Still wondering after all these years May 14, 2022 11:14 AM   Subscribe

What AskMe of yours are you still curious about? What was never resolved?

I'm still looking for some YA book about a girl who dresses as a boy to work at a baseball stadium and somehow the mafia and a prostitute are involved. You?

Let's keep it to our own AskMes, in case someone would prefer not to have attention drawn to their own old question.
posted by The corpse in the library to MetaFilter-Related at 11:14 AM (75 comments total) 14 users marked this as a favorite

Still no idea what’s wrong with my leg. It actually hasn’t been bothering me a ton lately, but I suppose it doesn’t matter much, since I now have a hip labral tear as well. Stupid decomposing body.
posted by obfuscation at 11:25 AM on May 14, 2022


Looking back through my Asks, I've been fortunate to have gotten a lot of good answers to most of them.

But for this particular question, although people had quite a few good guesses, none of the answers given rang a bell: Who was this difficult child expert from the late 80s early 90s?

I don't even remember why I wanted to know... possibly just idle curiousity. It still bugs me that I can't remember, though.
posted by Serene Empress Dork at 11:43 AM on May 14, 2022


I never did find out who the Loremaster was.
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 11:48 AM on May 14, 2022




I’ve not yet identified the hoochkerpoochkerplinkerplong.
posted by moonmilk at 12:33 PM on May 14, 2022 [1 favorite]


I still want to know what This Thing is, even though I am permanently working from home and will never have to sit in one of those awful window-less conference rooms again.
posted by bondcliff at 12:35 PM on May 14, 2022 [6 favorites]


This book has yet to be identified. And the green's not the only place I've asked.
posted by Rash at 12:50 PM on May 14, 2022


I still feel like this checklist thing that I wanted should be something available on the modern web. And maybe it is now.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 1:01 PM on May 14, 2022


Never got a good understanding of editions of The Baltimore Catechism.

No one found that article on annuities I was looking for.
posted by FencingGal at 1:17 PM on May 14, 2022


My question about the lyrics to Charles Mingus's 'Fables of Faubus' was answered both thoroughly and expertly, but I asked it because I volunteered to write an encyclopedia entry about the song, and, a year later, I haven't gotten around to writing it. I should fix that.

I did not get an answer to my question about a videotape-based thought experiment. I mostly blame myself for not phrasing it better, and, who knows, maybe imagining the whole thing.
posted by box at 1:44 PM on May 14, 2022 [2 favorites]


Still haven't heard any examples of people with mental health disabilities challenging fees or other penalties that come about from deadlines impacted by their disability.
posted by corb at 1:58 PM on May 14, 2022


Bondcliff: for some reason I'm wondering if maybe the Mysterious Thing was somehow involved with the packing/shipping for the stuff that got installed, and had to be removed for installation - and no one knew what to do with it. Or, it was an alternate means for installing or mounting the equipment you got that was also included in the box, your company went a different route, but didn't want to throw the things away.

As for my own question: I still want to know what Scandinavian cartoon I saw about a neurodivergent girl in the late 90s or early aughts.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:01 PM on May 14, 2022 [2 favorites]




box: How about chapter 5 (~p. 92) of the 2013 edition of William Poundstone's "The Recursive Universe" ? He referred to the concept as Universal Video Library, and apparently used it as a way to talk about Maxwell's demon, info. theory, etc. The relevant excerpt came up on Google Books for me, but I can't figure out how to share that part specifically.
posted by mean square error at 4:27 PM on May 14, 2022 [1 favorite]




One of my earliest asks was re-finding the link to a math blog that featured a bizarre method of graphing functions that couldn't possibly work but did on the two examples the author did. I always wanted to go back and look at it in more detail, but it seems to have disappeared from the web with only me remembering its existence.
posted by wittgenstein at 7:21 PM on May 14, 2022 [2 favorites]


I'm still wondering about a Hello Kitty song, a movie or TV show with really stinky cheese, and the title of a book I read as a kid that taught me a handful of Chinese (or Japanese) characters.
posted by hanov3r at 8:14 PM on May 14, 2022 [1 favorite]


Redstart, maybe the answer is versatility? A "9×2 inch square pan holds 10 cups of batter, the same as a 10×2 inch round pan, 11×7 inch pan, 9×2.5 inch springform pan, 10×3 inch Bundt pan, and a 10×15 inch jelly roll pan."
posted by Iris Gambol at 8:46 PM on May 14, 2022 [3 favorites]


I still am not sure if this kids book is real, or if I imagined it.
posted by vrakatar at 8:55 PM on May 14, 2022 [1 favorite]


Someone please come up with Rash's book title as I now desperately want to read it. (Course it'll probably be unobtanium if ferreted out).
posted by Mitheral at 9:14 PM on May 14, 2022


Redstart, maybe the answer is versatility?

But that versatility isn't a new thing. If people like them now because they're more versatile, why didn't they figure out 10 or 20 years ago that they were more versatile? Why are the same stores that used to carry 8x8 pans now carrying 9x9 pans instead? What's driving the change - demand from consumers or a push by retailers? And what changed that made people want 9x9 pans more than they used to or made stores want us to buy them instead of buying 8x8 pans? Somewhere, I know there must be people who know the answer to this. I wish one of them was on Metafilter.
posted by Redstart at 9:44 PM on May 14, 2022




I think I only have one truly unanswered question - looking for copies of the Lost billboards I saw all over London in 2005.
posted by muddgirl at 9:55 PM on May 14, 2022




corb, this is since your question was asked, but I failed to make a decision in 2020 in time to take advantage of something that would have saved me money (combining two pensions). I successfully challenged the decision, citing depression that had stopped me responding in time. I think it helped that this was during the pandemic so MH problems were a bit more accepted.

I didn't get an answer about what works in training; there were some answers but not the research-based stuff I was looking for.

British puzzle magazines do not appear to be available in the Vendée - lack of answers may be an answer in itself I suppose.

Children's historical book unidentified.

No teaching blogs.

Poem about Aphrodite (was just thinking about this again yesterday).
posted by paduasoy at 1:05 AM on May 15, 2022


I still can't find this book, it made such a impact on me. I would love to find it...Question
posted by Lesium at 2:09 AM on May 15, 2022


I still can’t find this and it will haunt me forever. The only thing that’s changed is that when i try to Google it, I get my own question here.
posted by thivaia at 4:14 AM on May 15, 2022 [5 favorites]


It’s not that old, but I’m still bereft of all my recipe notes from Epicurious.
posted by daisyace at 6:23 AM on May 15, 2022


I still don't know what was behind that scary glowing door.
posted by yankeefog at 6:30 AM on May 15, 2022


Also, in looking through all my old questions, there were a few that gave me a little frisson of joy to remember how satisfyingly they were answered. Maybe a future thread would be good that’s the reverse of this one.
posted by daisyace at 6:32 AM on May 15, 2022 [4 favorites]


Maybe we should tag them unresolved or stillwondering or something.
posted by paduasoy at 6:47 AM on May 15, 2022 [6 favorites]


Still never found the public access television clip with eggs in a pan of water saying "it's getting very hot, we'd like to get out now..." followed by screaming
posted by scruss at 7:03 AM on May 15, 2022 [1 favorite]


In the intervening 14 years I have not yet found an adequate storage practice for junk cereal to ensure the bottom of the box isn't boring. The sideways thing doesn't mitigate the problem as much as I'd like, though it's what I still do.
posted by majick at 8:43 AM on May 15, 2022


I have asked twice about this travelogue from BC to Alaska and back through the Darien Gap to South America and it is still a mystery.
posted by jacquilynne at 9:31 AM on May 15, 2022


I just looked an my asks to see if I had any applicable to this thread and, wow, one of them has aged extremely poorly.
posted by paper chromatographologist at 10:20 AM on May 15, 2022 [3 favorites]


I've still not used any of the wheat starch, or found a use for it that made sense to me.
posted by Too-Ticky at 10:33 AM on May 15, 2022


Dang it! I had only just managed to forget about this and now it's back to destroy my sleep again.
posted by Don Pepino at 11:20 AM on May 15, 2022 [1 favorite]


I’d still love to find the diary of an American guy who studied in the UK in the 1980s.
posted by penguin pie at 11:50 AM on May 15, 2022


I just looked an my asks to see if I had any applicable to this thread and, wow, one of them has aged extremely poorly.

Don't be so hard on yourself, lots of folks get confused by those weird live photo things.
posted by solotoro at 11:53 AM on May 15, 2022 [5 favorites]


Goodness - I didn't realise I'd done 52 AskMe questions so far; assumed it was 20 to 30.

One of my earliest, on tracking down a specific cartoon about academia, didn't get any results, alas.

And a February 2015 one - Russia invades the Baltic States - then what? - I suspect would get more answers now.

But - and I still get the occasional message about this - the one that seems to have generated the most emotion or passion is an October 2018 one: Do you let your cat see you naked?
posted by Wordshore at 12:10 PM on May 15, 2022 [3 favorites]


I just looked an my asks to see if I had any applicable to this thread and, wow, one of them has aged extremely poorly.

It's okay; some people still use Windows 7, apparently.
posted by Wordshore at 12:12 PM on May 15, 2022 [5 favorites]


Yep, I never got a positive identification of Mr. Bigfoot.
posted by workerant at 12:18 PM on May 15, 2022


Not my question, but every once in a while I try to find this science fiction short story about an intelligent space suit who recreates his dead human user out of bacteria.
posted by Kattullus at 12:29 PM on May 15, 2022 [2 favorites]


The "Persian Mother's Gift" mystery parcel is still very much a mystery. Never any leads to begin with, still absolutely no ideas. The envelope and watch sit on a small shelf by the front door. About once a week, I look at it and wonder.
posted by 2N2222 at 1:17 PM on May 15, 2022 [4 favorites]


In the intervening 14 years I have not yet found an adequate storage practice for junk cereal to ensure the bottom of the box isn't boring. The sideways thing doesn't mitigate the problem as much as I'd like, though it's what I still do.

Store the box upside down?
posted by tiny frying pan at 1:44 PM on May 15, 2022 [2 favorites]


Not my question, but every once in a while I try to find this science fiction short story about an intelligent space suit who recreates his dead human user out of bacteria

Aargh. I'm 90% sure I found that same story via MeFi (or was it a Stack Exchange?). Details of the story seem faintly different: dude has option to not buy fusion powered life-support suit for long cryo-flight, takes the option, ship is torn apart by meteorite leaving him only survivor. He lives for hundreds of years (mostly asleep but reanimated for his birthday). Dude dies, and the suit keeps floating for aeons. Crash lands on planet, suit breeds humanoid life forms and teaches them language, etc. Suit is finally destroyed when making a copy of itself, but new culture has fusion power yay.

It's not the really depressing one about the autonomous suit dragging its dead occupant back to base on the surface of a planet/moon.
posted by scruss at 3:28 PM on May 15, 2022 [1 favorite]


That’s exactly the story, scruss.

I’ve checked, but this story keeps getting sought for on Stack Exchange, and not found (1, 2, 3).
posted by Kattullus at 10:17 PM on May 15, 2022 [2 favorites]


I asked for more Bollywood movies like the utterly wonderful Gully Boy (Go watch it! It's so good! Free with Amazon Prime) and got no responses. Maybe there are no such movies.
posted by pH Indicating Socks at 12:12 AM on May 16, 2022


Still searching for tamales in my neighborhood!
posted by calgirl at 12:49 AM on May 16, 2022


What I thought was a Ray Carver story but isn't: A mother takes a creative writing course (after trying other art courses?) and really takes to it. One of her stories is called something like "The Beast that ate Cleveland" and it's terrible and her husband says as much but she knows ... It's a story about making art and I... would like to read it again.

The other un-answered question was related to an article/review in The Village Voice back in the early 90's it was about an Italian clown who balances a piano on his chin.
posted by From Bklyn at 12:58 AM on May 16, 2022 [1 favorite]


I'm still looking for good quality plus-sized jeans. There were great suggestions in that thread, and I have the promotional emails from nearly all the brands recommended, but skinny jeans and elastane are the worst*. Even the exact same jeans I bought from Macy's 5 years ago have a different, presumably cheaper composition now. I have just accepted that I'm going to wear the thighs out of cheap stretchy "denim" while I keep looking for my 100% cotton denim unicorn.

*In jeans, for me. It's amazing in a jean jacket though.
posted by ApathyGirl at 10:51 AM on May 16, 2022


ApathyGirl, do you have a seamstress in your area? If you find one that is able/willing to work on jeans, then buying men's jeans (as you mention doing) might still be a good option.

Since you value the cotton/material of the jeans, buying something that is too large in the waste/in-seam/leg/whatever but is made of the material you want and then having the pants altered to suit your preference is the way to go.

It will add to the cost of the purchase, of course, but you may find the extra cost (which really should be affordable, relatively speaking) is worth it in the end.

I'd start with jeans that fit you at the waste and then have everything else taken in accordingly.
posted by oddman at 11:40 AM on May 16, 2022 [1 favorite]


I still want to know who the artist was who made my ring. And I still haven't ever found greengages in NYC.
posted by Mchelly at 4:25 PM on May 16, 2022


(Oh man I wish this thread was about other people's unresolved questions because I have several that are on my mind ALL THE DAMN TIME.)
posted by BlahLaLa at 4:44 PM on May 16, 2022 [6 favorites]


This embarrasing question. I didn't explain myself properly, and everyone seemed to assume that I would keep my second marriage from my potential partner - NOT TRUE. It's one of the reasons I don't answer much or post much; I am not always good at arranging my thoughts into words.
posted by annieb at 4:48 PM on May 16, 2022


It's okay; some people still use Windows 7, apparently.

Ha! I'm one hour removed from a meeting where we discussed removing the last 100 machines onsite that are still on Windows 7. (We also have a handful of XP machines and legends of a Win 95 machine that is only booted up once a year to print one report. XP and 95 are fortunately not on the network.)

Any ask I have that is not answered is esoteric enough that I assumed no answer was forthcoming. I have enough faith in the AskMe crowd to ask on the off chance (which happens quite often) that I would be pleasantly surprised with an answer.
posted by a non mouse, a cow herd at 8:18 AM on May 17, 2022


Kattulus and scruss, are you guys talking about "Coffins", by Robert Reed, IDed in this AskMe?
posted by hanov3r at 8:47 AM on May 17, 2022 [5 favorites]


oddman: I'd start with jeans that fit you at the waste and then have everything else taken in accordingly.

I don't know whether apathygirl is shaped even remotely like me, but if I'd buy a pair of men's jeans that fit me around the waist, then I'd never be able to squeeze my bum and tighs inside.
posted by Too-Ticky at 12:00 PM on May 17, 2022 [2 favorites]


Yes! That is it, hanov3r, thank you!
posted by Kattullus at 12:38 PM on May 17, 2022 [2 favorites]


I still have no idea what this creepy music was that I used to hear on the radio in the 1970s (in the background, often under other music). I've been obsessing about it for decades. I still hear it in my head. Sometimes I find myself humming it. Given that we're talking about something very obscure from 50 years ago, I doubt I'll ever get closure. I try to spin it to myself as a good thing. Maybe the answer, if I knew it, would turn out to be pedestrian and anticlimactic. Maybe a mystery is more fulfilling.
posted by grumblebee at 12:52 PM on May 17, 2022 [1 favorite]


So, I was looking for shoes online at Macys, and thought 'I'll just check out what the state of men's jeans are in the big & tall category'... Most of those jeans are also stretch, except for cowboy cut Wranglers, some very expensive high end label stuff, and a few versions of Levis. I'm looking at the 505's which claim to be 100% cotton, go up to a 60" waist, and go as short as 29" (I'm 5'2"), this is promising!
But here's the weird part to me... when I pull up the size chart, the thigh measurement appears to be on a bell curve. I don't understand.

size | waist | hip | thigh
44 | 44-45 | 48.1/4-49.3/4 | 27.1/4-28.1/4
46 | 46-47 | 49.7/8-51.3/8 | 28-29
48 | 48-49 | 51.1/2-53.00 | 28.3/4-29.3/4
50 | 50-51 | 53.1/8-54.5/8 | 29.1/2-30.1/2
52 | 52-53 | 54.3/4-56.1/4 | 30.1/4-31.1/4
54 | 54-55 | 56.3/8-57.7/8 | 31-32
56 | 56-57 | 58.00-59.1/2 | 31
58 | 58-59 | 59.5/8-61.1/8 | 22.1/2-23.1/2
60 | 60-61 | 61.1/4-62.3/4 | 23-24

Like, why would the thigh be NINE inches narrower between a 58 and a 60?
posted by ApathyGirl at 1:25 PM on May 17, 2022


I would guess that's probably a data entry error.
posted by jacquilynne at 1:32 PM on May 17, 2022


I still have no idea what this creepy music was that I used to hear on the radio in the 1970s (in the background, often under other music).

There are a ton of CBS Radio Mystery Theater episodes on youtube if you want a nostalgic listen. The audio quality on the one's I've checked is pretty bad so really subtle effects might be lost.
posted by paper chromatographologist at 1:33 PM on May 17, 2022


Still being stalked. It’s gotten worse.
posted by The Last Sockpuppet at 4:47 PM on May 17, 2022 [1 favorite]


Seven years ago, I asked this question and got *crickets* -- zero zip nada comments. Last year I discovered scifi.stackexchange, asked the same question and got the answer in a half hour. What a difference six years made.
posted by y2karl at 7:58 PM on May 17, 2022 [4 favorites]


yankeefog, any chance it was The Third Eye? Sounds like the kind of creepy stuff I remember from that show.
posted by Dr. Wu at 8:38 PM on May 17, 2022


Thanks for the suggestion, Dr. Wu! Alas, according to that Wikipedia entry, it aired in the US on Nickelodeon, and we didn't have cable. The mystery remains unresolved. [CUE MYSTERIOUS MUSIC]
posted by yankeefog at 12:36 AM on May 18, 2022


I still don't know why the iconic arch is blurred out, what the poem is, or what was the title of that great song from Cote d'Ivoire.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:05 AM on May 18, 2022


This song *&^% haunts me. I can sing the whole thing, I have it all so locked into my head; it's well produced and professional and a total mystery despite some game attempts to solve the mystery.
posted by Shepherd at 4:02 PM on May 19, 2022


"There are a ton of CBS Radio Mystery Theater episodes on youtube if you want a nostalgic listen. The audio quality on the one's I've checked is pretty bad so really subtle effects might be lost."

Yes, but they don't have the creepy music that obsesses me. I've spent hours listening and haven't heard it. I suspect it was coming from the radio station and wasn't part of the the radio play. For some reason, they were playing it at the same time.
posted by grumblebee at 7:46 AM on May 20, 2022 [1 favorite]


The first two songs are still unnamed!

The first: funky jam band, late 90s, southeast US (probably), "you must make your own life easy and then your days too will be bright and free!"

The second: speech or spoken word contrasting the "party goers" (who plan what they're going to wear) and the "party throwers" (who figure out how much they're going to charge all the people coming to the party). Early 2000s college radio.

The third: Self-Storage.
posted by salvia at 8:26 PM on May 20, 2022


I didn't get any answers to this question, and I still haven't identified this story about a one-armed girl and a bully. Any help impressing my brother??
posted by cider at 11:46 AM on May 21, 2022


Still haven’t identified this song. And it was so good!
posted by clew at 1:47 PM on May 22, 2022




Still no idea where this tower is.
posted by holgate at 10:45 AM on June 9, 2022


« Older Metatalktail Hour: Chatter Box   |   MetaFilter: A Utopia of Rules? Newer »

You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments