Metatalktail Hour: Message in a bottle July 9, 2022 2:28 AM Subscribe
Sleep deprived me is not so creative today, but still as snoopy as usual, so I'll just ask you all to share the latest SFW, SFP (safe for privacy) image, vid, gif, etc. that you sent in a message. Or received.
Or just tell us what's up with you, what's going on in your life, what's shaking. But no pols plz!
Or just tell us what's up with you, what's going on in your life, what's shaking. But no pols plz!
Some photos of goatos I took recently.
posted by misteraitch at 2:49 AM on July 9, 2022 [12 favorites]
posted by misteraitch at 2:49 AM on July 9, 2022 [12 favorites]
Shouldn’t we get the img tag back for this thread?
posted by TedW at 3:47 AM on July 9, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by TedW at 3:47 AM on July 9, 2022 [5 favorites]
I’m at the tail end of a road trip to see my parents that we arranged to include some waystations with friends in the state where we went to college. I don’t have a place to post pictures, but the last photo I sent anyone was to a close friend from that time: a picture of Mr. eirias and Little eirias racing up the elephant stairs on the south side of campus.
posted by eirias at 3:53 AM on July 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by eirias at 3:53 AM on July 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
I realized last night that a normal person would have played some music or a video to see their sound-activated lights turn on and also that a loud fart will totally light them up.
posted by bendy at 4:09 AM on July 9, 2022 [7 favorites]
posted by bendy at 4:09 AM on July 9, 2022 [7 favorites]
laughed until we cried when we learned that
“once hunger takes over, brothers are no more”
posted by alchemist at 4:21 AM on July 9, 2022 [7 favorites]
“once hunger takes over, brothers are no more”
posted by alchemist at 4:21 AM on July 9, 2022 [7 favorites]
Usually, all I share imagewise with people is pictures of my kids, but randomly enough the last image I sent to someone is a part of a rather odd project.
A friend of mine is a poet who’s trilingual, Icelandic, Galician and Spanish. He asked me earlier this summer if I could send him some lines of poetry from my notebook, that I had never worked up into full poems. He would then translate/rewrite them into Spanish (I don’t credit him because he hasn’t decide how he wants to be credited, or under which name). The image is the first result, a poem based on four rather long lines I sent him.
I sent the image to my only friend who’s a native Spanish speaker, an Argentine poet who I met when we were teens, traveling around France (who I helped semi-illegally cross into Spain after her passport was stolen, but that’s another story). The only language we share is French, which she speaks with native fluency and I speak like a child. She liked it, which is good enough for me to think this is a worthwhile project.
posted by Kattullus at 5:05 AM on July 9, 2022 [7 favorites]
A friend of mine is a poet who’s trilingual, Icelandic, Galician and Spanish. He asked me earlier this summer if I could send him some lines of poetry from my notebook, that I had never worked up into full poems. He would then translate/rewrite them into Spanish (I don’t credit him because he hasn’t decide how he wants to be credited, or under which name). The image is the first result, a poem based on four rather long lines I sent him.
I sent the image to my only friend who’s a native Spanish speaker, an Argentine poet who I met when we were teens, traveling around France (who I helped semi-illegally cross into Spain after her passport was stolen, but that’s another story). The only language we share is French, which she speaks with native fluency and I speak like a child. She liked it, which is good enough for me to think this is a worthwhile project.
posted by Kattullus at 5:05 AM on July 9, 2022 [7 favorites]
The last image I sent (via text message) - the dragon fruit in my office is blooming.
Yesterday I came within 30 degrees of wrist rotation from showing a very new student a photo of human genitals while searching for an equipment part number. It's a photo of a photo made by a feminist woman artist and follows 100 other photos from the same museum exhibition. But, it' really not the way I want to introduce myself to a first year female grad student.
I've got a rule for how to use a cell phone in a space mostly occupied by Black Americans that I don't know, as a professional class white guy. (Horizontal, hand over the camera lens, so nobody thinks you're filming them). Now I have a rule for how to use a cell phone at work: don't let anybody see the screen until after you've found the thing you're looking for.
posted by eotvos at 5:14 AM on July 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
Yesterday I came within 30 degrees of wrist rotation from showing a very new student a photo of human genitals while searching for an equipment part number. It's a photo of a photo made by a feminist woman artist and follows 100 other photos from the same museum exhibition. But, it' really not the way I want to introduce myself to a first year female grad student.
I've got a rule for how to use a cell phone in a space mostly occupied by Black Americans that I don't know, as a professional class white guy. (Horizontal, hand over the camera lens, so nobody thinks you're filming them). Now I have a rule for how to use a cell phone at work: don't let anybody see the screen until after you've found the thing you're looking for.
posted by eotvos at 5:14 AM on July 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
I sent my wife a dancing Snoopy yesterday in response to her text that her annual scan was clear, and she is still cancer free. I don't see the exact GIF on Giphy, but it's the one you are seeing in your head.
posted by COD at 6:01 AM on July 9, 2022 [12 favorites]
posted by COD at 6:01 AM on July 9, 2022 [12 favorites]
On May 4th, my SIL sent me a text: "May the Fourth be With You!" And along with it was a picture of my nephew posing with a toy lightsaber, a hooded robe, and a SUPER-intense "I am totally a Jedi, seriously" stare.
I was at work, and immediately went down to the front desk - we have a flip-board style message board our security guy uses to post inspirational quotes every day, and I asked him to take a picture of me standing next to the message board where he had posted the exact same message to text them back.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:06 AM on July 9, 2022 [2 favorites]
I was at work, and immediately went down to the front desk - we have a flip-board style message board our security guy uses to post inspirational quotes every day, and I asked him to take a picture of me standing next to the message board where he had posted the exact same message to text them back.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:06 AM on July 9, 2022 [2 favorites]
From my Twitter Feed, from Boschbot. This was not the most recent one however, because Boschbot sends snippets from Hieronymus Bosch' Garden of earthly delights, and most are nsfw i suppose. But this one is sfw.
Horrible war news, interspersed with Boschbot and breughelbot to make them bearable is my current feed.
posted by 15L06 at 6:09 AM on July 9, 2022 [2 favorites]
Horrible war news, interspersed with Boschbot and breughelbot to make them bearable is my current feed.
posted by 15L06 at 6:09 AM on July 9, 2022 [2 favorites]
Just trying to catch a photo of a storm front, but finding something else that.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:25 AM on July 9, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:25 AM on July 9, 2022 [6 favorites]
Also, i take screenshots of the most striking of the totally random combinations to appear on my Twitter Feed/screen. Here one that is sfw / not war or violence.
posted by 15L06 at 6:26 AM on July 9, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by 15L06 at 6:26 AM on July 9, 2022 [3 favorites]
I think the last image I sent in a message is also the last one I posted to socials -- of the "I Voted" sticker I got with my primary ballot. This year, in addition to English, the stickers have Spanish and O'odham.
posted by egregious theorem at 6:53 AM on July 9, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by egregious theorem at 6:53 AM on July 9, 2022 [3 favorites]
My daughter: fucking little Cesar's for dinner tonight
Me: why can't you just give them some of the money I just sent you?
posted by Serene Empress Dork at 6:55 AM on July 9, 2022 [11 favorites]
Me: why can't you just give them some of the money I just sent you?
posted by Serene Empress Dork at 6:55 AM on July 9, 2022 [11 favorites]
I shared this TikTok. I’m happy to have got back into reading books, just read Queer Body Power and am starting Girls Can Kiss Now next!
It was good timing as Autostraddle are starting a book club this month.
posted by ellieBOA at 7:27 AM on July 9, 2022
It was good timing as Autostraddle are starting a book club this month.
posted by ellieBOA at 7:27 AM on July 9, 2022
The meme: I identify as a threat, my pronouns are try/me.
posted by blueberry monster at 7:42 AM on July 9, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by blueberry monster at 7:42 AM on July 9, 2022 [2 favorites]
This 'bookshelf' that I designed and got made by a local carpenter!
posted by dhruva at 7:55 AM on July 9, 2022 [23 favorites]
posted by dhruva at 7:55 AM on July 9, 2022 [23 favorites]
dhruva, that is super gorgeous!
posted by eirias at 8:59 AM on July 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by eirias at 8:59 AM on July 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
I am under a big deadline this weekend to finish an academic paper. Before I started my deep work writing blocks this morning, I went and picked some flowers from my garden.
posted by iamkimiam at 9:25 AM on July 9, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by iamkimiam at 9:25 AM on July 9, 2022 [6 favorites]
The last one I sent: "Doc, doc, ya gotta help me!!"
Here's the second to last one too, because I get such a laugh out of it.
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:21 AM on July 9, 2022
Here's the second to last one too, because I get such a laugh out of it.
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:21 AM on July 9, 2022
I sent this picture to my sister this morning. Last night I went to a small bonfire party and a new friend (she worked where not_on_display works though they didn't know each other and now she lives near me) brought one of those grilled cheese cast iron put-it-in-the-fire thingies and a bunch of fixings. We made some of the best grilled cheese that I have ever had.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 10:49 AM on July 9, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 10:49 AM on July 9, 2022 [2 favorites]
it was a gif of this tweet: You need to be wizardmaxxing. You need to be searching through dark places for obscure arcana. You need to be growing out your beard. You need to be sending people on quests. You need to buy more books. You need to live in a tower. You need to be wizardmaxxing.
posted by fleacircus at 10:50 AM on July 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by fleacircus at 10:50 AM on July 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
Damnit Serene Empress Dork. Currently wiping guffaw-spittle off my phone screen.
posted by obfuscation at 11:20 AM on July 9, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by obfuscation at 11:20 AM on July 9, 2022 [2 favorites]
Our doggie daycare is collecting submissions of zonked out dogs, and this is the pic I just emailed in.
posted by obfuscation at 11:31 AM on July 9, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by obfuscation at 11:31 AM on July 9, 2022 [4 favorites]
To a college friend, Can I wear this to my sister's baby shower? (trying to bring eccentric aunt at the disco energy to what I think will otherwise be a pretty staid garden party-style affair)
posted by thivaia at 2:15 PM on July 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by thivaia at 2:15 PM on July 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
I sent my wife a picture of this lamp hinting it would make a great gift for me, but she's a sensible woman and will not be spending the ridiculous amount the shop is asking for just for my little lark.
posted by Stanczyk at 2:37 PM on July 9, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by Stanczyk at 2:37 PM on July 9, 2022 [3 favorites]
I sent my wife and son this image. I was initially trying to use Dall E mini AI to generate an image of Fred "Mr." Rogers confidently striding away from an explosion (like an action move badass.) I wound up with a couple of images of cars on fire but not the right look on his face and one where he has this creepy smirk...I badly stitched the best elements of two together in MS paint and there you have it.
posted by Larry David Syndrome at 2:53 PM on July 9, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by Larry David Syndrome at 2:53 PM on July 9, 2022 [3 favorites]
A friend sent an image of a crab and I was inspired to do some very lazy photoshopping.
posted by jedicus at 3:57 PM on July 9, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by jedicus at 3:57 PM on July 9, 2022 [5 favorites]
Coming up on 6 hours of hiccups. I probably deserve it, but goddamn.
posted by eotvos at 4:21 PM on July 9, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by eotvos at 4:21 PM on July 9, 2022 [2 favorites]
From Google Photos:
Scenes from a garden:
Poppies in a breeze
Same from a slight remove
Cottontail baby bunny
Or alternately:
...from Facebook: 1, 2 and 3
posted by y2karl at 4:54 PM on July 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
Scenes from a garden:
Poppies in a breeze
Same from a slight remove
Cottontail baby bunny
Or alternately:
...from Facebook: 1, 2 and 3
posted by y2karl at 4:54 PM on July 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
I sent this Bored Panda page to a couple of friends. It's cats from the Bodega Cats Twitter feed. Someone commented on #40 that it is a cat from heaven. I, myself, immediately heard the Mr. Bean theme song in my head, so YMMV.
posted by bryon at 5:10 PM on July 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by bryon at 5:10 PM on July 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
I've been playing with fractals. I'm probably not doing this right, nor do I really understand what I'm doing, but I might print a poster or two for my wall anyway.
posted by MuChao at 6:42 PM on July 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by MuChao at 6:42 PM on July 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
I handed people physical images the last time I shared something. I brought along an "instant" photo setup to a July 4 cookout which included my large format camera, pre measured chemicals, a dark bag, and a bucket. I took some crappy phone photos of the results here.
posted by backseatpilot at 7:11 PM on July 9, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by backseatpilot at 7:11 PM on July 9, 2022 [4 favorites]
Our doggie daycare is collecting submissions of zonked out dogs, and this is the pic I just emailed in.
Ooh! I just took a photo of this zonked doggy resting on our couch today. We’re Rover-sitting her this week!
posted by bkpiano at 7:13 PM on July 9, 2022 [3 favorites]
Ooh! I just took a photo of this zonked doggy resting on our couch today. We’re Rover-sitting her this week!
posted by bkpiano at 7:13 PM on July 9, 2022 [3 favorites]
Sent my spouse this vid of someone pranking their cat.
posted by Mitheral at 7:21 PM on July 9, 2022 [11 favorites]
posted by Mitheral at 7:21 PM on July 9, 2022 [11 favorites]
some preposterously large garlic uncle brought from his farm and something a little more modest from my garden.
but this might be my favorite recent photo, ants escaping a burning log. needs caption.
posted by 20 year lurk at 8:44 PM on July 9, 2022 [2 favorites]
but this might be my favorite recent photo, ants escaping a burning log. needs caption.
posted by 20 year lurk at 8:44 PM on July 9, 2022 [2 favorites]
The most recent is a pic of some skull-choir ceramic faces I made in Open Studio this morning, sent to my mom.
Prior to that, that amazing pole-vault slo mo video to my physical therapist.
posted by gemmy at 8:53 PM on July 9, 2022 [2 favorites]
Prior to that, that amazing pole-vault slo mo video to my physical therapist.
posted by gemmy at 8:53 PM on July 9, 2022 [2 favorites]
> Some photos of goatos I took recently.
dumbo kid (goat)
posted by kliuless at 11:27 PM on July 9, 2022 [3 favorites]
dumbo kid (goat)
posted by kliuless at 11:27 PM on July 9, 2022 [3 favorites]
This is Baby, our 14 year old rescue cat. Before we got her she had been shaved to remove really bad fur matting. She was anemic and had a lot of out-of-range blood values and mobility problems. The vets told us not to get too attached. But now her floof is growing back, her blood values all look good and she loves to play and scamper after her toy. She even sprints after it occasionally! She's super talkative and loves belly rubs.
This is an Instagram post, and I've posted other pics since, but this is the most recent image I've actually messaged to someone.
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 5:14 AM on July 10, 2022 [5 favorites]
This is an Instagram post, and I've posted other pics since, but this is the most recent image I've actually messaged to someone.
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 5:14 AM on July 10, 2022 [5 favorites]
Oh bkpiano that’s a great zonk!
posted by obfuscation at 5:31 AM on July 10, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by obfuscation at 5:31 AM on July 10, 2022 [1 favorite]
According to the random little girl, "the gummy worm helps us." I'm actually in agreement with this statement.
Though the picture and framing was not originally my idea I took it and it certainly makes its point.
In conclusion: derpy leopard!
posted by majick at 6:16 AM on July 10, 2022
Though the picture and framing was not originally my idea I took it and it certainly makes its point.
In conclusion: derpy leopard!
posted by majick at 6:16 AM on July 10, 2022
Let's not forget bathroom trail.
Our daughter sent me a picture of the most compelling piece of art I've seen in a very long time. Alas, it was not for sale.
posted by majick at 6:36 AM on July 10, 2022 [2 favorites]
Our daughter sent me a picture of the most compelling piece of art I've seen in a very long time. Alas, it was not for sale.
posted by majick at 6:36 AM on July 10, 2022 [2 favorites]
I sent this photo of a staff recommendation note from a Barnes and Noble display to a friend last night, because it doesn't really read to me like a recommendation.
I think it's meant to convey that (a) you should read this book and (b) if you like this one, you should also check out this other book. But my initial read of it was "this book is a bummer, read this other book instead."
posted by the primroses were over at 9:45 AM on July 10, 2022 [1 favorite]
I think it's meant to convey that (a) you should read this book and (b) if you like this one, you should also check out this other book. But my initial read of it was "this book is a bummer, read this other book instead."
posted by the primroses were over at 9:45 AM on July 10, 2022 [1 favorite]
A mini pedalboard I made for my bass using a sheet music stand from my son's Casiotone.
posted by signal at 9:48 AM on July 10, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by signal at 9:48 AM on July 10, 2022 [1 favorite]
(not my photo, but topical to a conversation I was having about the perfect Snorlax plush which may have led to me dropping 60 bucks on this bad boy)
posted by btfreek at 10:21 AM on July 10, 2022
posted by btfreek at 10:21 AM on July 10, 2022
Also from Google Photos --
Swallowtail on red valerian
posted by y2karl at 11:44 AM on July 10, 2022 [1 favorite]
Swallowtail on red valerian
posted by y2karl at 11:44 AM on July 10, 2022 [1 favorite]
Someone sent me this image, which he found quite surprising. I replied that it should be an album cover.
I don't know what the album would sound like.
posted by Grangousier at 12:35 PM on July 10, 2022 [6 favorites]
I don't know what the album would sound like.
posted by Grangousier at 12:35 PM on July 10, 2022 [6 favorites]
"I don't know what the album would sound like."
If I saw a record with that cover and band name I'd assume I was about to hear a whiny-sounding white dude vocalist fronting an indie-esque band, but I have biases.
posted by majick at 1:15 PM on July 10, 2022 [1 favorite]
If I saw a record with that cover and band name I'd assume I was about to hear a whiny-sounding white dude vocalist fronting an indie-esque band, but I have biases.
posted by majick at 1:15 PM on July 10, 2022 [1 favorite]
That photo is absolutely terrifying. I love it.
posted by mochapickle at 1:25 PM on July 10, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by mochapickle at 1:25 PM on July 10, 2022 [1 favorite]
Someone reminded me of this 2014 GIF of Lance Stephenson blowing in LeBron James’ ear and it’s as delightful and ridiculous as I remembered.
posted by cheapskatebay at 1:43 PM on July 10, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by cheapskatebay at 1:43 PM on July 10, 2022 [3 favorites]
"I don't know what the album would sound like."
"Sounds of orbital wives"
posted by clavdivs at 3:18 PM on July 10, 2022 [3 favorites]
"Sounds of orbital wives"
posted by clavdivs at 3:18 PM on July 10, 2022 [3 favorites]
I actually thought it might be a photo of the band, y'know? A mashup of different genres of the first age of hi fi: a bit of Brubeck, a bit of exotica, the twang of the Jazzmaster, the thump of the Jazz Bass, Julie London-ish vocals and strings drenched in plate reverb.
posted by Grangousier at 4:02 PM on July 10, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Grangousier at 4:02 PM on July 10, 2022 [1 favorite]
This has been a really odd weekend in ways I'm still trying to process. Obviously, in Japan, there was Friday, and the Abe murder, so that's been weirdly surreal and we're all just waiting for the consequences to find their way to us all.
This weekend, though, was the return of the Narita Gion festival after a two year corona induced hiatus. It's a touchstone for me because 22 years ago, I was down the road in the guest house of the language school I was going to start working at. I'd just come from a year in China, and I had three weeks before I actually started work, but also no money, and no real chance at income until August. I was stuck in suburban Chiba (no, not near the port), and wondering why I'd bothered to come back to Japan. If I'd had any money, I would've been taking the chance to see the country, but instead, it was just sitting around, wondering what to do. A guy in the guest house suggested the festival, and I went, and it was in an instant all the stuff I'd seen on my study abroad term and wanted to see again. It became a yearly pilgrimage, a reminder of all the reasons I still wanted to be here, even when I didn't, not really.
And every year, the same people were there. People who'd taught at that same local network of language schools. I went to the festival with that guy at the guest house, the one who invited me, who's still one of my nearest friends. And we ran into a bunch of the old guys, and saw their families, and how big their kids have gotten. It was great, but also a "damn, we've aged" kind of thing.
That was Saturday. Sunday was a goodbye to another friend, a friend who's leaving Japan because just about everything that could go wrong has, and he's decided it's best for his mental well being to get the hell out. I'm happy for him because he's been spiraling, but I was really nervous about going because I knew that most of the people there would be people I haven't seen, many of them intentionally, in ten years. It was a day of hanging out in the park, catching up, and having a series of three very heavy, very difficult conversations, one, a person I've struggled with our friendship, who apologized to me for shitty things he did, and a possibility that we might be friends again. Another was an asshole who was always an asshole, who was reaching out, while still being an asshole, saying we should get together, and the whole time, I was trying to think of ways to get out of the conversation to talk with people I actually wanted to see. I'd cut him out of my life because he'd never been anything but a negative presence, and maybe he's burned through enough relationships that he saw me as one more viable way to keep shitting on people. The last one was me trying to make amends with a person who I treated terribly, who I essentially ghosted for reasons that I couldn't even began to explain. We talked, and I apologized as deeply and profusely as I could, all while admitting that she's under no obligation to accept any of my bullshit. I don't know where we stand, and I know that, if she decides it's worth dealing with me again, I have a lot of work to do.
I can't really explain how uncanny the whole thing was. I went from one conversation about a friendship I had tried hard to save, then finally given up on, to a conversation that felt like talking to a version of myself that might well be how others see me and loathing it, to being the asshole who's friendship the other person had decided it just wasn't worth fighting for anymore. It felt, honestly, like a shitty, terrible version of a Christmas Carol, where the ghosts of friendship visited me, showing me what a fuck up I've been. It's not an easy thing being confronted so directly with how lousy of a person I have been, and can be. I can only hope to make amends, and hopefully be less shitty to people that still, for whatever reason, are willing to put up with me.
To anyone here that I've done anything hurtful towards, I'm deeply sorry. It's not that any of this is new to me. I know myself. I know who I am. I know what I'm capable of, and I struggle with not giving in to the lowest, easiest way. I've let too many friendships slide because they became too difficult or inconvenient, while simultaneously being most people's most difficult friendship. I have so much work to do.
posted by Ghidorah at 5:12 PM on July 10, 2022 [12 favorites]
This weekend, though, was the return of the Narita Gion festival after a two year corona induced hiatus. It's a touchstone for me because 22 years ago, I was down the road in the guest house of the language school I was going to start working at. I'd just come from a year in China, and I had three weeks before I actually started work, but also no money, and no real chance at income until August. I was stuck in suburban Chiba (no, not near the port), and wondering why I'd bothered to come back to Japan. If I'd had any money, I would've been taking the chance to see the country, but instead, it was just sitting around, wondering what to do. A guy in the guest house suggested the festival, and I went, and it was in an instant all the stuff I'd seen on my study abroad term and wanted to see again. It became a yearly pilgrimage, a reminder of all the reasons I still wanted to be here, even when I didn't, not really.
And every year, the same people were there. People who'd taught at that same local network of language schools. I went to the festival with that guy at the guest house, the one who invited me, who's still one of my nearest friends. And we ran into a bunch of the old guys, and saw their families, and how big their kids have gotten. It was great, but also a "damn, we've aged" kind of thing.
That was Saturday. Sunday was a goodbye to another friend, a friend who's leaving Japan because just about everything that could go wrong has, and he's decided it's best for his mental well being to get the hell out. I'm happy for him because he's been spiraling, but I was really nervous about going because I knew that most of the people there would be people I haven't seen, many of them intentionally, in ten years. It was a day of hanging out in the park, catching up, and having a series of three very heavy, very difficult conversations, one, a person I've struggled with our friendship, who apologized to me for shitty things he did, and a possibility that we might be friends again. Another was an asshole who was always an asshole, who was reaching out, while still being an asshole, saying we should get together, and the whole time, I was trying to think of ways to get out of the conversation to talk with people I actually wanted to see. I'd cut him out of my life because he'd never been anything but a negative presence, and maybe he's burned through enough relationships that he saw me as one more viable way to keep shitting on people. The last one was me trying to make amends with a person who I treated terribly, who I essentially ghosted for reasons that I couldn't even began to explain. We talked, and I apologized as deeply and profusely as I could, all while admitting that she's under no obligation to accept any of my bullshit. I don't know where we stand, and I know that, if she decides it's worth dealing with me again, I have a lot of work to do.
I can't really explain how uncanny the whole thing was. I went from one conversation about a friendship I had tried hard to save, then finally given up on, to a conversation that felt like talking to a version of myself that might well be how others see me and loathing it, to being the asshole who's friendship the other person had decided it just wasn't worth fighting for anymore. It felt, honestly, like a shitty, terrible version of a Christmas Carol, where the ghosts of friendship visited me, showing me what a fuck up I've been. It's not an easy thing being confronted so directly with how lousy of a person I have been, and can be. I can only hope to make amends, and hopefully be less shitty to people that still, for whatever reason, are willing to put up with me.
To anyone here that I've done anything hurtful towards, I'm deeply sorry. It's not that any of this is new to me. I know myself. I know who I am. I know what I'm capable of, and I struggle with not giving in to the lowest, easiest way. I've let too many friendships slide because they became too difficult or inconvenient, while simultaneously being most people's most difficult friendship. I have so much work to do.
posted by Ghidorah at 5:12 PM on July 10, 2022 [12 favorites]
Listen - strange women lyin' in baths distributin' brushes is no basis for a system of cleanliness!"
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:19 PM on July 10, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:19 PM on July 10, 2022 [1 favorite]
Supreme exfoliatin' power derives from a mandate from the soapsuds, not from some farcical aquatic scrubbing
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:28 PM on July 10, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:28 PM on July 10, 2022 [1 favorite]
Lately I've set up a motion-activated camera on my downstairs porch and pointed it at the end of the "street" on which I live (technically it's a public street, but more literally it is a shared wooden staircase and boardwalk) so I can spy on the neighbors when they go by.
Also, it has been a good year for wildflowers. I need to get out and look for some of the midsummer varieties, now that the spring ones are finished.
posted by Nerd of the North at 2:23 AM on July 11, 2022 [11 favorites]
Also, it has been a good year for wildflowers. I need to get out and look for some of the midsummer varieties, now that the spring ones are finished.
posted by Nerd of the North at 2:23 AM on July 11, 2022 [11 favorites]
So I tried out my new ice cream maker last night...
The ice cream maker had several warnings about not overfilling the churn. It's made to yield about a quart and a half of ice cream, but ice cream has a lot of air churned into a custard or milk base, so you put considerably less of that base into the ice cream maker to get a quart and a half out. So when the recipe I followed yielded a quart and a half of just the base, I should have thought carefully and saved some aside for later, and not just shrugged and dumped the whole lot into the ice cream maker.
....I've never seen an ice cream maker throw up before.
I did get a quart and a half out of it still, I just also got a whole lot of chocolate dairy goo on the table and on the floor and all over the half a roll of paper towels I was using to frantically try to wipe up the mess, and I also got a lot inside the garbage can I placed underneath the spills.
...The ice cream that made it tastes really good, though. (Dark chocolate with crushed up peanut butter oreos and a peanut butter swirl.)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:54 AM on July 11, 2022 [8 favorites]
The ice cream maker had several warnings about not overfilling the churn. It's made to yield about a quart and a half of ice cream, but ice cream has a lot of air churned into a custard or milk base, so you put considerably less of that base into the ice cream maker to get a quart and a half out. So when the recipe I followed yielded a quart and a half of just the base, I should have thought carefully and saved some aside for later, and not just shrugged and dumped the whole lot into the ice cream maker.
....I've never seen an ice cream maker throw up before.
I did get a quart and a half out of it still, I just also got a whole lot of chocolate dairy goo on the table and on the floor and all over the half a roll of paper towels I was using to frantically try to wipe up the mess, and I also got a lot inside the garbage can I placed underneath the spills.
...The ice cream that made it tastes really good, though. (Dark chocolate with crushed up peanut butter oreos and a peanut butter swirl.)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:54 AM on July 11, 2022 [8 favorites]
EmpressCallipygos, that ice cream sounds AMAZING!
posted by bookmammal at 5:48 AM on July 11, 2022
posted by bookmammal at 5:48 AM on July 11, 2022
(To clarify, I sent that in a slack channel, though I suppose it applies here occasionally)
posted by jquinby at 8:32 AM on July 11, 2022
posted by jquinby at 8:32 AM on July 11, 2022
I did get a quart and a half out of it still, I just also got a whole lot of chocolate dairy goo on the table and on the floor and all over the half a roll of paper towels I was using to frantically try to wipe up the mess, and I also got a lot inside the garbage can I placed underneath the spills.I am mildly distraught at the loss of all of that potential homemade ice cream..
posted by Nerd of the North at 1:41 PM on July 11, 2022
The last photo I shared in a message was this very pretty photo of the oil pan from our car's transmission.
posted by dg at 4:44 PM on July 11, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by dg at 4:44 PM on July 11, 2022 [1 favorite]
Ooof, you never want to see "sparklies" like that in your fluid!
posted by Larry David Syndrome at 4:53 PM on July 11, 2022
posted by Larry David Syndrome at 4:53 PM on July 11, 2022
After weeks of rain, sun and heat has arrived. As a result, the flowers are in maximum growth spurt and I have a climax garden in pots in the Broadway courtyard. The downside is peak blossom requires peak deadheading which has turned things into an asymptopic Hercules versus the hydra on an inclined treadmill.
But... Old fashioned sweetpeas, Aztec tobacco and night scented stock honey the air after dark with the scent of jasmine and cloves and Chilean glory vines keep the hummingbirds happy by dawn, day and dusk.
With hot nights hummingbirds quarter the crepuscular courtyard lawn for bugs -- just as dragonflies do by day -- tiny cloaked warbirds on the hunt in the deepening shades of twilight time is something to behold even if all that can be seen are soft grey blurs zooming back and forth over the grass in the shadows. And too you can hear the buzz of their eponymous wings when they pass close by. All in all quite cool an experience that is.
posted by y2karl at 1:03 AM on July 13, 2022 [3 favorites]
But... Old fashioned sweetpeas, Aztec tobacco and night scented stock honey the air after dark with the scent of jasmine and cloves and Chilean glory vines keep the hummingbirds happy by dawn, day and dusk.
With hot nights hummingbirds quarter the crepuscular courtyard lawn for bugs -- just as dragonflies do by day -- tiny cloaked warbirds on the hunt in the deepening shades of twilight time is something to behold even if all that can be seen are soft grey blurs zooming back and forth over the grass in the shadows. And too you can hear the buzz of their eponymous wings when they pass close by. All in all quite cool an experience that is.
posted by y2karl at 1:03 AM on July 13, 2022 [3 favorites]
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posted by taz (staff) at 2:48 AM on July 9, 2022 [6 favorites]