced and things I need.
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 10:41 AM on November 17, 2012 [1 favorite]

I have always loved Greg Nog's comment about the old man in your mind in the "How to not be stupid" thread.
posted by routergirl at 11:14 AM on November 17, 2012 [1 favorite]

My favorite post/thread is still y2karl's Yeats one.

(My other favorite, alas, is long gone; I lamented its passing back in 2004. After all this time, I don't suppose anyone has a copy of Bondcliff's brilliantly poker-faced Get Your War On thread that exasperated so many people?)
posted by languagehat at 11:15 AM on November 17, 2012

Didn't someone have a theory of mistakes, starting from a low-level "it makes no difference" and expanding to "causes a change in the fundamental make up of the universe?"
posted by Falconetti at 11:35 AM on November 17, 2012 [1 favorite]

So I just reviewed my favorites archive, and the thing that surprised me was how many there were with only my one favorite.

I know I'm eccentric but I didn't realize I may actually be egregious.
posted by Bruce H. at 11:47 AM on November 17, 2012 [4 favorites]

It is by Greg Nog and it is this one.

(That also is the thread in which I was right about the clam although I don't like to go on about it.)
posted by Jofus at 12:05 PM on November 17, 2012

I've mentioned Iridic's New Yorker story a few times before, but I will link to it again; I think it may well be my all-time favorite comment on mefi.

It is so good that I will occasionally say sentences from it out loud, to myself, like they're lines of a song. It is so good that I have laughed until I cried at it. It is so good that I frequently shout the first line of its penultimate paragraph at my cats. It is so good that I wish I were the fiction editor of the New Yorker JUST so I could ACTUALLY publish it in the magazine.
posted by Greg Nog at 12:55 PM on November 17, 2012 [3 favorites]

I do this thing where I favourite, unfavourite and then re-favourite a comment so that God knows I meant 'THIS IS DOUBLE GOOD'. I just did that to Iridic's comment.
posted by Jofus at 1:19 PM on November 17, 2012

I have no especial favorite that wouldn't repeat someone else's answer, but that poems-as-limericks thread is wonderful. I wrote one just now for "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" out of sheer enthusiasm.
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 2:51 PM on November 17, 2012 [1 favorite]

So I just spent some time rereading TIME FOR SOME STORIES, and I was curious about that guy and whether he ever wrote anything else online. Just in case anyone else was interested - some googling brought up this: True things the assistant has said.
posted by routergirl at 4:29 PM on November 17, 2012 [1 favorite]

A whole lot of posts from flapjax, especially this one.
posted by francesca too at 5:23 PM on November 17, 2012

I am having no luck searching for it, but my favorite post/comment combo was an AskMe question a woman posted about a dilemma she and her husband were having, and he showed up in the thread to say "I am RIGHT HERE. Can we maybe discuss this before posting to MetaFilter?”
posted by ocherdraco at 7:45 PM on November 17, 2012 [1 favorite]

I think that was a different thread about someone needing a ride from someone and I thought it was a gay couple, but maybe I am misremembering it too?
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 7:51 PM on November 17, 2012

Well, whatever it was, someone better find it....
posted by tzikeh at 7:51 PM on November 17, 2012

Different thread, I think, Jessamyn.
posted by ocherdraco at 7:59 PM on November 17, 2012

was it the one where the wife was like "where can i get some dry ice asap?" and the husband came in at the end of the thread and was like YOU CAN JUST CALL ME AT WORK NEXT TIME HONEY
posted by elizardbits at 8:24 PM on November 17, 2012 [1 favorite]

Found it.
posted by ocherdraco at 8:26 PM on November 17, 2012 [1 favorite]

Not a big thing, but the comment with which unSane finished this thread was deeply satisfying. It also shows a, dunno, literate-maturity around MetaFilter that no-one else added further comments, or attempted to riff off the one unSane made.
posted by Wordshore at 8:27 PM on November 17, 2012 [3 favorites]

Outside
posted by crossoverman at 8:52 PM on November 17, 2012 [1 favorite]

Didn't someone have a theory of mistakes, starting from a low-level "it makes no difference" and expanding to "causes a change in the fundamental make up of the universe?"

FishBike Scale of Big Mistakes
posted by davidjmcgee at 9:02 PM on November 17, 2012 [3 favorites]

"Being special is like being beautiful. If you have a field of flowers and they're ALL beautiful, it doesn't reduce to bland monotony -- instead it makes the experience of standing there all the more breathtaking.

Everyone IS special. It's nothing to lord over anyone else because we all have it..."

By Overeducated_alligator
posted by HMSSM at 9:59 PM on November 17, 2012 [1 favorite]

Speaking of people showing up, I still remember when the boyfriend being criticized showed up in the thread and offered to meet someone for a fight in the diet coke aisle of Shaw's supermarket at 8:30 AM.
posted by salvia at 11:55 PM on November 17, 2012 [2 favorites]

I think this one about shame and pride from endless_forms is a good candidate. I needed to have paid more attention to it.
posted by tel3path at 3:41 AM on November 18, 2012

This question about what it's like to have ADD/ADHD is one that I found both very moving and very informative.
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 6:37 AM on November 18, 2012 [2 favorites]

Uh, hard-core taters, anyone?

Seriously, that thing had me howling with laughter. It's a bit sad that the explanation was so mundane but I still find the umbrage that we would get distracted by the word "taters" to be amusing in itself.

There is way too much good stuff everyday and some of my favorite threads have been where people try to connect over painful topics and really lay themselves out there. It speaks to the truth of the human condition which is that we are all basically good with some awkward bits stuck on.
posted by amanda at 7:47 AM on November 18, 2012 [2 favorites]

That darn Greg Nog again... HUMAN FEMALE IS IN HER ROOM WITH LEAKING EYES. WHAT FLOWER MUST MORBO KILL AND BRING TO HER IN ORDER TO MAKE HUMAN FEMALE EYES STOP LEAKING.

And something like half of everything elizardbits says.
posted by Zed at 9:56 AM on November 18, 2012 [4 favorites]

My personal favorite is probably Pastabagel's "What's on men's minds", linked above.

But the Metafilter comment that I point non-MeFites to the most often, though, is TheophileEscargot's explanation of one common variety of homophobe.
posted by AsYouKnow Bob at 11:12 AM on November 18, 2012 [1 favorite]

I thought I was pretty sure of my answer and then I found mie's Ode to a Buttered Cat in my favorites list. I might need to change my answer.
posted by HMSSM at 11:14 AM on November 18, 2012 [1 favorite]

http://metatalk.metafilter.com/16040/Taste-the-rainbow

I think that was the first thing I ever read on Metafilter. I was having a very difficult time modding somewhere else and somebody pointed me at that as an example of a community trolling a troll in an innocent way.
posted by Mr. Yuck at 12:17 PM on November 18, 2012

Uh. This one, now, apparently.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 12:19 PM on November 18, 2012

Not to forget: Soap. Lots of soap.
posted by arcticseal at 1:06 PM on November 18, 2012 [3 favorites]

5) You smell so bad that when you walk near the ocean, you can hear bagpipes because the clams think one of their policemen has died.
posted by coppermoss at 5:40 PM on November 18, 2012 [1 favorite]

I've mentioned to non-mefites Ask/Guess and the "best introduction to your field for lay people" Ask thread.

But since it hasn't been mentioned yet, one comment that comes to mind disproportionately often is thanatopsis' story about meeting Gary Gygax.
posted by Jpfed at 7:04 PM on November 18, 2012 [2 favorites]

A classic.

Also I dug through my favorites to find something to post and now I miss Optimus Chyme. :(
posted by flatluigi at 9:45 PM on November 18, 2012

Finding that FishBike Scale of Big Mistakes comment reminded me of P.o.B's immediate followup to this comment, which nearly one year on still makes me laugh whenever I think of it.
posted by davidjmcgee at 11:41 PM on November 18, 2012

This comment by bpm140 helped me turn my life around at a critical time. I cried about two hours when I first read it. I used to keep it unread on my RSS reader as a constant reminder, but now I have it as my homepage so I read it every day.
posted by omegar at 5:57 AM on November 19, 2012 [1 favorite]

Churl's passionate account on what favorites are for.
posted by mahershalal at 6:57 AM on November 19, 2012

We have cameras.
posted by rocketman at 10:19 AM on November 19, 2012 [1 favorite]

Well, you're not getting one from me. You're getting three.

Of the comments:

hermitosis's explanation of the Book of Job is one I dearly love.

Pastabagel's comment about Mister Rogers as the last earnest man.

dancestoblue's description of her sister with paranoid schizophrenia has stayed with me

Of the posts:

What's that? (and the thread that followed)

I usually love the posts that teach me something I didn't know before. Who_Am-I's post The Urge To End It All caused me to completely reconsider what I thought I knew about suicide.

This last one is a three way tie: I have probably quoted both the articles and the comment thread from jonp72's Homeowners! You Have Nothing to Lose But Your Mortgages!, shetterly's How I Lost My Health Insurance at the Hair Stylist's and desjardin's You Have To Be Rich to be Poor more than any other threads I've favorited.


Addendum: My autistic older brother, who has a mild obsession with TV station logos, bumpers, and sign on/off rituals, love love LOVED We Now Conclude Our Broadcast Day by dhammond. Thank you, dhammond, for making him so happy!
posted by magstheaxe at 12:32 PM on November 19, 2012 [6 favorites]

There are so many good ones I see every day. The quality bar, and average, is high on MetaFilter.

This comment about typewriters, from just a few minutes ago, made me smile a lot. The human angle.
posted by Wordshore at 4:55 AM on November 20, 2012

Optimus Chyme on MeFi moderation
posted by xbonesgt at 11:46 AM on November 20, 2012 [1 favorite]

I'm positive I can't actually answer this question, but I'll take any opportunity to call out capslock-engaged Sticherbeast
posted by churl at 5:02 PM on November 24, 2012