Hugs, High-Fives, and Happiness

April 25, 2013 11:28 AM

Welcome, mini-[username]! Congrats, MeFi's own [username] for [thing] that further enriched us by having you here! Oh, look, our own [username] did [MeFi-related thing] in [non-MeFi venue]! Guess what - [real name/othernic] is Mefi's Own [username]!

You work hard. You post. You comment. You tend your favourites garden with love and diligence. You participate where and when you can, making a connection here, a contact there. But, somehow, surely unintentionally, one or more of those big things that happened in your life and have been proven to be interesting to these hardy souls on the grey didn't make it into a post.

Let's rectify that unfortunate oversight! Chime in with your MeTa-worthy life event or achievement to get your well-deserved hugs and high-fives while we all enjoy some happiness together.

posted by batmonkey to MetaFilter-Related at 11:28 AM (393 comments total)

It's been more than four decades and I'm not dead yet?
posted by Karmakaze at 11:33 AM on April 25, 2013 [6 favorites]

I did not yell at the idiot who certainly deserved it.

Today, anyway.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:35 AM on April 25, 2013 [15 favorites]

I didn't get yelled at by Brandon Blatcher today.
posted by griphus at 11:36 AM on April 25, 2013 [58 favorites]

Here's a weird one for you: today, just this morning, I took my first ride in a private jet. It was not the glamorous experience that the bare description might lead you to believe.

To mitigate against the general awesomeness of that benchmark: I was travelling with three other coworkers. At our destination, I had one meeting to participate in, that ended at 9:30 this morning. The others are in meetings all day today. I attempted to work at the site we were visiting, but while I could get on their wireless network, it wouldn't allow me to VPN back to my employer's network. I've now walked across the street to a Starbucks, where I've become one of those people who sponges off their WiFi connection all day. I feel guilty about it, so I keep buying mochas.

The good news is, I can VPN here, so I'm actually working. At around 3:30 I'll walk back to office to share the ride back to the airport.
posted by Ipsifendus at 11:41 AM on April 25, 2013 [2 favorites]

I got "Meets expectations" in my employment review yesterday! Apparently working nights and weekends from August to December was expected. Glad to have met their requirements.
posted by octothorpe at 11:42 AM on April 25, 2013 [31 favorites]

                          
posted by y2karl at 11:42 AM on April 25, 2013 [1 favorite]

I ate a guinea pig.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 11:43 AM on April 25, 2013 [2 favorites]

Oh, and while this is obviously secondary to my grand accomplishment above: Blisterlips and I got engaged earlier this month.
posted by griphus at 11:43 AM on April 25, 2013 [99 favorites]

I leave for a year of studying monkeys in the rain forest of Cote d'Ivoire in exactly 7 weeks!
posted by ChuraChura at 11:44 AM on April 25, 2013 [23 favorites]

I got to promote a valued team member yesterday. That always makes me feel good.

Congratulations griphus and Blisterlips!
posted by arcticseal at 11:44 AM on April 25, 2013 [3 favorites]

Aww, I was hoping this would be the long awaited Meta sequel to 9622.
posted by ceribus peribus at 11:44 AM on April 25, 2013 [2 favorites]

Oh, and on a separate occasion I had Alpaca Cordon Bleu. That was some good shit right there.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 11:45 AM on April 25, 2013

I made decaf by accident today because I am staying in an unfamiliar AirBnB place and I not only survived but managed to stay alive for five hours before overpowering headaches indicated that I might have a problem. Also I had a really nice time hanging with a MeFite in a pilot bar last night and am looking forward to another meetup on Friday. I politely told the racist lady next to me on the plane that she sounded a little racist (not in those exact words) and gave a keynote talk in Topeka that was well received by everyone except a few haters.

Congrats to people who were promoted, engaged, flying high, not dying, traveling or engaging in caviaphagy.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 11:46 AM on April 25, 2013 [24 favorites]

Also, after months of negotiation, finally got the thumbs up from the spouse for us to do that thing we saw at the circus.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:46 AM on April 25, 2013 [5 favorites]

Hey, cool griphus and Blisterlips!
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 11:47 AM on April 25, 2013

I managed to score my second academic research postdoc thing so I get to stay employed for a few more years. As someone with a biomedicine type PhD in Europe right now this is actually pretty huge, more so given I'm a foreigner (and is why I'm also putting up with four months unemployment before the new job starts).
posted by shelleycat at 11:49 AM on April 25, 2013 [14 favorites]

Didn't know the meaning of that word, so I Googled it. Google didn't know either, but had suggestions. The first was interesting.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:50 AM on April 25, 2013

Of course four months unemployment also = on holiday for the entire summer. The best part is I'm not legally allowed to work so no guilt.
posted by shelleycat at 11:53 AM on April 25, 2013 [2 favorites]

Eating caviomorphs. Like guinea pigs. Or capybaras, but you'd have to be really hungry.
posted by ChuraChura at 11:54 AM on April 25, 2013

Oh yeah, two days ago I released what I like to believe is a pretty good logic game for the iPad.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 11:54 AM on April 25, 2013 [6 favorites]

Acted as a minister this week and preached the funeral for two stillborn twins. I am thankful to the MetaFilter community for their support in such a difficult time and especially to Pater Aletheias for guidance in choosing an appropriate theme for the funeral. Y'all will never know how much your friendship means to me in times like that.
posted by ColdChef at 11:56 AM on April 25, 2013 [43 favorites]

1) Secured 5 more years of NIH funding (with a cut for the sequestration, but whatever). Woo!
2) I also rescued a very very cute dog. She is a good dog, yes she is. My little schmookieface!

Also, congrats to all!
posted by Sophie1 at 11:58 AM on April 25, 2013 [12 favorites]

I received my first batch of meat chickens. They all arrived alive (yay!) and are running like mad around the brooder. Then they stop, flop, and sleep. SO CUTE.
posted by MonkeyToes at 12:00 PM on April 25, 2013 [1 favorite]

I have already yelled about this in chat and mentioned it on an AskMe but I got into grad school on a full ride hoooooraaaaaay!
posted by WidgetAlley at 12:01 PM on April 25, 2013 [27 favorites]

Or capybaras, but you'd have to be really hungry.

Capybaras actually look pretty tasty. Probably better than guinea pigs which are not unlike pheasant in the thousands of small bones with tiny scraps of meat department.

Still one of the great regrets of my life is losing the pictures. They were so cute splayed out on the grill with their little charred feet sticking up in the air.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 12:04 PM on April 25, 2013 [2 favorites]

I got offered a new job literally today. Goodbye 'Assistant,' hello 'Associate'!
posted by showbiz_liz at 12:05 PM on April 25, 2013 [34 favorites]

I got a rock.
posted by Slap*Happy at 12:05 PM on April 25, 2013 [14 favorites]

Still one of the great regrets of my life is losing the pictures. They were so cute splayed out on the grill with their little charred feet sticking up in the air.

This brings back thousands of childhood nightmares all based on the fact that my dad, when angry at the family dog, would tell her in great detail how he was going to grill her.

Most of me didn't believe him, but in some small dark corner of my mind... and now of course I can't wait to do it to my nieces and nephews!
posted by WidgetAlley at 12:07 PM on April 25, 2013

Acted as a minister this week and preached the funeral for two stillborn twins. I am thankful to the MetaFilter community for their support in such a difficult time and especially to Pater Aletheias for guidance in choosing an appropriate theme for the funeral. Y'all will never know how much your friendship means to me in times like that.

Oh, ColdChef, you're the best. What are burned out ex-pastors for if we can't poke our heads into other people's funerals?
posted by Pater Aletheias at 12:08 PM on April 25, 2013 [16 favorites]

Well.. Today a very big retailer asked my company for a price quote for one of my inventions as they want to begin immediately purchasing it, and I was also flattered to learn that another competing (and much larger) company is trying to steal another of my ideas.

But more importantly, my wife is getting better from strep, and although I'm strangely sad for no reason, I haven't hurt anyone's feelings (yet) today that I'm aware of.
posted by Debaser626 at 12:08 PM on April 25, 2013 [4 favorites]

My penis still works, and I have my hair.
posted by It is better for you not to know. at 12:10 PM on April 25, 2013 [2 favorites]

Brandon Blatcher looked like he was gonna yell at me, but then he sighed and said,"just try a little harder out there, OK?"

Also i just listed my house.
posted by boo_radley at 12:12 PM on April 25, 2013 [1 favorite]

I think this would have worked a lot better if you'd asked us if we know of MeFites that have done awesome things. None of us are going to admit to being awesome. Now we're all just going to post self-deprecatory jokes.

(And, of course, I just made a critical 'you're doing it wrong' comment to a MeTa post, another MeFi tradition.)

But ... nominations anybody?
posted by nangar at 12:12 PM on April 25, 2013

Thanks to all you MeFites (and especially ~3,000+ of you who took my MetaFilter surveys), I will have a PhD in linguistics this year. My dissertation is about MetaFilter, and I can't even express enough how much you all have been a part of my life one way or another these last several years. You helped me get into grad school, you helped me move to another country, you helped me adjust to a new life with a lot of changes, you dated me, you comforted me when things didn't work out, you kept me connected to my home country and all the things I've been missing there, you gave me endless amusement, links and insight on things that are super important to me, like Mad Men and mashups and the cutest animal videos on YouTube...I could go on and on and on and I will for as long as there's internet and I have some.

I've been plugging away at understanding some fairly complex statistics for, oh, about a year now. Many of you have helped me with that. Just yesterday I got stuck in a spectacularly silly way and a MeFite came to my rescue. And incidentally, today I've been holed up in my tiny apartment doing stats for about six hours straight. For the very first time, it's all finally come together. I have results! I understand them! I will write this thing! There is light and hope and links and sleep in my future!

I decided to take a break after my big accomplishment. I came here first. This thread is wonderful and I love you all so damn much.
posted by iamkimiam at 12:12 PM on April 25, 2013 [82 favorites]

Can any of you help me find a job?
posted by iamkimiam at 12:16 PM on April 25, 2013 [9 favorites]

"Rituals are the glue that holds social groups together".

Also, a piece of mine was published, for the first time. No, I'm not linking it - I wrote it anonymously. Also, I'm a terrible, terrible writer. So far.
posted by the man of twists and turns at 12:17 PM on April 25, 2013 [5 favorites]

In fourth grade track I got a trophy for "most improved boy."

On a train home from NYC on Saturday I briefly thought I was a hero for identifying a backpack someone had left behind but I was wrong. Luckily I had only seen something, but didn't yet get around to saying something.

I've seen a few blimps in my day, I tell ya wut. Like, a couple dozen of them. Or maybe it was just the same blimp at different times. I dunno. Still though, blimps.

On my most recent self-review, the one area that I claimed I was lacking in my manager disagreed and said I actually excelled in that area. 2%, baby!

In another month I get to go to a Red Sox game and watch as my wife sings the Star Spangled Banner and Oh, Canada. Not by herself though.

I am constantly thinking of great ideas. I suck at execution though.

I am very proud of the way I don't constantly accuse people at work of being idiots even though they are. Not all of them, just some of them.

I am about to ask people on Metafilter if they know anyone in the Boston area who is giving away kittens. I'll take two.

I just asked Metafilter if they knew anyone in the Boston area who was giving away kittens. I might not be able to take them until August, however.

Almost every time I get one of those AskMe follow up emails I immediately go and update the thread and/or mark it resolved if it has been resolved. THE SYSTEM WORKS!

I'm a pretty great uncle and a pretty awesome dad. Not really lacking in the husband area, too. I could probably be a better son if I had better parents. But hey, I'm ok at being a mefite, I think. So there's that.

I like this thread but I feel I don't have too much going on my life right now that would be Metafilter-worthy. That won't stop me from commenting.
posted by bondcliff at 12:20 PM on April 25, 2013 [2 favorites]

I just let someone I don't like have the last cookie. This means I get to stick to my usual regimen of casual cruelty to one and all for at least one full year.
posted by elizardbits at 12:20 PM on April 25, 2013 [3 favorites]

Well, now I feel like an underachiever for forgetting my laptop and then dumping my coffee grounds into my mug instead of into the filter.
posted by specialagentwebb at 12:21 PM on April 25, 2013

I also have not stabbed any stabworthy coworkers with a fork or indeed any other stabby implement since 2010.
posted by elizardbits at 12:21 PM on April 25, 2013 [8 favorites]

What a sweet idea.

Let's see...I go on a trip to Rome in 3 weeks (my first time ever!), I'm actually gearing up to start a blog, and I am less than a year away from being completely debt free.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:22 PM on April 25, 2013 [4 favorites]

I've stayed off the blue for quite a while now in a brazen attempt to keep the job that I ...still have!
posted by obscurator at 12:23 PM on April 25, 2013 [2 favorites]

Thanks for this post. Sometimes I do need to remind myself that I'm awesome.

I hold a scientific Ph.D. from an Ivy League university.
I have been successful in three well-paying careers (network/systems administration, human factors engineering, and robot design.)
Did I mention I design robots? Robots. For helping stroke patients.
I am a licensed pilot. I own an aircraft. To be fair, it's more of a go-kart with a parachute, but still.
An 18 year longitudinal study, though not without some major setbacks, strongly suggests that women find me attractive.
Cats like me.
posted by dmd at 12:23 PM on April 25, 2013 [8 favorites]

I have not been officially determined to be responsible for any major disasters. Yet.
posted by Justinian at 12:26 PM on April 25, 2013 [1 favorite]

Tonight, I'm going to go see Best of Both Worlds, Part I and II, at the movie theater.

So, I guess I don't really deserve accolades yet... But, come tomorrow morning, I'll be someone who paid $12.50 to see 20 year old episodes of Star Trek on a movie screen.
posted by meese at 12:27 PM on April 25, 2013 [4 favorites]

Awww. Congratualtions everyone!


My MiL and her best friend are staying with us this week. I love my MiL like she was my own mother, and I'm grateful for that kind of relationship, which I hear is pretty rare.

Her BFF is also amazing. We are going to have such a great time this week!
posted by blurker at 12:27 PM on April 25, 2013

I had a poem accepted for publication. I'm sort-of psyched. My life's been so consumed with my kids' stuff lately, it's really good to get some validation that I am still an interesting individual in my own right and have a life beyond "mom stuff."

Also I ordered a new couch. I think it's probably way too green. But at least I'll be getting rid of this 24-year-old hand-me-down that I've been sitting on for 12 years. So yay!
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 12:28 PM on April 25, 2013 [14 favorites]

Oh yeah! Another thing - I think it's okay to talk about this now...anyone out there remember this outdoors show on ESPN in the late 90's called Walker's Cay Chronicles? I did occasional ghostwriting for the show for a couple years (when our regular writer was so far past deadline that we were afraid to ask him to rewrite weak spots, they asked me to do it instead), and I also wrote an ad for the host's memoir. So if you were a sportfishing fan in the late 90's you may have heard something I wrote.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:29 PM on April 25, 2013 [1 favorite]

This winter I crocheted a Marvin the Martian hat for my son.
posted by Mchelly at 12:29 PM on April 25, 2013 [10 favorites]

I haven't done anything of value in months but appreciate this post as a neat antidote to the OMG ELIZARDBITS IS BACK exclamations in like every single thread which is getting old and making people think they are chopped liver over here no offense elizardbits
posted by sweetkid at 12:30 PM on April 25, 2013 [10 favorites]

In the last 36 hours I have been asked to present at two national conferences and one state conference. One of the conferences is extremely important in my field, and my funder asked me to co-present the plenary there. My project I work on is getting to be well known nationally, and we just landed a school to work with that has 149K students (biggest district in the state.) The project has influenced US governmental agencies to change their approaches towards the work I do. I feel like I've been kicking ass professionally.
posted by Stewriffic at 12:32 PM on April 25, 2013 [10 favorites]

I paid off my student loan a few weeks ago! (before I turned 40... phew).
posted by gaspode at 12:34 PM on April 25, 2013 [13 favorites]

I finally found the free passes to the zoo that I promised to Mamapotomus a few months ago.
posted by MexicanYenta at 12:37 PM on April 25, 2013 [2 favorites]

Dear Metafilter, today I was a good little brick in the wall and kept my shit more or less together [holds up hands for well-deserved high-fives]
posted by prize bull octorok at 12:37 PM on April 25, 2013 [11 favorites]

I haven't done anything amazing lately and I kind of could just use a hug.
posted by gauche at 12:37 PM on April 25, 2013 [65 favorites]

I paid off my student loan a few weeks ago! (before I turned 40... phew).

SO. JEALOUS. I am on track to pay mine off when I'm 60.
posted by amro at 12:37 PM on April 25, 2013

Gave two people the right directions. In London, where I don't live, and am nearly always lost.
posted by still_wears_a_hat at 12:38 PM on April 25, 2013 [2 favorites]

I HAD A BABY GIRL AND HER NAME IS JUNE AND SHE'S PROBABLY THE CUTEST BABY THAT EVER LIVED.
posted by saladin at 12:38 PM on April 25, 2013 [60 favorites]

*hugs* for gauche.
posted by gaspode at 12:39 PM on April 25, 2013 [2 favorites]

I tuned my guitar down a whole step, and played and sang the first song I ever learned note for note.

I did it windows open, loud and proud, not caring how much I sucked and if any neighbor has a problem I will fuck them in the ear till they bleed out their nose.

For about two minutes there, I was thirteen again.
posted by timsteil at 12:39 PM on April 25, 2013 [5 favorites]

She's pretty damn cute. I don't usually think babies are!
posted by Stewriffic at 12:39 PM on April 25, 2013

I have managed to not get fired from my full time job, and I did a department restructure that involved me working two positions for the fall, and still managed to make the Dean's List at school. I have also earned 39 credits towards my degree in the last 8 months while working full time, and only have a year left now. I sometimes forget that this deserves a lot of credit.

Also, I'd like to say thank you to all the Bay Area mefites who have kept me fed while Mr. Amee was unexpectedly out of town on business for the better part of a month, and another thank you to all the amazing twitter mefites who check in to make sure I'm okay.

My cats ate breakfast and I made it to work! That alone is cause for celebration.
posted by Nimmie Amee at 12:39 PM on April 25, 2013 [9 favorites]

I HAD A BABY GIRL AND HER NAME IS JUNE AND SHE'S PROBABLY THE CUTEST BABY THAT EVER LIVED.

OMG THOSE EYELASHES AND EYES AND SMILE
posted by sweetkid at 12:40 PM on April 25, 2013 [2 favorites]

THE CUTEST BABY THAT EVER LIVED.

Was prepared to scoff at this but nope, you are right. Wow.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 12:40 PM on April 25, 2013 [15 favorites]

octothorpe: "I got "Meets expectations" in my employment review yesterday! Apparently working nights and weekends from August to December was expected. Glad to have met their requirements."

OMG - my job pulled the same thing on me. "You closed twice as many tickets as the next most productive member of your team. That's exactly what we expected you to do so we rated you 'meets expectations'."
posted by Karmakaze at 12:40 PM on April 25, 2013 [5 favorites]

Heh. This *is* a cute baby.
posted by iamkimiam at 12:41 PM on April 25, 2013

I didn't get laid off!
posted by tommasz at 12:41 PM on April 25, 2013 [3 favorites]

Sold my house! For a tiny profit, but still - profit!
posted by unixrat at 12:41 PM on April 25, 2013 [6 favorites]

I am about to ask people on Metafilter if they know anyone in the Boston area who is giving away kittens. I'll take two.

Animal Rescue League of Boston. Seriously. Go there.
posted by mykescipark at 12:42 PM on April 25, 2013 [2 favorites]

Last night, my almost three year old on grabbed his testicles and exclaimed "My Wrecking Balls!"
posted by robocop is bleeding at 12:42 PM on April 25, 2013 [36 favorites]

I'm almost done with a post-bacc, which I'm financing by working at a job I really hate, so I can go to graduate school and learn something useful and helpful. And I'm happy about that.

And I just passed one year of practicing yoga 5 days a week.

I built my cat a sweet moat around his food bowl so the ants wouldn't get in his food. I used a really old stone that was once used to pave an early street in NE Portland.

Hey, Eyebrows McGee, I actually thought about you the other day when they were talking about how bad the flooding had been in Illinois on NPR. I hope you and everyone else in the Middle West is staying safe and dry.
posted by Lutoslawski at 12:45 PM on April 25, 2013 [4 favorites]

I did not kill the secretary who I don't like and whose boss quit but who is still here and is totally trying to create a job by poaching one of the guys I work for and is trash-talking my skills to the other secretaries in the process and who is currently still hanging around the office as a swing temp or something and who just asked me where my boss was even though he's been telling everyone for the past week that he was traveling today
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:46 PM on April 25, 2013 [4 favorites]

I'm going to run out of favorites for everyone's awesome stuff!
posted by sweetkid at 12:46 PM on April 25, 2013 [1 favorite]

My momma always said, "Life was like a box of chocolate laxatives." Funny woman, my momma.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 12:47 PM on April 25, 2013

Limiting it to today: I ran a meeting that I thought might be a disaster, but was pretty okay in the end. Before leaving the office, I started an item that's been looming on my to-do list for months. I gave up partway through, but that was more out of hunger than anything else. Later this evening I will make meatballs and cookies.
posted by knile at 12:47 PM on April 25, 2013 [1 favorite]

I am glad to hear of all the positives because I am thwarted on all sides. The not-for-profit I volunteer for was so close to buying a historic building and rehabbing it as an arts center in a very marginal neighborhood. At the last minute a developer outbid us and plans to tear it down. The building doesn't have any special status so we may very well be SOL.

I am hoping for a miracle. We are working hard to get something going, but right now it feels like some bad cliche.
posted by readery at 12:48 PM on April 25, 2013 [1 favorite]

wow, saladin your baby is definitely one of the cutest babies I have ever seen!
posted by inertia at 12:48 PM on April 25, 2013

Last night, my almost three year old on grabbed his testicles and exclaimed "My Wrecking Balls!

It never ends.
posted by bondcliff at 12:48 PM on April 25, 2013 [3 favorites]

I successfully killed one of my sites. One down, one to go.

I successfully sent a Contact form on MetaFilter. (But that is actually pb's accomplishment cuz he fixed the technical problem. Congrats pb!)
posted by Michele in California at 12:48 PM on April 25, 2013 [1 favorite]

Damn.
That is one cute baby.

Hugs, gauche. And one more for good measure.
I've had a lot of good things happen lately, but I'm modest.

My 89 year old mom got all "SKWEEE!!" last weekend when we let slip that we were getting married after 10+ years of non-connubial bliss.
I thought she'd be like "Meh," because she's seen me do this once before. But NO!! She thinks we're perfect for each other!

Oh, and tomorrow? We're on vacation! Yay!
posted by Floydd at 12:50 PM on April 25, 2013 [4 favorites]

I'm about 70% unpacked after moving 10 days ago. My chest pains of anxiety stopped about four days ago. I'll feel really accomplished if I can get my old house listed before they start up again.

Congratulations to those with new babies, new jobs, new outfits, new engagements, and new perspectives! Hugs to those who need them. Polite handshakes to those who hate hugs.
posted by houseofdanie at 12:51 PM on April 25, 2013 [2 favorites]

I am in no way a baby person, but -- holy shit, I think you may be right! Congrats!
posted by blurker at 12:52 PM on April 25, 2013

In the past 16 months, I managed to lose 65 pounds.

I've also managed to get work done despite the delicious, delicious temptations of metafilter.
posted by inertia at 12:52 PM on April 25, 2013 [29 favorites]

that's awesome inertia!
posted by sweetkid at 12:53 PM on April 25, 2013

Yeah, about that baby. I was all set to be like "my kid was way cuter as a baby" but HOLY SHIT YOUR BABY IS CUTE.
posted by bondcliff at 12:54 PM on April 25, 2013 [1 favorite]

I helped a friend with an application and she made it to the interview round, which is awesome.

yay for babies, engagements, and accomplishments!
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 12:54 PM on April 25, 2013 [2 favorites]

Babies: the delicious, delicious temptations of metafilter
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 12:55 PM on April 25, 2013 [1 favorite]

I'm about 70% unpacked after moving 10 days ago.

I'm about 70% unpacked after moving 10 years ago!
posted by Flunkie at 12:55 PM on April 25, 2013 [12 favorites]

Oh, come on, MoonOrb!
posted by batmonkey at 12:57 PM on April 25, 2013

Got over my fear of asking for things, requested a transfer at work, and am moving to NYC in June!
posted by rhythm and booze at 12:58 PM on April 25, 2013 [8 favorites]

MoonOrb, I am so boring I really had to think of something I had done that was even a teeny bit awesome.

So...make with the bragging!
posted by inertia at 12:59 PM on April 25, 2013

and am moving to NYC in June!

Let me stave off your inevitable AskMe by saying START LOOKING FOR AN APARTMENT ASAP.
posted by elizardbits at 12:59 PM on April 25, 2013 [5 favorites]

I wasn't feeling well so I took a sick day and hung out with this guy, and I think it was just what the doctor ordered. We're currently watching Sesame Street: Classic and it's all stuff I remember from when I was a kid!
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 1:01 PM on April 25, 2013 [8 favorites]

This is a really shitty time for me on multiple fronts yet I am managing to get out of bed every morning. (Want hug plz)
posted by Wordwoman at 1:01 PM on April 25, 2013 [63 favorites]

I'm going to Pakistan in a month! Are there any Mefites here in Pakistan?

Here's a picture of my cat.
posted by troika at 1:01 PM on April 25, 2013 [8 favorites]

Looks like the cat is going, too!
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 1:02 PM on April 25, 2013

I have been cited as an authoritative source of facts in Senate correspondence to an executive agency.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 1:03 PM on April 25, 2013 [6 favorites]

(calls for Group Hug for Wordwoman. And gauche. And anyone I missed who said "can I has hug plz?")
posted by Michele in California at 1:04 PM on April 25, 2013 [3 favorites]

*hugs Wordwoman*
posted by blurker at 1:04 PM on April 25, 2013

I was filmed along with a bunch of other gals for a music video. A hiphop video.

No lie.

(Should be ready in about a month. I'll letcha know.)
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 1:04 PM on April 25, 2013 [8 favorites]

*hugs gauche*
posted by blurker at 1:04 PM on April 25, 2013 [1 favorite]

You have a lot of spouses. I suggest you go to the gym first.
posted by adamvasco at 1:05 PM on April 25, 2013 [1 favorite]

I made my first sale (a SF short story), to an anthology that's coming out this august, and I don't know if I still believe it.
posted by dhruva at 1:05 PM on April 25, 2013 [12 favorites]

lookit the kitty! kitty kitty kitty
posted by elizardbits at 1:05 PM on April 25, 2013 [2 favorites]

I was filmed along with a bunch of other gals for a music video. A hiphop video.

This I gotta see.
posted by ColdChef at 1:06 PM on April 25, 2013 [2 favorites]

Oh, and here's a hug. For all of us, I have plenty.
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 1:07 PM on April 25, 2013 [3 favorites]

We printed 160,000 shirts last week. And I am learning how to use my camera. My band now has 12 hours worth of music on our website. And another 4 waiting for me to update the thing. My incredible daughter is finishing up her 3rd year of engineering school, and going to work at Lockheed, across the bay from NASA, this summer.
posted by Devils Rancher at 1:08 PM on April 25, 2013 [3 favorites]

My daughter was awarded a full-tuition scholarship to her top choice of (pricey, private) colleges.
posted by MrMoonPie at 1:09 PM on April 25, 2013 [38 favorites]

Mod note: Comment deleted; wrong place?
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 1:10 PM on April 25, 2013 [2 favorites]

I pooped!
posted by briank at 1:11 PM on April 25, 2013 [5 favorites]

MrMoonPie, that's just about the best thing that could happen to a kid or a parent. Good for you guys!
posted by houseofdanie at 1:11 PM on April 25, 2013

*High-fives MrMoonPie, his daughter, and their bank accounts*
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 1:11 PM on April 25, 2013

I have been cited as an authoritative source of facts in Senate correspondence to an executive agency.

posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 1:03 PM on April 25 [+] [!]


Please, oh please, let it have been by name.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 1:11 PM on April 25, 2013 [1 favorite]

what is hi phop?
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 1:13 PM on April 25, 2013

Sadly no. Just a sentence saying "hey, here's the situation we're concerned about," with a footnote linking to a story I wrote.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 1:15 PM on April 25, 2013

I delayed making a dismissive and acrimonious response to a bafflingly inappropriate comment, and when I hit refresh, the nonsensical shit that I was getting ready to step in had disappeared! I kept my soles clean!
posted by Ice Cream Socialist at 1:15 PM on April 25, 2013 [1 favorite]

2) I also rescued a very very cute dog. She is a good dog, yes she is. My little schmookieface!

Pics or it didn't happen!!

A few weeks ago, I went to the annual Sewing Expo. The Vogue booth had navy blue 100% silk fabric on sale for $10 a yard. I bought four yards, one shirt for me, one shirt for my sister.

That's $10 a yard, people.
posted by Melismata at 1:16 PM on April 25, 2013 [6 favorites]

...Okay, I kinda want a hug too.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:17 PM on April 25, 2013 [7 favorites]

I'm three favorites away from 25,000!
posted by desjardins at 1:18 PM on April 25, 2013 [15 favorites]

Not anymore.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 1:18 PM on April 25, 2013

I ran a 40-minute discussion during a meeting today without looking stupid or peeing myself in fear. A little over a year ago I knew nothing about this type of work and today I was the expert in what I do.

And DAMN that is an adorable baby, saladin!
posted by kimberussell at 1:21 PM on April 25, 2013 [7 favorites]

I'm about to do it, and I'll be right back to post about it if it goes well.
posted by davejay at 1:23 PM on April 25, 2013 [1 favorite]

Oh, also, I took this picture of my dog.
posted by inertia at 1:23 PM on April 25, 2013 [3 favorites]

That's a handsome dog right there!
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 1:24 PM on April 25, 2013

/moves to hug everybody, misses, careens into bookcase and knocks it over, setting off a five-minute-long falling-dominos cascade of large furniture that eventually results in the cat flying over the house and landing in the neighbor's chimney.
posted by Celsius1414 at 1:25 PM on April 25, 2013 [3 favorites]

I finally got the ball really rolling on applying for programming jobs in other cities, and got my personal website up. I reaallllly want a new gig in a warmer place.

But what I'm actually most happy about is that yesterday I saw a little baby squirrel just sort of hanging out on the road that obviously hadn't taken the second semester Intro to Squirreling -- Basic Wall Scaling and Bad Thing Avoidance Techniques class and so was just kind of hanging out on the road because it couldn't climb the brick wall right there, and I shepherded it over to a break in the wall that led to a happy trees and grass zone. To anyone walking by it probably looked like I was just trying to terrify a helpless little squirrel because a few times it just sort of froze up and starting making that puking noise at me, so I started talking to it and saying things like "come on buddy, you only need to go a few feet that way! work with me here!" which then probably just made it look like I was trying to terrify a helpless little squirrel while incongruously offering it comforting platitudes in a soothing voice, but I know the truth.
posted by invitapriore at 1:25 PM on April 25, 2013 [18 favorites]

I am acting and directing in a (student) sketch comedy show tomorrow which is my first ever attempt at anything like that! And two of my actors are metafilter posters (unless they drop out due to the dumbness of my sketches). Thanks metafilter for being so full of funny people.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 1:26 PM on April 25, 2013 [3 favorites]

I had a solo with the Seattle Symphony (a little one, from my place in the choir, not a big one where I stand up front and wear a fancy dress), and even though it was really hard and the conductor was really a stickler for exactly what he wanted, I freaking NAILED IT. Even the second performance, when we had a chorister pass out* and someone had to push by me to get medical attention right before I launched into it. Afterwards, I got a lot of acclaim from the other singers in the group, and my conductor told me that when my kids are in school and I have time to work on it, I could possibly be a going concern as a professional soloist.


*She was fine; she was 30 weeks pregnant, her dress was too tight, and she sat down before she lost consciousness. I didn't know what was going on, just that there was a kerfuffle, so I decided to just keep singing until someone told me not to.
posted by KathrynT at 1:28 PM on April 25, 2013 [26 favorites]

I've racked up 39 butt elephants (and counting!) from this thread.
posted by slogger at 1:28 PM on April 25, 2013 [1 favorite]

I happened to be reading this thread at just the right time to see this.
posted by audi alteram partem at 1:29 PM on April 25, 2013 [3 favorites]

I would have understood about the squirrel. High five!!!

(I do the same kind of thing with worms writhing in agony and death throes on a hot sidewalk, two or three inches from the safety of lush grass and weeds.)
posted by Michele in California at 1:31 PM on April 25, 2013 [1 favorite]

I've been learning German for three years, and lately I've been feeling like I'm not getting any better at it: I still get muddled by stupid things like numbers and dates and the books I want to read are still out of reach. But I went to a Tai Chi class for the first time today. It was led by a German guy, so the class was completely in German, and I only turned the wrong way once! Because I momentarily forgot the German words for "left" and "right," but still. I understood everything else well enough to follow along easily! That felt like a real marker of progress.
posted by colfax at 1:31 PM on April 25, 2013 [7 favorites]

I have survived 6 weeks speaking a foreign language at work everyday and moving far from my friends for (at times unremembered) career reasons! Thanks motdiem for the mini meetup when I'd just arrived!
posted by ellieBOA at 1:32 PM on April 25, 2013 [5 favorites]

I do the same thing with snails, it makes me so sad when people step on them...
posted by inertia at 1:33 PM on April 25, 2013

OH the squirrel reminds me! and on Monday, on the way back from the gym, I literally Made Way For Ducklings. There was a mama duck with 8 fuzzy peepers, and I stopped in the road and let them all cross. The best part was when they all popped one by one onto the opposing curb like tiddlywinks. The second best part was when the van full of dudebros behind me all clapped and cheered when the last one made it across.
posted by KathrynT at 1:34 PM on April 25, 2013 [22 favorites]

I attended the weekly staff meeting and didn't murder anyone for the 70th consecutive week.

I also just remembered I have bourbon in my bottom desk drawer, so the day is looking up.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 1:35 PM on April 25, 2013 [3 favorites]

I have entered my first art contest. I am rapt with anticipation.
posted by hellojed at 1:37 PM on April 25, 2013 [1 favorite]

Bulgaroktonos: If you aren't opening the latter to not celebrate the former, I think you are missing out. But this is coming from somebody who would never need to "remember" where the bourbon was, so I may not be the best adviser in this matter.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 1:38 PM on April 25, 2013

Oh don't worry, MCMikeNamara, I'm drinkin'.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 1:39 PM on April 25, 2013 [1 favorite]

On that note my most recent achievement is resolving to acquire a dedicated work desk bourbon bottle.
posted by invitapriore at 1:43 PM on April 25, 2013 [5 favorites]

In the 5 years since I have struck out on my own as a freelancer, I have more than tripled my income compared to what I was making as a wage slave.
posted by drlith at 1:45 PM on April 25, 2013 [7 favorites]

I can now play a bossanova on a drum set.
posted by Quonab at 1:47 PM on April 25, 2013 [2 favorites]

I gave all the hugs. Miraculously, I have more for you folks. Here's the secret: every time you give a hug, be sure you take two hugs-worth back, and you and your huggee each come out one hug ahead of the game. It's one o' them ontological paradox thingies.

(((hug)))

AHAHAHAHA, NOW I HAVE TWICE AS MANY!

Oh hell, what will I do with all these hugs? I'll give them back!

((((((hug))))))

((((((((((((hug))))))))))))

I did not think this through.
posted by Elsa at 1:52 PM on April 25, 2013 [8 favorites]

I just asked Metafilter if they knew anyone in the Boston area who was giving away kittens. I might not be able to take them until August, however.

The good news is it's not yet kitten season, so August might be a better time anyway. I can put in a good word for Gifford Cat Shelter in Brighton, where we adopted our recent achievement. Say hi, Recent Achievement!

(Hopefully my next achievement will be to make it through the next two weeks without having to post a catrelationshipfilter question.)
posted by Metroid Baby at 1:59 PM on April 25, 2013 [2 favorites]

Wait, I could have gotten married by Greg Nog? I don't regret marrying my wife when I did...but still.

Also, obviously congratulations to Griphus and best wishes to Blisterlips.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 2:00 PM on April 25, 2013 [1 favorite]

Pics or it didn't happen!

I've added her as my profile photo.

She is so powerfully cute!
posted by Sophie1 at 2:01 PM on April 25, 2013 [4 favorites]

Man, I coulda used this thread so much earlier. And even still, I reckon.

Today and yesterday, I have successfully kept from yelling at people senior to me who tell me to do stuff and are then surprised that I don't know how to do things I haven't been trained in. And don't even have logins for. Success!
posted by rtha at 2:03 PM on April 25, 2013 [1 favorite]

I don't have uterine cancer. Phew! In fact, the gyno decided not even to bother with the endometrial biopsy I was going to have this afternoon (and dreading hard) because the sonogram clearly showed that I just have being 50 years old and fibroids. So that was awesome.

I have a job interview on Sunday. Keep your fingers crossed! I need need need to make more than $225 a week, I really really do.

Also, I am getting along well with both my kids at the moment, which is lovely. Most awesome of all, my 21 year old son, who some of you know went through a very long dark time over the last three to four years, is holding down a full time - more than full time - job and busting his ass and being mostly a really decent person to be around: the person I always hoped and believed and thought he could be. I think he might make it after all and maybe we have finally done with this horrible long time of terrifying midnight phone calls and cops and craziness and drama and uncertainty and loss and pain. I want to cry giddy tears of relief; I am almost ready to start letting myself think that things could just possibly get better.
posted by mygothlaundry at 2:05 PM on April 25, 2013 [59 favorites]

Oh yeah, two days ago I released what I like to believe is a pretty good logic game for the iPad.

AH HAH!!! GOTCHA!!!!

Tell Me No Lies, my wife has been playing the old desktop version of your game pretty much daily for years now. Every once in a while she asks me to hide it on my computer so she can get some work done, but that never lasts more than a week or two.

I remembered it was written by a mefite but did not remember which one, and couldn't find it in my history, and always had a vague hope that someday I'd remember or track down the original link so I could say thanks. Thanks. I feel like we owe you way more than the $2.99 I'm about to spend on the iPad version.

Hey, everybody, go spend money on TMNL's game.
posted by ook at 2:06 PM on April 25, 2013 [1 favorite]

I am getting a Master's in Trying to Buy a House. Those HGTV house porn shows do not tell the truth about what a crazy roller coaster ride of emotions this process can be. It does not help that I am looking in a market that is bouncing back with a vengeance but still has low inventory. Plus, there is Math. Lots of Math. I get stupid when confronted with math. But I am proud of myself for doing the math (and checking it twice and three times) and the all homework and the footwork that will allow me to make this huge purchase and feel good about it.
posted by agatha_magatha at 2:07 PM on April 25, 2013 [4 favorites]

Reading about all of your amazing achievements really drives home how little I've managed to accomplish lately. Especially those of you who haven't stabbed your coworkers.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 2:08 PM on April 25, 2013 [4 favorites]

Also, obviously congratulations to Griphus and best wishes to Blisterlips.

Huh. Well, that's right out of Mad Men.
posted by sweetkid at 2:10 PM on April 25, 2013 [4 favorites]

I helped determine the raises for my entire department. I am MAD WITH POWER.
posted by medusa at 2:12 PM on April 25, 2013 [2 favorites]

My boss described me as "The best screen printer west of the Mississippi" the other day.

WHO'S THAT SOB EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI? HE'S GOING DOWN!
posted by Devils Rancher at 2:14 PM on April 25, 2013 [10 favorites]

I am rapt with anticipation.

Is that what you kids call throwing up with the nerves?
posted by Devils Rancher at 2:16 PM on April 25, 2013

I ... thought I might get fired but instead I got a raise? Also: new puppy! And today I got a tea leaf salad from that restaurant I like.
posted by the littlest brussels sprout at 2:17 PM on April 25, 2013 [12 favorites]

I got my new custom frontend for my MAME cabinet working well enough to play games through it. Hopefully I will avoid playing old video games long enough to finish the rest of it.
posted by burnmp3s at 2:20 PM on April 25, 2013

Is that what you kids call throwing up with the nerves?

"Throwing up with the nerves" is what I call my anxiety disorder. But I am approaching old-ish, so I'm not quite hip to the lingo these days. (For example, I use the word "hip.")
posted by the littlest brussels sprout at 2:21 PM on April 25, 2013 [1 favorite]

Not half an hour ago, I, with biscotti's generous help, REPAIRED A GAS DRYER FOR THE SECOND TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Blood lost: NONE!
Explosions: ZERO!
Burns: ZERO!
Stench of gas in the garage: NONE AT ALL!

The first time I swapped out the thermal fuse and thermostat, but the solenoid coils were also bad so we just changed those. Moral of the story: take big ol' dog beds that had poop in them to the laundromat after you wash them.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 2:26 PM on April 25, 2013 [7 favorites]

You lost me at solenoid coils.
posted by the littlest brussels sprout at 2:27 PM on April 25, 2013

I just don't understand people who can say things like "i got a new puppy" and then fail to post photos

pretty sure this is a felony
posted by elizardbits at 2:30 PM on April 25, 2013 [8 favorites]

what is hi phop?

I don't want Phop, goddamnit, I'm a Dapper Dan man.
posted by the littlest brussels sprout at 2:31 PM on April 25, 2013 [5 favorites]

It's been a big couple of months for me!

I took the Texas bar exam for the third time in February. And maybe celebrations are premature, since the results don't come out until next week. But still, just deciding to take it again was kind of a major thing. It took me about two years to get the nerve up to try again after missing it the first time by less than 1%, and the second time by a slightly wider margin. The stakes are pretty low, since I never plan to practice, but it's a self-esteem thing, right? Anyway, that's my horse, and I got back on it. So yay me. (Now everyone rub your talisman/fetish/whatever really zealously for about a week because I would like this particular Groundhog Day to be over. Mmkay?)

And then the week after I took the bar exam, my boyfriend and I went on a pilgrimage to The Mothership (San Francisco) and we saw beloved Mefites at brunch at a place called Starbelly, and then we took a drive down the coast to visit a friend who has a little horse farm in Half Moon Bay, and continued down the coast to a beach near Santa Cruz where I pulled out a ring and asked him if he'd marry me and he said yes! So now we're engaged!

Then I performed Rachmaninoff's All Night Vigil and Mozart's Davidde Penitente with one of the groups that I sing with, but I punked out of doing Bruckner's Mass in f minor because I just need to relax a bit before we do Mahler's 2nd Symphony next month. Anyway, I got my music on and it was good.

Then katemonster and I finished the first draft of the screenplay we've been working on (it's a spy thriller) and sent it out to our first round of readers. I don't know if that sounds as interesting as it feels, but it is kind of surreal to have actually "completed" a creative project like that and not have, you know, abandoned it on the drawing board due to whatever bullshit low-self-esteem things usually torpedo creative projects.

In summation: yay.
posted by jph at 2:32 PM on April 25, 2013 [25 favorites]

I only have one more day of class to go before I can say that I survived teaching an especially unpleasant semester. And, more importantly, I am currently caught up on grading for the first time since January. And the final exams are already written. I am basically Professor Super Hero.
posted by hydropsyche at 2:35 PM on April 25, 2013 [9 favorites]

I didn't die nor was I diagnosed with, yet another, autoimmune disease when my kidney function tanked!

Am I doing this right

I don't think I'm doing this right.
posted by deborah at 2:39 PM on April 25, 2013 [15 favorites]

New puppy

New puppy and old puppy
posted by the littlest brussels sprout at 2:42 PM on April 25, 2013 [3 favorites]

Sarah
posted by Elmore at 2:48 PM on April 25, 2013 [10 favorites]

That puppy is very pink and not at all hairy, I think you went to the wrong store.
posted by elizardbits at 2:53 PM on April 25, 2013 [12 favorites]

Dear AskMe: My puppy is bald and noisy and keeps trying to latch onto my bosom. Can I eat it? What should I do?
posted by the littlest brussels sprout at 2:57 PM on April 25, 2013 [8 favorites]

Tell Me No Lies, my wife has been playing the old desktop version of your game pretty much daily for years now. Every once in a while she asks me to hide it on my computer so she can get some work done, but that never lasts more than a week or two.

There is no better praise for a puzzle game. I'm glad to hear it's had legs too.

The reason you had trouble finding the link is that I put it under projects. For anyone interested that's the free Macintosh version, which I'm told by a very reliable source still works with the latest revision of MacOS.

Hey, everybody, go spend money on TMNL's game.

(crosses fingers, prays to various deities that testing cycle was thorough enough)

And ook, you and your wife have officially made my day. Thanks.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 2:58 PM on April 25, 2013 [3 favorites]

I've managed to keep breathing for more than five decades. That's about the best achievement I can come up with at the moment.
posted by dg at 3:00 PM on April 25, 2013 [2 favorites]

Blood lost: NONE!
Explosions: ZERO!
Burns: ZERO!
Stench of gas in the garage: NONE AT ALL!

You and I have different, nay, diametrically opposed criteria for success in projects.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 3:00 PM on April 25, 2013 [1 favorite]

Damn, I am sad now because I am old now and my babies are grown and I will never have a baby as cute as Saladin's baby.

Although my baby baby is about to graduate from college and that is a good thing, and you people have helped me raise her for the last four years. And my big baby is grown and a delight in my life and married to a lovely lovely woman and they will give me lovely beautiful grand grandbabies someday someday.

They are going to have to procreate awfully hard though to have a baby as cute as Saladin's baby, because damn, that is a cute baby.
posted by SLC Mom at 3:00 PM on April 25, 2013 [1 favorite]

I cut the cats claws all by myself and no blood was shed.
posted by sciencegeek at 3:04 PM on April 25, 2013 [3 favorites]

Those HGTV house porn shows do not tell the truth about what a crazy roller coaster ride of emotions this process can be.

Yeah, when friends ask me for advice about buying their first house, the primary thing I tell them is that it will get really personal really fast. I'm sure there is someone out there who can treat purchasing their main residence as a simple business deal, I just haven't met them yet.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 3:04 PM on April 25, 2013 [1 favorite]

Yesterday I received a $25 gift card for Sephora from my new-ish boss in honor of Administrative Professionals Day. This is only big news simply because I transferred to my current division in my non-profit agency only a few months or so ago, even though I had unofficially been doing work for them for some time. I was initially nervous about starting the new job, but it's been a very good fit. I like my boss and everyone else there, they all like me, I like the work, and I end each day feeling like I kicked ass and took names. It's a really, really good fit, much better than what I was doing before.

Also, I did get a small raise a couple of months ago at said workplace.

Also also, I've been trying to exercise more and eat healthier, and this time it's sticking. I look forward now to exercise classes, even though they are during the week and so I can't attend meetups as often as I used to. I'm going to cardio kickboxing tonight, and I plan to make an awesome salad for tomorrow's lunch with tiny shrimp, shitake mushrooms, and gorgonzola!

And blanket congratulations to the people getting married and having babies and everything else! And I love the cute animals!
posted by bookwibble at 3:05 PM on April 25, 2013 [5 favorites]

I got 4% on a university German exam where I answered every question with "ich weiss nicht," because I knew I was going to fail anyway. 4%! That's, like, infinitely higher than 0%, which is what I was expecting.
posted by The Card Cheat at 3:06 PM on April 25, 2013 [4 favorites]

Ich liebe Dich?

(Brought to you by "German for Lawyers," 2008-2009. Ich bin eine rechtsanwältin!)
posted by the littlest brussels sprout at 3:14 PM on April 25, 2013 [1 favorite]

This is just like reading my college alumni magazine.
posted by scratch at 3:32 PM on April 25, 2013 [3 favorites]

The real estate market in Mass is crazy and crazy-making...but my offer was accepted! It appears I am going to buy a house!
It has a small yard, and I have big plans to get a dog. No pics because it is still a theoretical dog.
posted by maryrussell at 3:36 PM on April 25, 2013 [6 favorites]

I got a new job! I am super excited to move to lovely, warm Houston.

If you have any apartment recommendations, I'm all ears.
posted by librarylis at 4:06 PM on April 25, 2013 [3 favorites]

I found my courage and started calling people, including my boss, out for rape jokes in my male-dominated workplace.

Mostly they're "you totally got raped in that game last night!" and I stare and smile like Death and say, "Perhaps you could choose another word?" or "Do you really think that's appropriate here?" on the spot, rather than letting it sit. Mostly they look at the floor and say they're sorry and make a point to rephrase the sentence in front of me. Sometimes they later make jokes to each other about people who can't take jokes. Thankfully, I don't have to work here for too long.
posted by DisreputableDog at 4:08 PM on April 25, 2013 [42 favorites]

Ich liebe dich nicht.
Du liebst mich nicht.

Da. Da. Da.
posted by Bruce H. at 4:08 PM on April 25, 2013 [4 favorites]

I found out that I (along with my former Dean, who's the first authour) am getting published in a real, life, law journal! Just a case comment, about a federal court case that's under appeal by the government. But still! We're talking about how the court got it right by declaring that non-status Indians are Indians for the purposes of the constitutional division of powers, and how the history of the government's relationship with Indians shows that it's always been concerned with economic issues and tax "cheats" more than anything else.

Now I just need to get a job..
posted by Lemurrhea at 4:20 PM on April 25, 2013 [5 favorites]

Meh.
posted by ApathyGirl at 4:29 PM on April 25, 2013 [6 favorites]

I've been an occasional blogger for Canada.Com (owned by the same people who do National Post but with a much more sympathetic editorial board as far as I can tell) for a few months. It's unpaid and not always my best work, but it's been educational working an editor and it sort of keeps alive the feeble delusion that I'll be a professional writer one day.

Also, I've started working on a web app idea that is way over my head and am also learning Python in my spare time, and every small breakthrough on those two fronts feels like a much bigger accomplishment than it probably actually is. (I applied to the summer session of Hackerschool but they said no which is okay because I'm just gonna re-apply and be even more annoying next time, huzzah.)
posted by Phire at 4:48 PM on April 25, 2013 [3 favorites]

I won't go into the boring background details, but let's just say that I pay $85/month to be able to park my car 1/2-mile from my house. There is no unmetered or overnight street parking in my neighborhood, so that's basically my only option. While I truly appreciate the extra exercise, it's not so great if you need to buy a vacuum or wake up and realize you're out of coffee.

A few months ago I talked to the city parking manager and proposed that the city make an exception and designate the city parking structures as permit parking for any apartments in my neighborhood without on-site parking, either at the yearly permit parking price or at a greatly reduced monthly cost. Since this would affect exactly one apartment building I explained that the cost to the city would be almost nothing, but the impact on the residents would be enormous. I knew it was a long shot, and I haven't really thought about since.

This afternoon I received a notice that the city has adopted a resolution -- a resolution! -- that residents of this building would be allowed to buy monthly parking passes at discounted rates starting May 1st.
posted by Room 641-A at 4:50 PM on April 25, 2013 [32 favorites]

a long time ago i went to a costume party in s f - i was dressed as newspaper man and one of the authors of the principia discordia was dressed as a giant slug - he crawled around on the ground and i rode him like a cowboy for a bit

fnord
posted by pyramid termite at 4:51 PM on April 25, 2013 [2 favorites]

I got tenure at my college! :D Associate prof as of August.
posted by bizzyb at 4:54 PM on April 25, 2013 [41 favorites]

I've downloaded and burned to CD nearly all of the Avant-Garde Project. That's this spring's major accomplishment!
posted by octobersurprise at 5:00 PM on April 25, 2013

I implemented a new feature for Firefox, and the fine folks at Mozilla finally accepted my patch! They even added it to the release notes, it's the second on the list. With luck, it'll hit final release in June.

Hugs to everyone for being awesome!
posted by vasi at 5:09 PM on April 25, 2013 [8 favorites]

Yeah, well, one of my dogs just farted, and I apprrrrrsssnnnnnkkkkrrrrrrrrgggphhhhttttttttt.....
posted by the littlest brussels sprout at 5:22 PM on April 25, 2013

Ich habe keine Verwandten in Muncie Indiana!
posted by Pudhoho at 5:23 PM on April 25, 2013

I got and filmed my first small speaking role on a national TV show. It airs week after next.
posted by Joey Michaels at 5:28 PM on April 25, 2013 [8 favorites]

I farted.
posted by jonmc at 5:36 PM on April 25, 2013

My father died unexpectedly just over a month ago, and everything has been very hard, in no small part because he hadn't updated his will (had been meaning to, wrote the notes, never did it) .

This morning my sister and I have finally prevailed in getting a large portion of his estate split five ways between the kids and his partner of twenty years - where some of my siblings wanted to give his partner less.

It's the ultimate Pyrrhic victory for a sordid battle I never imagined and never wanted to fight for a thousand different reasons. But I kept pushing through the emotionally exhausting horseshit, negotiated as hard as I could (nearly not hard enough; I still need to be better at this, stop letting my emotions impede realising the goal), reached out, compromised the shit out of everything, obfuscated and prevaricated, and just barely kept my shit together at work (which has been crazy) and gently but insistently pushed, and pushed, and pushed - And finally by mailing off a three line letter today, I can put this thing to bed, and know that the love of his life has not been screwed over.

The taste is a little ashy in the mouth I grant, but at least I can swallow it now, and get back to reinforcing the buttresses that were knocked out by his death.
posted by smoke at 5:40 PM on April 25, 2013 [50 favorites]

I played a Haydn Sonata this morning that, in the past, gave me terrible anxiety attacks just from recalling what I was going through when I first started playing it. Today wasn't my best rendition of it, on the whole, but my heart rate stayed normal and I didn't freak out like I did a year ago, with nausea, pulse racing flop sweats and hand paralysis, which led me to stop playing it. So I've repossessed that part of my repertoire. Which is nice, because I like that sonata.
Then on the way home from work I rear-ended a car, on my bike, which hurt sufficiently my finger and ankle (and pride) to distract from the pain in my jaw which may be arising from bone fragments erupting from a wisdom tooth extraction nearly two years ago, which is about when I got my Ph.D.
On balance, this was not the best day, and in compensation, I would humbly request some hugs.
posted by Cold Lurkey at 5:59 PM on April 25, 2013 [11 favorites]

Wow smoke, that sounds miserable. Congratulations on seeing it through and I'm glad to hear you'll be able to focus on recovery now.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 6:18 PM on April 25, 2013 [1 favorite]

My four-year old just passed her two years post-treatment landmark a week or so ago, and we are pretty optimistic that she is now as cancer-free as you can be, under the circumstances. She's probably in about the top few % of all outcomes so we're very lucky and thankful. And thanks also to those meef who check in once in a while, keep it coming.

Of course, now she figures she gets to drive the car and all.

Not much else matters but I am getting my career back on track, not to mention heading to one of the more remote islands in B.C. for a few weeks next Saturday.
posted by Rumple at 6:21 PM on April 25, 2013 [64 favorites]

I helped a member of the departing support staff (given 2 weeks notice last Monday of layoff due to buyout of smallCompany by enormousFirm) prank a coworker by blowing up several dozen ballons to hide in the victim's drawers and overhead cabinets. I also hid the victim's scissors, making it more difficult for said victim to remove the four layers of rubber bands around the phone.

Smoke, you deserve many blessings and are a class act.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 6:23 PM on April 25, 2013 [2 favorites]

I officially got accepted on a panel called "Who Filters the Filterers" about how to find interesting stuff on the internet. I did not create this panel, nor did I have anything to do with naming it, but when I saw it on the list I felt morally obligated to volunteer for it.
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 6:33 PM on April 25, 2013 [20 favorites]

Amazing, amazing news Rumple.
posted by sweetkid at 6:42 PM on April 25, 2013 [2 favorites]

It's almost as if we need some kind of higher-order filter to filter the filterers. A "meta-filter," if you will.

...nah, it'll never work.
posted by drlith at 6:52 PM on April 25, 2013 [8 favorites]

I've written about 160,000 words of fiction in 2013. Many of them are not good, and a mere fraction of them will ever see the light of day in their present format, but I did promise myself that I would spend this year making it a habit, learning how I write, figuring out what works for me in terms of plotting, planning, organization, and execution. I have roadmaps for a series of three novels and a separate free-standing one in another genre.

My achievement won't be unlocked until I finish something, just in Draft 0 format, and finishing is my weakest muscle, but I have until the end of the year to do it. I think I might just manage it.
posted by Lyn Never at 6:55 PM on April 25, 2013 [8 favorites]

My bum knee has recovered sufficiently to allow me to run 4.25 miles yesterday, and another 3 this afternoon. My boyfriend and I have a Quaker self-uniting marriage license sitting on our bookshelf, so we're 2 witness signatures away from marrying ourselves (!!) and in a few weeks we're moving into a house with a porch and a yard. I have flossed for six days straight, have cut down my drinking by ~66% from where it was last year, and I finally have a decent plan for going back to school to become a midwife.
posted by coppermoss at 7:00 PM on April 25, 2013 [14 favorites]

that whole comment was adorable coppermoss and I'm happy for you. I'm especially about the flossing and marriage (meaning happy pairing, not the legalish thing), as those are two probably equally important things for health and happiness.

Resisting the urge not to comment on everyone's. As I mentioned, I got nothing but am liking these.
posted by sweetkid at 7:02 PM on April 25, 2013

I'm graduating from my two year transfer program this may!! Also my advisor said that I shouldn't stop myself from applying to any university I could dream of because I have a solid chance of being accepted to any of them. She said I was "just as, if not more, talented" than some of her other students who got into some of the best schools in the country. So, like, I was pretty stoked on myself for a while.

Also my sisters and I got approved for the house we wanted so now we're living together and I'm not homeless/couch surfing. So that's another bonus.

Also I love this thread.
posted by FirstMateKate at 7:09 PM on April 25, 2013 [7 favorites]

I participate in a community weblog with lots of people who are even more awesome than I already knew.

Also, I got my ass in gear and - after a terrifying bout of unemployment/anxiety/depression - finally updated my resume and attended a job fair. I now have actual hope of getting a proper job, that (ohplzbabbyjeebus) pays above minimum wage and has benefits. Yay, me.
posted by Space Kitty at 7:14 PM on April 25, 2013 [18 favorites]

Two bowls I made for a charity auction sold for well over my suggested price.

I knocked it out of the park with my wife's birthday present (art from Lou Stuells' amazing etsy shop). She was laughing for like five solid minutes. I wish I'd caught it on video.
posted by hydrophonic at 7:23 PM on April 25, 2013 [7 favorites]

Got a new job this year that illuminates in so many ways why my old job was, in fact, not the best I could get. Working on a documentary and trying to learn some filmmaking basics (lighting, you are hard). Kid remains in 99th percentile for height, the sweetest little giant boy ever. Cat only vomits occasionally. Life is not bad.

(((hugs))) to all who are having a rough go. I was too a year or so back.
posted by emjaybee at 7:24 PM on April 25, 2013 [4 favorites]

well, maybe i was reaching too far into the distant past

i've managed to continue working 12 hour shifts at my job without losing my mind - although it's getting so i don't work them every day

my daughter has overcome her autism enough to be named student of the month in high school

although there's a couple of rare items i still want, i'm pretty much done collecting the odd collection of rack synths and multifx from the 80s and 90s and foot pedals and other junk that makes up my low-rent recording studio outside of the computer

and i'm in the process of tweaking the final song of a new album that will be released on mefimusic very soon and already making tentative plans for the next
posted by pyramid termite at 7:59 PM on April 25, 2013 [8 favorites]

I did karaoke for the first time this weekend, which may sound silly but I have terrible stage fright and previously would not have done karaoke for all the money in the world. And it turns out I love it! Even though my voice is . . . not great.

I also bowled in a bowlathon to raise money for abortion access in NC, but my John Waters-themed team sadly did not win best costume.

Also I am on track to read 365 books again this year!
posted by leesh at 7:59 PM on April 25, 2013 [5 favorites]

I got married last February, had a baby in November, and this year we are taking her to France!

And I'm trying to get a new job. If anyone knows anyone in New Orleans, call me!
posted by Night_owl at 7:59 PM on April 25, 2013 [3 favorites]

I went to my first Mefite meet-up last month and had a great time. I am a Recovering Shy Person, so I have been patting myself on the back for this ever since. Very quietly. Hey, look over there!...

I started a new knitting project today and am hoping this marks the return of my knitting mojo (that's a technical term). (My knitting mojo is a brat and likes to turn up and insist I make wool hats when we're having summerlike weather.)

I moved almost 4 months ago and I'm 70% packed.

I am working on asking for the assistance I need due to my disability even though it is really hard for me to appear as though I am anything but Totally Fine.

Hugs all around except for people who don't like to be hugged/touched. Heartfelt fistbumps for people who don't like to be hugged/touched.

I love this thread.
posted by camyram at 8:04 PM on April 25, 2013 [8 favorites]

I memorized the first 7 characters of my username today. 9 ( because it's the first one) 222 (because that's a road near me) and 570 (because that's the next area code over [actually it's a mile from where I live. one second it's all 610{or 484 if, you know, you get an overlay} and the next it's 570]).

So yeah I hope to have it all down pat in memory if I ever actually meet another MeFi in person.
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 8:05 PM on April 25, 2013 [3 favorites]

I am faking it 'til I make it, which is more than I could have said for myself this time last year.
posted by tzikeh at 8:08 PM on April 25, 2013 [15 favorites]

Oh, and gauche organized the awesome meet-up I referred to above and I hope he doesn't mind me mentioning that as an accomplishment on his behalf.
posted by camyram at 8:12 PM on April 25, 2013 [1 favorite]

It took me almost exactly 7 years, but I completed and defended my Ph.D. last August.

I also just lined up a postdoc in the Bay Area, which will mean that I not only get to finally work on some new projects, but that I also get to drop my mega-commute (two hours each way) while still living in a place that doesn't make me want to breathe fire on the regular.
posted by en forme de poire at 8:17 PM on April 25, 2013 [15 favorites]

I taught Lindy a trick in about 45 min, with the help of her older 'brother' Figlet. This is much faster than the 3 weeks it took her to learn 'sit'.
Gratuitous extra dog pic, because you guys are all awesome! (and because it's too cute not to share)
posted by Fig at 8:18 PM on April 25, 2013 [2 favorites]

I just made 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a my network password. 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a, when you are over visiting, you can use it any time you like.
posted by salishsea at 8:27 PM on April 25, 2013 [3 favorites]

In two weeks (if all goes well), I can say I haven't gambled for 1 year.
posted by BozoBurgerBonanza at 8:31 PM on April 25, 2013 [28 favorites]

I got a paper back today for my engineering class and not only did I get 100% she asked to keep the paper as an example! School really stresses me out because I feel like I'm too old and that I wasted a bunch of time being a drug addict and I might as well give up but things like that give me hope.
posted by sacrifix at 8:33 PM on April 25, 2013 [30 favorites]

I got a new bowling ball for Christmas when my old one cracked, and in February, I threw 6 strikes in a row. That is a crazy high feeling.
posted by Devils Rancher at 8:39 PM on April 25, 2013 [2 favorites]

I love this thread. Hugs all around.
posted by Lutoslawski at 8:42 PM on April 25, 2013 [1 favorite]

My 20-year-old daughter told me tonight that she is moving back in with me because she wants to go to school!
posted by pH Indicating Socks at 8:55 PM on April 25, 2013 [7 favorites]

I just had a birthday. I'm freaking 35. Yiiiiiiikes. But hey, still above ground, right? I got a $25 gift certificate to Target from my boss today for good work. Plus I've gotten free food and drink and cake and get 2 birthday lunches at work coming up. Had a cake party at my volunteer job tonight :) And so far nobody's made me work the phones yet at work this week, so I am not homicidal tonight either!

In non-birthday-related news, I only got my driver's license and a credit card (mama, don't let your babies think they can get out of college without signing up for a credit card, seriously) a few years ago. I am finally at the point where I can actually go on a trip by myself, paying for it with the aforementioned required credit-not-just-a-debit card. And I booked one nonrefundably for a few weeks from now. Sounds lame to be my age and doing this for the first time, but it's a big step for me to be going alone and not piggybacking along on someone else who's driving me wherever. The trip is a huuuuuuge deal to me and makes me feel like an actual adult who can do stuff like that without needing a babysitter.

I am also trying to design a Cinco de Derby hat for an upcoming party, and am trying to knit an entire steampunk outfit. Will hopefully finish the first piece tonight when I get home and ah, find the rest of the yarn to finish it.
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:58 PM on April 25, 2013 [2 favorites]

Congrats to all, and hugs for the rest.

I turned from an intellectual feminist into a visceral one, almost overnight.

I started taking photography seriously again. Playing with macro and focus stacking, like Devils Rancher, but I suck at it. On the other hand I took out some old old filters and made a pretty good long exposure picture of Seal Rocks in San Francisco. This is the first picture I have taken in 15 years where I feel like I really got in the moment. I am getting good at portraits.

I got a nice bonus at work, and spent it all the next day without feeling any guilt.

Oh yeah, all of the above as a result of having a baby girl exactly 7 weeks ago. She is at least as cute as Saladin's, I promise, but we are still figuring out how to handle her privacy on the net, so you will have to take my word on it. I expect to start using askMe a lot more.
posted by Doroteo Arango II at 9:08 PM on April 25, 2013 [5 favorites]

I found my courage and started calling people, including my boss, out for rape jokes in my male-dominated workplace.

Mostly they're "you totally got raped in that game last night!" and I stare and smile like Death and say, "Perhaps you could choose another word?" or "Do you really think that's appropriate here?" on the spot, rather than letting it sit. Mostly they look at the floor and say they're sorry and make a point to rephrase the sentence in front of me. Sometimes they later make jokes to each other about people who can't take jokes. Thankfully, I don't have to work here for too long.
posted by DisreputableDog at 4:08 PM on April 25 [+] [!]

You are my hero.
posted by medusa at 9:32 PM on April 25, 2013 [3 favorites]

Congrats Doroteo Arango II!

My successes this week don't score nearly as high:

-managed to not roll my eyes at the boss when he told me my role during the Board meeting was to sit there and not say anything unless he specifically asked me too; I know half the Board fairly well and they are used to engaging me in conversation. I guess that's the difference in being at the same place 10 years, versus less than one for my boss.

-completed and submitted a response to a fairly major RFP that will hopfully secure a major new source of funding for the organization.

-working hard on letting go of my angst and anger about my son's current school placement and their seeming inability to deal with him (despite advertising the fact that they are a school for special needs/behavioural kids), and instead focusing on how to get him through the next two months.
posted by never used baby shoes at 9:32 PM on April 25, 2013 [2 favorites]

I'm just now back from completing what I intended to do: I watched Best of Both Worlds on the big screen.

Yes, it was AWESOME. The Borg was defeated. Life is good.
posted by meese at 9:43 PM on April 25, 2013 [2 favorites]

922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a: "I memorized the first 7 characters of my username today."

Just the other day I was wondering if you had that on auto-fill.
posted by Room 641-A at 10:00 PM on April 25, 2013

I went to the dentist. Which seems minor, but is something I haven't done for a long time, despite a tooth that has been bothering for quite some time now. So it's big to me. Last night, I e-mailed myself a link to this thread (which is not me asking, but could have been), and it acted as moral support and I finally made the call this morning. So I feel like I was already pre-hugged by y'all.
posted by Homeboy Trouble at 10:12 PM on April 25, 2013 [3 favorites]

I reunited a seclusive schizophrenic with their parents (who'd thought they were dead for the past 15 years), thereby helping them to stop eating their neighbour's cats and dogs.
posted by meehawl at 10:13 PM on April 25, 2013 [6 favorites]

I present or publish academically maybe 2 or 3 times a year. Mostly it's on religion or sex, but sometimes its on disability. I have a presentation tomorrow on my home turf, which has been quite hostile. i am also trying something quite difficult and radically new. also, unlike the other places i have presented recently, i am not sure i will have many friends or colleuges. i am kind of proud of my work, but this one is a huge limb and ker splat.

also had a huge trigger panic today about something that i should have gotten over years ago. just feeling like shit all around.
posted by PinkMoose at 10:37 PM on April 25, 2013 [2 favorites]

Adopted this super cute dog a couple weeks ago...named him Gibbon. Talked my father into getting his will done (we also took care of a living will and power of attorney stuff at the same time. OH, and he also agreed to see a nutritionist.) And am getting ready to ask a cute man out for drinks, a date, endickening, or suchlike.
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 10:37 PM on April 25, 2013 [2 favorites]

I helped my youngest son (8 next month) pick out a Hello Kitty dress at Target the other day. He's been wearing dresses my wife made, but they were really too small (you could see his Lego Star Wars underwear a bit too often). I felt a little weird at first but it was really fun. He has Hello Kitty underwear now which look really comfortable. I hope the weirdness was really just me being anxious about what to do next. We're a little overwhelmed by this turn of events, and I hope we all have the courage to do what is right by him. By the way he just now sleep walked into the bathroom and proceeded to pee without taking his underwear off. He did flush, however.
posted by Brocktoon at 11:17 PM on April 25, 2013 [18 favorites]

I got a royalty check* for a children's musical I wrote. An elementary school in Ohio is going to perform it. I thought that was pretty cool.

And even though it was almost a year ago I'm still beaming from this compliment askmeaboutLOOM gave me over on MeFiMu.

Oh and my two-year-old totally gives like, THE BEST HUGS

*a teensy amount but enough to buy something silly
posted by Doleful Creature at 11:35 PM on April 25, 2013 [3 favorites]

I was super emotional the past couple weeks due to my mom's uncertain health status and her insistence on discussing her will, and some other things happening in my life set me off into a flood of tears. Super duper thanks to ColdChef for talking to me on the phone and making me feel better about it. My favorite thing is he always says "you and I..." he makes me feel like he is right there with me. <3
posted by IndigoRain at 11:41 PM on April 25, 2013 [9 favorites]

Also many accolades to cmyk for becoming a published freelance writer and an all-around awesome friend.
posted by IndigoRain at 12:29 AM on April 26, 2013

That thing I started making two years ago and which I was supposed to finish in time for graduation last year is making so much progress that it might be done a year from now.

Also, despite ardently spamming my resume/portfolio to employment agencies I have thus far failed to convince anybody that I am an employable human being. Which, granted that a couple years ago I was neurotic about self-promotion and relentless branding/self-aggrandizement, makes me feel like maybe I learned a few things about what things are important in life. (I am not sure if this is a rationalization or not, but I know for sure that I am way less depressed now than I was then, and that's a victory in and of itself.

Also also I'm young and in love and my girlfriend's family weirdly doesn't seem to hate me. At least not to my face. Which is awesomesauce because they're good people too.
posted by Rory Marinich at 12:47 AM on April 26, 2013 [4 favorites]

Oh and now when I'm in New York waiting to catch a bus with nothing to do I just pester The Whelk and he takes me to an exhibit on shoes. MetaFilter has made me More Cultured.
posted by Rory Marinich at 12:49 AM on April 26, 2013 [4 favorites]

I moved my whole family to Switzerland!
posted by tracicle at 1:18 AM on April 26, 2013 [5 favorites]

I got to go to Australia and swim in the Indian Ocean! I have now swum in three oceans and seen two of them from both sides (Pacific and Atlantic, from Western US & Canada - China, and from Florida - Western Europe)!

In January I published my first book, and people I've never met (including virtually) keep writing me to say they like it. It's pretty exhilarating.

My cats love me. This morning I woke up to the big furry Coon snuggling at my side and the feisty little black sprite pounce-nomming my toes after having been asleep on my chest. Later when I started to leave for work, Miss Sprite willfully entangled herself in my lunch bag strap, flopped to the floor, taking the bag along with her, and squeaked, paws gently swatting my hands away from her en-strappened belly, "mweep!"
posted by fraula at 2:20 AM on April 26, 2013 [6 favorites]

It's a (really) shitty time for me, too, but I've flossed my teeth every day of 2013 so far and my betta fish hasn't died yet.
posted by easy, lucky, free at 2:27 AM on April 26, 2013 [11 favorites]

Got new underpants, new socks, new haircut, lost 2.5 stone, enrolled to run a half marathon (which you can totally sponsor me for.) and sorted all my shit out. ALL. MY SHIT. OUT.
posted by Jofus at 3:18 AM on April 26, 2013 [4 favorites]

I got promoted at work last month. That's the first time in my entire working life I've ever been promoted - I've always moved sideways or taken slightly more responsibility in new jobs. I am also now responsible for a junior staff member/minion for the first time.

Also I'm running my first marathon in two days. Feel free to sponsor me here.
posted by Infinite Jest at 3:36 AM on April 26, 2013 [3 favorites]

This is in the near future, but this is the first summer in three years that I don't have to use my summer teaching money to move into a new apartment or buy a car, so we get to go to on a real vacation for the first time since my daughter was born. Ocean City, here we come!
posted by Elementary Penguin at 3:55 AM on April 26, 2013 [1 favorite]

Oh, and I just got a Lamy Safari as an early birthday present thanks to the Moleskine thread from a month ago, and enough red ink cartridges for it to grade all my finals! Excitement all around.
posted by Elementary Penguin at 3:59 AM on April 26, 2013 [1 favorite]

High fives and spritzers to everyone who has done cool stuff (except if that stuff is give up booze in which case mocktails) and the warmest possible hugs to those who are having tough times.
posted by greenish at 4:14 AM on April 26, 2013

Rescued meowing cat stuck on ledge just above the flood channel down the street this morning. Fed cat breakfast kipper so it would cooperate as lifted it off ledge. Cat seems fine. Now drinking lots of hot, delicious, coffee (me, not cat) while reading MetaFilter to warm up while drying out.

Sorry that's a small thing, but focusing wherever possible on the small and immediate things in life are helping me deal with current unresolving health issues.
posted by Wordshore at 4:51 AM on April 26, 2013 [15 favorites]

You know, reading all of this has had an interesting sequence of events on me:

1. Early on I was feeling a little lame because I haven't gotten anything big and shiny going on right now.

2. But then that inspired me to step up plans and get my blog going already. (Editing the first post today at work; I want to get a couple more posts done and waiting before it goes live. Nothing fancy, just a sort of "this is me and my perspective on [schmeh] kind of thing, with [schmeh] being "things tangentially related to maritime/nautical subjects, from a New Englander now living in the NY harbor area".) So it's been a motivation.

3. Then that got me to do some counting-my-blessings - including the wedding I'm going to tomorrow. It's one of my ex's weddings, and the fact that I a) am happy for him, b) don't have the slightest regret, and c) have been friends with this guy for 15 years after our breakup and can be in this state is damn awesome.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:41 AM on April 26, 2013 [8 favorites]

I biked to work today and my migraine seems to be going away.
posted by Aizkolari at 5:52 AM on April 26, 2013 [3 favorites]

I earned my first $ for my hobby last night. I did a 4 hr machining job in only 10-12 hours and got $120 for it!
posted by DU at 6:05 AM on April 26, 2013 [3 favorites]

Johnn and I got married in February! Now I have a permanent evil sidekick!
posted by 8dot3 at 6:10 AM on April 26, 2013 [4 favorites]

Thanks for the hugs, all. And congratulations to all of you who are getting married, published, making cool things, having pets, and taking care of adorable babies.
posted by gauche at 6:21 AM on April 26, 2013

I went to my first Mefite meet-up last month and had a great time. I am a Recovering Shy Person, so I have been patting myself on the back for this ever since. Very quietly. Hey, look over there!...

I'm glad you came. It was good fun all around, and we (and otters walk among us) won the game! So that's something I suppose.
posted by gauche at 6:35 AM on April 26, 2013 [1 favorite]

My husband and I adopted a kitten this week. We were told that he was really shy and would take a while to come out of his shell, but he's been with us for two days and has pretty much taken over.

One of my best friends (going on 13 years now), MeFi's own Space Kitty, is coming to visit me in 6 days. We haven't seen each other in about 5 years.

I have the best job I've ever had, live in the best house I've ever lived in, and in 7 days I'm celebrating the 11th anniversary of the day when I got together with a bunch of my friends (including MeFi's own Space Kitty) to get drunk on Tres de Mayo, where we proceeded to get completely bombed, ended up singing the karaoke version of "Love Shack," went to a strip club, and at some point during the evening I started dating the man who is now my husband and love of my life.

Yeah, things are pretty great right now.
posted by Kimberly at 6:44 AM on April 26, 2013 [5 favorites]

Space Kitty is the best. The absolute best.
posted by ColdChef at 6:53 AM on April 26, 2013 [2 favorites]

She really, really is. That's no lie.
posted by Kimberly at 6:56 AM on April 26, 2013 [1 favorite]

I've been playing in a band with some friends for the past year and change. We've played coffee shops and festivals for tips, but we've just scored our first set of actual paying gigs. Also we're working hard on getting songs ready for an album, which is pretty cool. I didn't write any of them (although that will change...) but I've helped with the arrangements.
posted by pianoblack at 7:10 AM on April 26, 2013 [1 favorite]

I am sick today so I'm sort of in the dumps. This thread came at the right time for me; I could use the cheering up.

A small thing I'm happy about -- I got a blog post up last night that I've been meaning to post for a while. I've started writing on my personal blog again after taking a few years off. It's nice to be back to what I used to do.

Another -- I've managed to learn some Python, JavaScript, jQuery, and even a tiny bit of C in the last few months while I've been (ahem) underemployed. I don't think I'm ready to do anything serious with them yet, but I always thought I could not learn these things because of my lack of math background. I was wrong.

My big recent achievement isn't fully finished, but it's awfully darn close. I live in a 1911 bungalow house. When my husband and I moved in years ago, the bathroom in it was terribly ugly, with some godawful stupid things that previous owners had done. It only got uglier as the years went on. I always wanted to make it a nice vintage-style bathroom with beadboard wainscoting, hex tiles, and a pedestal sink, but it was expensive.

Two years ago, my husband left, which was unexpected to say the least. I had no clue it was coming. But at that time he told me to go ahead and buy the vintage pedestal sink I'd been eyeing at a local salvage store. So I did. And I'd been saving up fixtures for the room for 7 or 8 years, buying them at thrift stores, salvage, whatever I could afford.

Last year I hired a friend to work on a low-budget remodel -- leaving the tub intact, plumbing in its place, and just putting in the new floor, wainscoting, etc. That fell through, but then I found someone else to work on it, and the project started in earnest this year.

And now... it's gone from this horrible room with a big hole in the ceiling (seriously, the previous owners were insane) to this cute vintage-style room (with bonus cat content). And it was darned cheap as such things go, since I had scrounged so many of the fixtures and such over the years. Less than $2500, I think.

I spent 8 or 9 months having to wash my hands in the kitchen sink after the previous aborted attempt to fix up the room, so just imagine how happy I am to finally be able to use that pedestal sink. Probably happier than I ought to be.

Now I just need to find a job. But I know I will.
posted by litlnemo at 7:14 AM on April 26, 2013 [10 favorites]

But perhaps I should add one bad thing -- bad for me, anyway. tkolar's logic game, mentioned above, just ate several hours of my life. Addictive, to say the least!
posted by litlnemo at 7:17 AM on April 26, 2013

And now... it's gone from this horrible room with a big hole in the ceiling (seriously, the previous owners were insane) to this cute vintage-style room (with bonus cat content). And it was darned cheap as such things go, since I had scrounged so many of the fixtures and such over the years. Less than $2500, I think.

that is a very nice bathroom! Looks like kitty approves too, and we all know how they are bathroom connoisseurs.
posted by sweetkid at 7:20 AM on April 26, 2013 [1 favorite]

This thread made me smile--thanks, everyone!

This year I got a new apartment, and moved in with my boyfriend and some plants--including one from TrishaLynn--and we're all doing well (even the plants, despite my black thumb).

I'm also surviving grad school and a newish job and freelance jobs, more or less. Especially since one of my bosses just brewed coffee!
posted by mlle valentine at 7:35 AM on April 26, 2013

I got a lot of hits on my etsy store from metatalk and found my way here. Thanks hydrophonic! So glad she loves the print, and holy smokes those bowls are amazing. I make pictures of stuff, people who make actual STUFF blow my mind.

AWESOME week. Tried out vending at NEFFA and it was worlds better than I could have expected. Even met a couple mefites! On Monday, a friend put the word out on facebook that a greyhound adoption group in VT was having some financial woes, so I've been running a promo where my greyhound and whippet art sale proceeds this week go 50% to them. As of this morning I've been able to send them $300 :)

We finally bought a standalone freezer, got $35 off, no tax, and the Sears distribution center where we'll pick it up is closer than the grocery store. Now we'll be able to save more fresh local food, and prepare and store a lot more of our own stuff - I have plans this weekend for stacks of quiches. And pound cakes. And I was able to order some paw paw trees, which will shade the pond edge in our paddock, make amazing custard-flavored fruit, and not get eaten by my goats. A farmer who grows them locally says our location sounds ideal.

Oh and my goose and one of my turkeys are both setting on eggs. So yeah. All good stuff.
posted by Lou Stuells at 7:36 AM on April 26, 2013 [3 favorites]

Jeez, thanks everybody, you're all so nice! I feel like an ass for being such a braggart in the face of such warmth and kindness. As an apology, here's some bonus June content deemed too hot for Facebook.
posted by saladin at 7:38 AM on April 26, 2013 [4 favorites]

I've lost 17 pounds since 1/1/13.

I'm building a new website for my workplace despite knowing nothing and it's going awesome.

Thanks to AskMefi, we've gotten our cat completely switched over to grain-free food and she's no longer scabby and self-harming.

The guy who's been harassing me at my job seems to maybe have himself under control lately, which is good because I think I might get fired if I punched his face.

That cold-hearted snake song by Paula Abdul just popped up on iTunes shuffle and I can't believe we actually own it.

***

I love reading these threads...Mefites rule.
posted by altopower at 7:45 AM on April 26, 2013 [4 favorites]

oh my goodness, saladin. The bunny one. And the book one. Squee.

She is so cute!
posted by sweetkid at 7:46 AM on April 26, 2013

Oh, and one addition...my 5-year-old likes to whisper to me "Quickly quickly there's no time!" in the voice of Geoff the robot talking like Liam Neeson.
posted by altopower at 7:51 AM on April 26, 2013 [4 favorites]

I finished two books which will be published! I wrote another which was inspired by a metafilter comment, but no publishers have bitten yet so maybe someday I'll get to MeTa about it, but not today. I also started a business making book trailers which is going like gangbusters.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 7:59 AM on April 26, 2013 [15 favorites]

Oh, back in March, I saw a comet 4 nights in a row. That hilltop overlook above Davis Mts. State Park has become the center of my spiritual universe. I'm slowly reconnecting with "outside," and astronomy is turning out to be a big part of that, and also a way for me to connect meaningfully with my taciturn & difficult teenage son.
posted by Devils Rancher at 8:32 AM on April 26, 2013 [6 favorites]

A year after posting this question on the green, I finally finished my associate degree. 5 months later I received a nice promotion and now have a much more interesting job in the marketing department.

More recently, on the Sunday after Easter I was confirmed in the Episcopal church along with my husband.
posted by Serene Empress Dork at 8:37 AM on April 26, 2013 [3 favorites]

I felt a weird kinship with the comet, another barely-visible ephemeral visitor.
posted by Devils Rancher at 8:38 AM on April 26, 2013 [1 favorite]

An addition to my earlier comment:

I'm really pleased with my return to running (for the sake of both my physical and mental health) and am entered in a 10k event in support of my organization. I just realized it's precisely one month away today! If anyone feels like supporting me, they can do so here.
posted by never used baby shoes at 8:42 AM on April 26, 2013

Am still in love with the blue after 13 years of being here, proud and happy for of each one of you, as well as inspired.

Three years ago I took in a very likable person, newly arrived in America, who was homeless and suicidal. They lived with me in my tiny apartment for 1-1/2 years. Helped them get on their feet, get through the depression, taught them English, helped them find work. And now they are stable, well, have a great job, paying their own rent in their own apartment. Saw the person last night and they said their life was getting better each day. Feeling good about that.

Although my energy level isn't what it used to be, I'm very much alive while surviving three different types of cancer, since being diagnosed with the first one 8 years ago. There are metastases but so far manageable. Am feeling deeply happy, peaceful.
posted by nickyskye at 9:00 AM on April 26, 2013 [19 favorites]

Another good thing and it's so big I almost overlooked it. I was diagnosed a couple months ago with inattentive-type ADHD, at age 38. Medication has been VERY HELPFUL. I can't even begin to express. My executive function is a lot better when the executive isn't under the desk playing with dinosaurs. It's like my to-do list has stopped being a word search. What used to be a swarm of gnats now fall into orderly formation. My productivity is up and stress is way down. Self esteem has buoyed as a result. Everything is less daunting - even if it's still hard work. And I can work just as well without the hyperfocus self-hypnosis - it's just easier now to stop and run to the post office if I have to.
posted by Lou Stuells at 9:00 AM on April 26, 2013 [4 favorites]

Since she hasn't posted in here (yet) I'll keep this anonymous, but congratulations to the MeFite who is about to deliver part one of her Kickstarter campaign!

I think it's so impressive that not only was it funded, she had the courage to go online and say "Here is my thing. I think it is worth asking strangers to help contribute to its success and if they disagree then life will almost certainly go on and I will try again."
posted by Room 641-A at 9:01 AM on April 26, 2013 [2 favorites]

Oh yeah, and last but not least, Tilda Swinton and Madamina think I'm MAGNIFICENT!
posted by KathrynT at 9:29 AM on April 26, 2013 [16 favorites]

stop it that is so neat.
posted by sweetkid at 9:31 AM on April 26, 2013 [2 favorites]

Tilda Swinton and Madamina think I'm MAGNIFICENT!

I would like to know how this photo happened. Thank you.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:33 AM on April 26, 2013 [2 favorites]

and not in the "light got refracted into photoreceptors inside a camera" sense of "how it happened," just in case.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:34 AM on April 26, 2013 [1 favorite]

Holy shit, KathrynT. I mean HOLY. SHIT. Tell the damn story, come on!

Madamina is magnificent for arranging that shoutout (and for many other reasons too).
posted by rtha at 9:34 AM on April 26, 2013 [3 favorites]

nickyskye, I am sending you the biggest hug that the internet will allow.

Hey, pb what's our hug packet upload limit, & can we get it bumped up here?
posted by Devils Rancher at 9:36 AM on April 26, 2013 [2 favorites]

The story is, Madamina went to Ebertfest and somehow got Tilda Swinton to take that picture with her, BECAUSE SHE IS AMAZING. And then Tilda signed the "Kathryn you're magnificent" sign. And then Madamina mailed the pic and the sign to me sandwiched between quilting books, and made my fucking day.
posted by KathrynT at 9:40 AM on April 26, 2013 [6 favorites]

Damn, that is so fantastic. Mefites FTW!
posted by rtha at 9:41 AM on April 26, 2013

Wednesday was my last day of of my last semester of law school, and it just so happened that my final exam for trial advocacy was scheduled for the same day. It was a mock trial held from 6p-9p.

It was also the last day of my Mom's 15+ years of teaching at that same law school, and her close to 40 years as a professor, as she is retiring.

The next morning, yesterday, I got up, drove to the house I grew up in to meet up with my family, so we could go bury my grandmother, my Mom's mom. She was 97 years old, and my last remaining grandparent. More people came to her funeral than could sit in the sanctuary.
posted by snuffleupagus at 9:53 AM on April 26, 2013 [7 favorites]

Yeah, it was pretty awesome. The thing about Tilda is that either people can't quite remember who she is or respond to a mention of her name with "!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" and of course Kathryn and I are in the latter camp :P

So I made the sign and handed it to Tilda, hoping to not take up TOO much time (not like that jerky guy with the waxed mustache and two-foot rat-tail who tried to get back to schmooze with her two or three times). And because she is one of the most amazing people ever, Tilda said, "OH, but I'll have to SIGN it, you know -- otherwise, she'll never know I was really THERE!" And I said, "You go right ahead."

I packaged everything up and sent it to Kathryn with instructions to call me when she was opening the package. It was super great. She just kept making these little high-pitched sort of half-arfing peeps, like, "Uh! Uh!" and then said, "I CANNOT. I JUST CANNOT" over and over.

And that was one of my big accomplishments. Because surprising people and making them happy with something really unique, that nobody else can do, makes me feel more validated about my place in the world. Like I mean something.

Also, rtha (who is awesome) said I am magnificent for other reasons, too, which means she knows who I am and likes me, and that made me feel great :)

*****

In other news, a few weeks ago I passed my six-month probationary period and am now permanently employed in a full-time job in my field of study for the first time in my entire life. My bosses actually said some pretty great things about me.

And I am wearing pants that fit, and working on cultivating a personal style that makes me feel a little more powerful and awesome, and my hair is looking pretty great these days.

And even though I've been in a big slump with my extremely niche-market and slightly weird fiction writing, it has made me a really close and surprising new friend who has made my life pretty great. And I'm actually writing fiction, period, which is pretty amazing.

And my husband has been doing AWESOME at work, and he loves me, and OH do I love him, and even though it's scary we're doing Big Future Planning and it just makes us snuggle up even more. (Yes, we're gross.)
posted by Madamina at 9:56 AM on April 26, 2013 [12 favorites]

I've met Madamina and she is indeed amazing.
posted by desjardins at 9:56 AM on April 26, 2013 [1 favorite]

KathrynT just IMed me:

"Metafilter: little high-pitched sort of half-arfing peeps."
posted by Madamina at 10:00 AM on April 26, 2013 [5 favorites]

Sorry about your grandmother, it sucks. When my last grandmother died my uncles had to rent chairs to put on the sidewalk for all the unexpected mourners at the wake, and had to rent a truck to take all the flowers to the cemetery. This made me want to learn more about her, and I was very surprised at how interesting here life had been.
posted by Doroteo Arango II at 10:01 AM on April 26, 2013

The thing about Tilda is that either people can't quite remember who she is

Who are these people. Jeez.
posted by rtha at 10:05 AM on April 26, 2013 [2 favorites]

This made me want to learn more about her, and I was very surprised at how interesting here life had been.

My grandmother was one of six sisters and one brother, born to Romanian Jewish immigrants in Baltimore starting with the eldest sister, around 1909. They moved to Los Angeles when it was still a small city. She didn't go to high school, instead working to support her family. You never would have known it--she educated herself from books and encyclopedia. She was dedicated to her family, including her extended family, and did her best to look after everyone she could. She more or less raised my cousins, as my aunt was not dependable. (And indeed did not show up for the funeral...)

She was the middle sister. Two of them are still here–one is 104, and still colors and styles her own hair despite near-blindness. The "baby" is 94. (I think).

They all led pretty amazing lives.
posted by snuffleupagus at 10:12 AM on April 26, 2013 [3 favorites]

Yesterday, I felt like a total under-achiever after reading this thread, so I upped and took the dog for a hike on a trail that I hadn't hiked before. Dog & I were happier afterwards. I already knew MeFites are awesome, and have loved reading about y'all. Even if the awesome thing is that you mostly get out of bed every day. As the saying goes You don't know who may be carrying a heavy burden. Hugs to all, extra hugs to anybody who needs them.
posted by theora55 at 10:16 AM on April 26, 2013 [11 favorites]

This is the perfect thread to mention what I've been holding in for months, which is that there was a post on the blue about a scientific paper that I edited. I couldn't mention this in the thread itself due to confidentiality agreements and such, but I remember thinking as I was editing the paper that it would make a cool topic for a post. I can't thank the poster by name, so if you've made a sciencey post thus far this year, just assume that I'm referring to you, and thanks!
posted by Tsuga at 11:08 AM on April 26, 2013 [3 favorites]

The man that he will become wants to borrow the flying car keys.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 11:14 AM on April 26, 2013 [3 favorites]

Yikes..
and the phones in the cradle and the signals in the room, bluetooth chrips and a silicon moon...
posted by snuffleupagus at 11:21 AM on April 26, 2013 [3 favorites]

Now more bragging: my son is speaking a lot, and is very sweet and mellow for his age. He's patient and curious and fun and the best 18-month-old a parent could hope for. I can't wait to meet the man that he will become.

This is awesome. I've been around my girlfriend's kids for approaching two years now and it's been a pretty amazing experience.
posted by snuffleupagus at 11:22 AM on April 26, 2013

Love this thread! Yay! I lurk far more than I post but want to join in the reverie!

A very long time ago I posted an anon and super scared thread about being 5 days sober and now I am 2.5 years sober and my life is unrecognizable. I have a pretty mostly good job, and I'm finishing a Master's in conflict studies, and I'm studying for the LSATs. I plan to get an amazing score, if you were wondering.

And sometimes I have those days/weeks/months when just getting out of bed is an accomplishment, because depression is a challenge, but it's way better than it used to be.

If you're struggling, I feel ya, and I offer lots of internet hugs, and hope too, cause whatever you're going through is almost definitely bound to change, maybe not for the better, or worse, but it'll probably get different. I love this site.
posted by thankyouforyourconsideration at 11:24 AM on April 26, 2013 [22 favorites]

What a great thread.

Last weekend I returned from a kayaking trip I was a little nervous about; a week in California running class IV-V whitewater, one trip including 3 days in the backcountry self-supported. It was fantastic. Ran the Giant Gap of the North Fork of the American, the Middle Fork of the Feather (Devil's Canyon), Burnt Ranch Gorge of the Trinity, the South Fork and Main Fork of the Cal Salmon, and Lover's Leap of the North Fork of the American.

And my wife and I are closing on a little mountain condo today. My parents had a little lake cabin when I was a kid, and I always thought that having something like it would be soooooo awesome. And here we are.
posted by craven_morhead at 11:30 AM on April 26, 2013

Awesome idea for a thread :D

I'll be getting married in 2 weeks, after months of planning and changing plans and nearly outright canceling of plans. Also managed not to lose my sanity over fights with my parents. (Seriously, nothing causes fights more than wedding plans!). So good times ahead :)
posted by cozenedindigo at 11:43 AM on April 26, 2013 [1 favorite]

2013 can see me in hell. The good? things? that have happened this year amount to "My stepmother died of cancer, but I saw her when she went home and didn't have to go to the funeral that was conducted by the dude who PROMISED she would be healed by Jesus but hey, just because he's now conducting the funeral doesn't mean he was wrong - per se - because she quit before Jesus could really get around to the healing - but anyhow, luckily? my toddler came down with a nasty chest cold and my husband was stuck on business on the other coast because his project (literally) caught on fire so what could I do? I had to stay home."

Followed by "Bombs went off literally a block from my house, but I was luckily not there at the time, though lots of other people were and many of them were hurt. I got home just in time to sit in panic while the perpetrators were being hunted down and, essentially, that was not the greatest week in my life and I'm simultaneously so grateful that all of my family members and our limbs are accounted for."

In happier news, my two year old son can now do tricks like "Where are your toes?" and signs "bird" while saying "tweetweetweet" which is damned adorable.
posted by sonika at 11:52 AM on April 26, 2013 [7 favorites]

But perhaps I should add one bad thing -- bad for me, anyway. tkolar's logic game, mentioned above, just ate several hours of my life. Addictive, to say the least!

Oh, hey cool. Glad to know I've helped you with those pesky extra hours you had... :-)
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 11:57 AM on April 26, 2013 [1 favorite]

I'll take high fives for being a father of a fifteen year old daughter who is currently working on her first album of original songs. You can hear her at her SoundCloud page.

I am living vicariously through her! And sometimes she even let's me play along!
posted by salishsea at 12:01 PM on April 26, 2013 [5 favorites]

sonika, hoping for happier times ahead for you.

Also, it's 3:10PM on a Friday afternoon, the sun in shining, and I have not snapped at anyone I work for today, even the ones that really deserved it.
posted by inertia at 12:10 PM on April 26, 2013

ColdChef and Kimberly think I'm the best, so I think I pretty much win at everything.

/humblebrag

Also: grumble about one of the job offers being minimum wage & 18 hours a week redacted, because now's not the time. The current time is ONE WEEK TIL TRES DE MAYO!!
posted by Space Kitty at 12:20 PM on April 26, 2013 [1 favorite]

In the past few months I've learned to be happy with a quiet life. For years I rallied against my "boring" job in an office, hoping for something "creative" or comedy-related. But after some time in counseling, long conversations with some great friends, a few books, and the Back to Work podcast, I've come to appreciate that I do good work in a field that helps people (medical devices). The confidence gained from those reflections led to me applying for and getting a new job in a great city much closer to my girlfriend. I found a beautiful apartment with a great backyard for gardening and tons of space in the basement; it's everything I've ever wanted from an apartment.

However, in the time since, I was randomly assaulted on a walk at night near my neighborhood. I only lost a tooth, but I was pretty miserable for a week, and anxious for a couple months following.

My parents and plenty of co-workers pushed for me to move to the safe confines of a suburb, which I strongly considered. But I happened to be reading "Back to School" by Mike Rose (I finished it in the ER) at the time of my assault, which documents the failure of schooling for vocational and remedial students. My assault was a concrete lesson of the results those failures; he was probably failed by the school system, and without much industry, social service, or hope of upward mobility, violence seems like a good idea.

While traumatic, that incident stirred a passion for social justice and racial understanding I did not know I had. I learned quickly that the world can be a shitty, scary place, and that I won't help if I insulate myself in a hip neighborhood or palatial suburb with people just like me.

So I'm staying. The world's problems are overwhelming, and I can't do much on my own. But I can be a part of the good fight, so I'm volunteering with kids in the area and on an urban farm. It's not much, but it's something.

My life isn't very bloggable. I go to work, I volunteer, I cook, I read, I play basketball. I built a sous-vide cooker via a Make Magazine guide, despite zero electronic know-how. That's my one tangible project, though my yet-to-be-planted garden probably qualifies as well.

I won't be a beloved, tweed-havin' professor, I won't run the best, funniest science/cooking blog, I'll never be famous. I thought I needed accolades to be truly content. But I don't, and I doubt that would make me happy (even if I check my favorites and recent activity far too often when bored at work).

I was so focused on what I couldn't do that I missed what I can: cook for people who love me, raise intellectually curious children, plant a garden for me and a community, mentor kids, work with my hands in small ways, work behind the scenes, be a solid guy.

My accomplishment is learning how to help in small ways and learning to be content with what I can do.
posted by Turkey Glue at 12:28 PM on April 26, 2013 [27 favorites]

Here is a music thing I did back in January that is currently making me as happy as pretty much any creative endeavor I've ever undertaken: We're getting a grip on how to play together, and I feel like I'm actually learning how to play the bass at long, long last. I'm also learning a ton about mic placement, recording &mixing, which has always fascinated me.
posted by Devils Rancher at 12:29 PM on April 26, 2013

Cripes, that is a cute baby.

Look out, boys of the future, Baby June's coming along to break all of your hearts.
posted by notyou at 12:30 PM on April 26, 2013

I took my class final yesterday, so I have a couple of glorious months of summer without school to do things like... go to work every day. Hmm. But the weather has been cooperating enough to start some veggies in the garden (which WILL SURVIVE THIS YEAR GODDAMIT) and spend some time grilling.

I was also awarded a cash-money bonus at work for saving the government literally hundreds of thousands of dollars! And I got to do it in my favorite way - by telling everyone essentially "Are you all FUCKING IDIOTS?!"

Also, considering I can write down "did not get blown up this week" for two weeks straight (two more than a lot of people, sadly) is enough to make me appreciate the sunshine.
posted by backseatpilot at 12:30 PM on April 26, 2013 [8 favorites]

My accomplishment is learning how to help in small ways and learning to be content with what I can do.

You've reminded me of a quote my aunt says is from St. Theresa - "we can't always do great things, but we can all do small things with great love."
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:30 PM on April 26, 2013 [2 favorites]

I was the most well dressed person on the subway today.
posted by The Whelk at 1:15 PM on April 26, 2013 [3 favorites]

Oh, and Metafilter was tangentially the reason why I was so well dressed.
posted by The Whelk at 1:34 PM on April 26, 2013

Most well-dressed? or Most-well dressed?
posted by Devils Rancher at 1:34 PM on April 26, 2013

Simply the best

Better than all the rest.
posted by The Whelk at 1:38 PM on April 26, 2013

I got up the nerve to undertake and persist through the (to me, intimidating and at times perplexing) process of a HARP mortgage refinance.

We are going to save approximately $40,000 in interest over the life of the loan, and also will have it paid off a year earlier.

[and Theoretical Dog is totally going to be my new band name]
posted by superna at 1:43 PM on April 26, 2013 [5 favorites]

I've not logged out since joining. Oh and I just realized that 33 is a road near me, and c4 is a part of the spine you don't wanna crack.


In reply to
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 2:35 PM on April 26, 2013 [1 favorite]

I've been in red tape hell for a job for almost two months now. And just a few minutes ago, I got an email saying that the limbo is over and I have the job.

Phew.
posted by sciencegeek at 3:22 PM on April 26, 2013 [13 favorites]

Oh, I think I forgot to mention that my son was accepted to Rice University's PhD program in philosophy. He and his wife are pretty happy about that, and we are too, but any hope of my winning an argument with him ever again has been totally extinguished.
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 6:16 PM on April 26, 2013 [8 favorites]

I get to move back to Pakistan! I can go back to work doing the things I love!
posted by bardophile at 7:06 PM on April 26, 2013 [5 favorites]

I volunteered at the syringe exchange this week, like I do lots of weeks, and packaged over 5,000 clean needles. I was in the back alone doing the packaging, because there were more than enough volunteers to staff the front where clients come in, and it felt a little lonely back there. I have a lot of hang-ups about how well I actually do at client-facing work, and being alone doing packaging or filing work sometimes reinforces the notions I've built up about being too socially incompetent to deal with people. When I think about it though? Over 5,000 clean needles ready to distribute to people who really need them is pretty badass.

On a semi-related note, I finally discovered an academic paper that grapples with topics I've been thinking about obsessively for a while now. It's coming up on a year since my favorite professor/mentor who turned me on to the idea of harm reduction took his own life. Several months after that, I saw this FPP about the suicide of a syringe exchange founder in Seattle and thought, 'shit, another person.' I know, sample size of two, teeny tiny, but it felt significant somehow.

And now, here is a real paper, in a real peer-reviewed journal, that builds on my teeny tiny sample. Tough to read, but good to see these thoughts articulated in a place that's not the inside of my head.
posted by ActionPopulated at 7:11 PM on April 26, 2013 [10 favorites]

I don't have any triumphs to report, but tomorrow I'm going to my second appointment with my first proper therapist. Two weeks ago, the first appointment went well. I feel optimistic.
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 7:45 PM on April 26, 2013 [24 favorites]

That is TOTALLY triumphant, Rustic Etruscan. Best of luck!
posted by sonika at 7:56 PM on April 26, 2013

I have a new job that I LOVE (and now I totally get to refer to myself as a minion). I rode my bike today, and tomorrow I got to my first yoga class. I am also lucky to be an aunt to a REALLY adorable kid. Also also I am super lucky to have and know the really really great friends that I do.

Everything is coming up Milhouse around these parts.
posted by bibliogrrl at 8:27 PM on April 26, 2013 [3 favorites]

It's my birthday. Happy birthday, me! I always remember that it's my birthday when Cortex gets his birthday meta :)
posted by lollusc at 10:57 PM on April 26, 2013 [10 favorites]

I had leaving drinks for the job I've just finished and I got drunk and they gave me presents. Which is what should happen every Friday night actually!
posted by shelleycat at 1:35 AM on April 27, 2013

I am taking a class for a certification for work and we had to take a pre-test. I was pretty nervous, because this job is in a different field than my old one and I don't feel like I understand anything outside of my actual job function.

So I took the pre-test and was sad that I only got a 62. But the instructor said that in twenty years of teaching the certification material, the highest pre-test score he'd ever seen was 68, so maybe I know more than I thought!
posted by winna at 7:31 AM on April 27, 2013 [2 favorites]

I found that out a woman I extricated from a car wreck had spinal fractures in two spots, which is of course terrible for her, but I'm glad that my actions may have prevented permanent neurological damage. I believe she will recover completely.

Also, I've been making slamming progress on my book lately, which feels amazing. The times when it almost writes itself more than make up for the days when it feels like I'm dragging a dead whale across a debris field of rusty railroad ties.
posted by itstheclamsname at 9:07 AM on April 27, 2013 [11 favorites]

I got into grad school! I'm going to be a mathematician!
posted by downing street memo at 10:57 AM on April 27, 2013 [23 favorites]

I have fallen into the habit of performing Random Acts Of Kindness whenever I get a chance. I do my best to keep them anonymous, because I get so much out of it I don't want or need thanks. Some are small, some are big, but I find that they all have made a difference.

I highly recommend this habit.
posted by Lulu's Pink Converse at 12:22 PM on April 27, 2013 [2 favorites]

Lulu's, I just wanted to thank you for this comment, in concert with your sentiment above, because it's a nice reminder that finding the practical avenues of generous or kind impulses is just as important as the impulse itself.
posted by Cold Lurkey at 4:06 PM on April 27, 2013

Just reading through some contentious behemoth of a MeTa and it made me want more group hugs. So I decided to comment here instead of there.

(((((((((((

{so, I need about ten people to provide the other half of that hug, in case you couldn't figure it out -- or one very huggy person, I guess}
posted by Michele in California at 7:07 PM on April 27, 2013 [3 favorites]

I'm leaving for Scotland, Faroes and Iceland for five weeks, in about three weeks !!
Excited to be back in the North Atlantic again !!
posted by seawallrunner at 7:07 PM on April 27, 2013

Today I went to an all-day shape note singing event, the first time I'd sung at all in several months. Singing happened in an adorable little Quaker house meeting with flowers in bloom all over the grounds. There was a huge, lavish potluck lunch where I ate better than I probably have in weeks. There was a small party afterwards at the house of some local singers, a gorgeous old wooden house surrounded by hills with a stream alongside. I flopped on the grass there with the world's most affectionate dog (no pics, she's not mine), and sat knitting in the sun while instrumentalists made music around me, and sang a little more. I've been working for at least some part of every weekend since February now, hadn't been more than an hour outside the city in months. Being depressed and constantly looking for better work means constantly beating myself up for time spent lying around or sitting on the internet doing nothing. I didn't do a single job search thing today, but there is no way I could possibly fault myself for a day of singing and good people and beautiful scenery and the best dog ever.
posted by ActionPopulated at 8:05 PM on April 27, 2013 [3 favorites]

I'll be auditioning for Jeopardy! in NYC next month. : )
posted by SisterHavana at 12:10 AM on April 28, 2013 [2 favorites]

Yo Michele in California! Here's two from across the world! ))
posted by bardophile at 12:42 AM on April 28, 2013 [1 favorite]

)
posted by iamkimiam at 12:57 AM on April 28, 2013 [1 favorite]

Oh hey SisterHavana, me too! Audition meetup? (I assume they're all on the same day...)
posted by ActionPopulated at 6:32 AM on April 28, 2013 [2 favorites]

Today is my fifth anniversary at my job, easily the best, hardest, most enjoyable job I've ever had.
posted by gingerbeer at 11:34 AM on April 28, 2013 [5 favorites]

Got through the 6th anniversary of my brother's death with only ONE minor emotional breakdown. The co-worker on the receiving end of that breakdown couldn't have been more gracious and gave me big, big hugs. SO glad this week is over.

On a much more positive note: I've talked about working in the electronic music world on the blue, and in a weird one-two punch I ended up being the featured vocalist on a new single by one of my Chicago house music idols, which was then remixed by one of my UK house music idols. This has led to other releases with other artists and labels in that world, with more music on the way. All of this stems from said Chicago artist adding me on Facebook as a fan of his work!
posted by tantrumthecat at 1:42 PM on April 28, 2013 [6 favorites]

ActionPopulated: I audition on the 23rd but I will be in town until the 26th. I'd be up for a meetup!
posted by SisterHavana at 5:19 PM on April 28, 2013

I was going to claim the achievement of going to bed before midnight, but I just noticed it's 12:13. DAMMIT.
posted by maryr at 9:12 PM on April 28, 2013

...I've finished reading the thread now and noticed that apparently Metafilter's clock and my computer's clock do not match. Huh.
posted by maryr at 9:52 PM on April 28, 2013

On separate occasions, I bumped into Robert Mugabe's wife and her entourage, and Kim Jong Un's elder brother's entourage in different hotel lobbies. The Kim dude is a massive Eric Clapton fan, apparently. Robert Mugabe's wife was dining at a restaurant called Ku De Tah, with nary a hint of irony.
posted by the cydonian at 11:21 PM on April 28, 2013 [2 favorites]

I threw an amazing lavish mad-tea-party for a good friend's 30th birthday
Completed 3 freelance contracts in addition to my regular job, and my social life has been nothing short of bizarre. Then my body decided I was doing too much and gave me a kidney infection in thanks. I'm just getting over it now, and am looking forward to again enjoying such fine activities as eating and existing without a headache.
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 11:24 PM on April 28, 2013

Started reading this thread. Felt guilty. Busted my ass to finish translating a screenplay. It's done, and I can enjoy the long weekend.
posted by Wrinkled Stumpskin at 1:54 AM on April 29, 2013 [3 favorites]

Tiny update: I passed the bar!

*happy dance*
posted by jph at 12:30 PM on May 2, 2013 [21 favorites]

TINY update are you KIDDING me?! YOU PASSED THE BAR!!!!!!
posted by KathrynT at 12:31 PM on May 2, 2013

Serious awesomesauce, congrats!!
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 12:31 PM on May 2, 2013

NOW BEGINS THE FESTIVAL OF THE PAPER HATS
posted by The Whelk at 12:33 PM on May 2, 2013

Objection! That is a large update, your honor!

Congratulations, jph!
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 12:34 PM on May 2, 2013 [1 favorite]

I passed the bar!

On the left hand side?
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 12:52 PM on May 2, 2013 [1 favorite]

(Sometimes you pass the bar, and sometimes... well, sometimes the bar, he pass you.)
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 12:54 PM on May 2, 2013 [2 favorites]

Bars are like buoys, they only have two sides - inside, and outside. And it's important to be on the correct one of those two options.
posted by the man of twists and turns at 12:54 PM on May 2, 2013

Well congratulations, jph, but let this be a lesson to you: bars are indigestible.
posted by Lemurrhea at 12:57 PM on May 2, 2013 [6 favorites]

I have been at my new job for almost a year and I'm still really happy to be here, and my boss is still awesome, and our new teammate is super-cool.
posted by epersonae at 1:36 PM on May 2, 2013 [1 favorite]

I've been passing right by the bar for 15 years now, on my way home every night. That's something, I think.

Looks like we're gonna print 180,000 shirts again this week. INSANE! That's more than I printed in my first TWO YEARS, back in the garage days.
posted by Devils Rancher at 2:45 PM on May 2, 2013 [3 favorites]

Patrick, well deserved congratulations are due! Happy dance!
posted by arcticseal at 10:08 PM on May 2, 2013 [1 favorite]

I love this thread :)

Finally have an update of my own to add... my band's album got finished in mixing last night. We're due to master it in a few weeks at Abbey Road, which I can't quite believe. That place is like Mecca to me.
posted by greenish at 1:57 AM on May 3, 2013 [4 favorites]

Y'all are rocking your respective worlds. Hell yeah.

I don't think I have any big (or even medium) high-fiveable events lately, but I'm hanging in there through some tough situations that have been chronic for years, so yeah, go me.
posted by rmd1023 at 9:21 AM on May 3, 2013 [4 favorites]

Just got a relatively massive raise this afternoon. I'm so brainwashed by Apple that all I an think is NEW MAC!! NEW MAC!!

(The G5 will be 10 this summer...)
posted by Devils Rancher at 6:13 PM on May 3, 2013 [2 favorites]

I know I've already commented here, but I went swimming today for the first time in years. It was hard. I did nothing but backstrokes. I plan to start taking lessons to improve my form and learn how to breathe facing down.
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 6:39 PM on May 3, 2013 [1 favorite]

I taught my kid to sing Pete Seeger's "Beans in my Ears" today!
posted by bardophile at 6:50 AM on May 4, 2013

I've apparently managed to interest another Mefite into volunteering for the kayaking program in Brooklyn I work with - and the season is just about to kick off, and we're all out on our beach today inviting people to check us out. (See you later, staccato!)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:25 AM on May 4, 2013 [2 favorites]

In two weeks (if all goes well), I can say I haven't gambled for 1 year.
posted by BozoBurgerBonanza at 11:31 PM on April 25

Update...one year today
posted by BozoBurgerBonanza at 7:05 AM on May 14, 2013 [24 favorites]

Wow - well done BBB :)
posted by greenish at 7:30 AM on May 14, 2013

Wow - Abbey Road - well done to you, Greenish
posted by BozoBurgerBonanza at 9:33 AM on May 14, 2013

I announced to all my friends and family that I'm going to have a baby. I finally (finally) got an offer for a decent job after months (and months) of job hunting. I move this weekend and start my new life on Monday.
posted by lostburner at 2:49 AM on May 15, 2013 [7 favorites]

I just got shortlisted for an academic job interview! (The downside: I have exactly one week to prepare for interview + job talk, it's slightly out of my area, I have no idea what to wear, and I just used up this week's ask metafilter question two days ago.)
posted by lollusc at 5:39 PM on May 15, 2013 [4 favorites]

lollusc, that's awesome! An achievement in itself.
posted by en forme de poire at 6:57 PM on May 15, 2013

What to wear: you probably want to wear a suit, even though it is an academic job. You're probably going to have to talk to at least one dean, and the whole "suit=what is he selling?" rule seems to be waived for job interviews. I'm in math which is very much a "wear t-shirts during your keynote presentation" sort of field, and everyone wears suits for job interviews. It is, however, the only time I ever wore a tie at my workplace.
posted by Elementary Penguin at 1:36 AM on May 16, 2013

Seconded on the suit. I think it's pretty hard to dress too formally for an interview.
posted by greenish at 2:16 AM on May 16, 2013

I mean unless you're interviewing to be a kids' TV presenter, in which case I think if you don't turn up in a neon shirt and cargo shorts then you're just sent home.
posted by greenish at 2:17 AM on May 16, 2013

When I was at the big math meeting interview fest, there was one person who interviewed in orange bowling shoes, red pants held up with rainbow suspenders, and a bowling shirt with a bow tie, and he actually got a nice tenure-track job somewhere I can't remember right now, but I think you really have to own that to make it work.
posted by Elementary Penguin at 2:25 AM on May 16, 2013

A bit more than a week after starting my new job, my boss was in a motorcycle accident and broke a few ribs and messed up some ligaments. There's just the two of us in the garden so this means that I'm the only one working as of the beginning of this week - although I'm getting some help from the parks guys. I'm on day three of working alone, I've given two 90 minute tours, handled some exciting PR/scheduling issues, and while I'm totally stressed out by this, I haven't freaked out and run for the hills. Today, the chairman of our board is giving a tour for some VIPs, and I think I have a handle on how to get the place prepped for their visit.

No idea when my boss will be able to come in - not to do physical work at this point obviously, just to guide me on the next big project - I'm really worried about him. So please send him some healing mojo.
posted by sciencegeek at 3:05 AM on May 16, 2013

Thanks for the what to wear tips! I've seen other people giving academic job talks around here (I'm interviewing at my current institution) and I'd say 50% of the men wear suits, but none of the women do. I'm female. On the other hand, I've only seen maybe two female job candidates before (vs about eight men), so they might not be representative.

I'll probably skip the orange bowling shoes no matter what, though.
posted by lollusc at 6:48 AM on May 16, 2013

It really depends on your field. I'm an ecologist, and I don't know that I've ever seen a female ecologist wear a suit, including to a job interview. I didn't wear a suit to any interview, and I do now have a job. Male ecologists might wear suits to interviews, but we're all definitely more of a slacks and button up shirt or sweater kind of group.
posted by hydropsyche at 8:46 AM on May 16, 2013

Yeah, I kind of know the norms for my field, but this job is in a different department (although they claim to want someone from my field). The search committee is full of historians and literature people.
posted by lollusc at 4:51 PM on May 16, 2013

I made an adult! My daughter turned 21 today, and is at her full-time job at Lockheed Martin, getting ready to do big things with rockets.
posted by Devils Rancher at 9:13 AM on May 17, 2013 [9 favorites]

My first book got a starred review from Publisher's Weekly!

Eeee!
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 3:07 PM on May 17, 2013 [26 favorites]

!!!! PhoB!!! That is fantastic! Congratulations!
posted by rtha at 3:18 PM on May 17, 2013

Thank you !
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 3:41 PM on May 17, 2013

Well done, PhoB!
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 3:43 PM on May 17, 2013

Congratulations, PhoB! Fantastic news.
posted by MonkeyToes at 4:56 AM on May 18, 2013

I am irrationally pleased and proud about your starred review, PhoB, given that we don't actually know each other. I love good YA literature and am really looking forward to the book coming out. I enjoy your reviews at Goodreads, too.

What a moment that must have been for you, when you saw that!

I suppose you're already working on the next one.
posted by not that girl at 6:21 AM on May 18, 2013 [1 favorite]

The second one (and the series; it's a duology so no epic GRRM wait for the end or anything) is all finished! It will be out in Summer 2014, a year from the first. My agent and I are currently figuring out what I'm going to do next. And thank you so much, not that girl! It really means a lot to me. metafilter has been a big support as I moved from my poetry MFA and into fiction. Couldn't have done any of it without you guys.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 6:43 AM on May 18, 2013 [3 favorites]

It's funny, because I was on Amazon the other day poking around, and I checked my wishlist because I was...poking around (I am a haphazard wishlist user, and frequently forget that I even have one) and saw that I had your book on it, and I was like wait, why did I put this book on here? Where did I run across it and what was the context that made me throw it on the list? Then maybe the next day, I was here on the 'filters and ran across some thread where you said something smart and my brain went OH HEY that's why we put that book on the list! And now a starred review! As an editor whose previous jobs involved religiously reading all the PW reviews (I miss that part of those previous jobs, and also the part that came with free books and free galleys and free review copies), I still have a very visceral OH HELL YES to seeing a starred review. I'm so happy for you, and I can't wait to read the book.
posted by rtha at 9:55 AM on May 18, 2013 [1 favorite]

Not to diminish your accomplishment, PhoB, but I'm not that surprised. Your comments here are so often freaking brilliant that, well... it just makes sense, you know what I'm saying? But really, congratulations!
posted by invitapriore at 11:07 AM on May 18, 2013

I'm sure that this wasn't the original intention, but this thread has taught me the odd lesson that, despite my upbringing and instincts, I should brag more. Because if you hearing about my good news makes you anywhere near as happy as I have been hearing about your good news, it's totally AWESOME to be a certain kind of braggart.

(Now, of course, I just have to get my act together to do something I feel like bragging about.)
posted by MCMikeNamara at 1:47 PM on May 18, 2013 [7 favorites]

The conference went super well, bunch of projects are lining up, a paper about autism as a methodological strategy is being published in apper review journal next month.
posted by PinkMoose at 4:30 PM on May 18, 2013 [5 favorites]

I was born in 1965. I have now been favorited on Metafilter 1965 times. Happy unbirthday (or early birthday) to me.

(When I had a brain, I was a minor math geek. Now that my brain has gone to mush, being thrilled about something like that is the best I can do.)

Oh, and happy unbirthday to other people too.
posted by Michele in California at 2:37 PM on May 20, 2013 [2 favorites]

It was my actual birthday when you posted that, so thanks! (I was born in '65 too.)
posted by litlnemo at 4:49 AM on May 23, 2013 [2 favorites]

Happy Belated Birthday! (Mine is still a couple-ish weeks away.)
posted by Michele in California at 7:44 AM on May 23, 2013

I graduated undergraduate university, I am what feels to be ancient, compared to what seems like so many in my situation, and 'tis not as neat as 9/9ths of the amazing accomplishments of folks here, but I feel proud, and needed to share so I can say how I owe MF for convincing me to stop making things more difficult every year by sabotaging my own progress, non-literally tying one hand behind the back, or not wearing glasses to a reading fight as a "challenge", "because I was gifted". I needed to say thanks for helping me to stop feeling ashamed of utilizing prescribed accommodations for learning disabilities (or psyching myself up to not using them and "toughing" it out, and regretting it deeply every single time in the end; surely a recursive way to feel Not Good, Frequently). I can say that even just reading answers to other folks' questions has been very valuable, and all of the input and shared experiences of folks from all angles and many perspectives, it is great; as a side note, seeing all of textual passion for topics large and small, grand, grandiose, and minute, and all things between have been sources of inspiration (or something else good like that). Long story short MF is good people, Thank You.

Graduate programs weren't interested in me, and found others much more interesting, so, eek, and ouch, and sort of one step forwards, two sideways, but That Is Life (which is not what TIL means, I learned/realized several days ago). New Directions, here I come am :)

Also I recently turned 28 after keeping a really low profile during 27 so I am now almost certain I will not be A Rockstar, which is comforting on so many levels.
posted by infinite intimation at 12:09 AM on May 25, 2013 [6 favorites]