Metatalktail Hour: Open Thread! April 25, 2020 8:48 PM   Subscribe

Just chat it up, fuzzballs!
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) to MetaFilter-Related at 8:48 PM (70 comments total) 1 user marked this as a favorite

I attempted to make a piñata for my child's 4th birthday tomorrow. It did not go well.
posted by sugar and confetti at 8:51 PM on April 25, 2020 [15 favorites]


Hi
Just watching British crime shows on a slow Saturday night...
posted by calgirl at 9:05 PM on April 25, 2020 [1 favorite]


Foyle’s War is a delight, whenever you get there.
posted by Going To Maine at 9:52 PM on April 25, 2020 [6 favorites]


cubsbar ?
posted by cgc373 at 9:58 PM on April 25, 2020 [1 favorite]


I took a thick slice off my fingertip with a mandoline while cooking dinner yesterday. It bled a shocking amount, but I couldn’t go to urgent care because I was alone with my kid. This morning I found said kid stark naked and looking at the slice of skin under her microscope. Plus I had an extremely stressful and upsetting work issue on a day I wasn’t even working! So things are going marvelously.
posted by centrifugal at 10:00 PM on April 25, 2020 [33 favorites]


We like Vera because the main character has a very strong physical and emotional resemblance to my dad's mom. Whenever we're browsing channels and Vera is on PBS you'll hear from the living room "Grandma's on!" It's also a very good show.

Well I am happy to say that the absolute bounty I bought from work and that was safely delivered to me by my boss has been planted. As of today the new cucumbers have also been nibbled though so It looks like it's slug trap time. And also plastic fork time because sometimes the bites are from questing feral cats. Who left me a present of a dead vole not too long ago- so I respect my local killers. The last really fat winter lemons have been picked. But the tree is blooming anew. It also hasn't been fertilized... in forever so maybe if I order some more plants from work I'll also get a big box of the Down to Earth citrus fertilizer. It took me fucking months but the sweet pepper is finally in a pot. The insane amount of little peppers that came up are not though- because I am concerned about what to do with them. I had thought to give away seedlings to local mefites... which clearly isn't happening. Just be away that like in July I'm gonna have a shit ton of stuff to give peeps so I hope you all want IDK snakeplants and pepper plants and mint cuttings and stuff. Finally- it was greenhouse time. In another example of my propensity to procrastinate it took me a while to set the darn thing up- but I finally have a greenhouse. Which is really really good news for my tomato seedlings. Also my accidental basil. I fucked up during a grocery order and bought a potted basil instead of a clamshell of the picked stuff. And while the taste of italian basil is second to none- it's an absolute bear to grow in this climate. But hey- I have a greenhouse now! SO I can grow the ultra finicky basil. Or try to. It's a process.

On preview- good luck with your budding scientist centrifugal! Sorry your day was shit.
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 10:12 PM on April 25, 2020 [8 favorites]


sugar and confetti, I actually think it went well. I might have let my sons bash it. Not so sure about a 4 yo daughter. Why not just spray it pink, put some hearts and/or rainbows on it and let her bash away?

Regardless, I loved the video and the piñata.
posted by AugustWest at 10:17 PM on April 25, 2020


This morning I found said kid stark naked and looking at the slice of skin under her microscope.

that is a solid win. Chapeau.

That has been one of the upsides of this whole ... shit-show - The older who has played guitar for... for a long time but never been super snappy on it, hasn't made it 'his' let's say... has spent days and days now sitting in his hammock, watching crap on youtube and playing, toodling on his guitar and he is definitely getting better. And I kind of feel like, "OK, this is a trade-off I am willing to concede to."

Also it has confirmed my conviction that I am not designed to home-school my kids.
posted by From Bklyn at 1:20 AM on April 26, 2020 [2 favorites]


Yesterday I made a double batch (because we had double the bananas to use up) of the Smitten Kitchen double chocolate banana bread batter, except I made it triple chocolate with white choc chips as well, and substituted the butter for oil
(80% of the butter volume to account for the water that isn't in oil but is in butter), because we'd run out of butter. I baked it in muffin cases rather than a loaf pan, and the muffins came out great! I'm so glad I bought the 3kg bundle of Callebaut milk, white and dark pellets recently; after a few weeks of eating cheap sugary Easter eggs it's wonderful to have some really good chocolate in the house.

There's an independent cheese company over here that's doing a 2kg mixed box of random fancy cheese for £26, and ours arrived last week. We're going to get groceries for the first time in three weeks tomorrow, so the fridge is somewhat bare right now apart from cheese, a fact which my partner keeps teasing me about. I caught myself doing squats in the hall while eating cheese yesterday, which is probably my strangest quarantine activity so far. One of the highlights of the box was a big pack of raclette slices - we don't have the grill or the little pans or anything so I'm probably going to melt it in sandwiches for the most part, but we do have around 2kg of hash browns in the freezer so I'm also leaning towards an incredibly dirty hash brown raclette.

It is extremely spring here in Cambridgeshire with lovely weather, blossom everywhere, birds and butterflies all over the place. I'm feeling weirdly relaxed and peaceful despite what my social circle politely insists on referring to as "the situation", even more so despite the fact that my work kind of imploded this week in ways that will definitely bring a lot of change for me. It's not the emotional response I was expecting but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ , I'm gonna roll with it for as long as I can because it beats the hell out of feeling stressed and anxious about all of this stuff.

And my tomato seedlings are about to graduate into pots of their own today, not least because they're starting to hit the plastic ceiling of the seed starter tray.
posted by terretu at 2:18 AM on April 26, 2020 [3 favorites]


I got fed up with my hair this morning and went a tiny bit...overboard with the self-inflicted quarantine haircut. I went at it with my clippers and a #1 guard all over, and now have a reasonable idea of what I'd look like if I went totally bald. On the up side, I'm a lot more comfortable now.
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 5:09 AM on April 26, 2020 [10 favorites]


I got fed up with my hair this morning and went a tiny bit...overboard with the self-inflicted quarantine haircut. I went at it with my clippers and a #1 guard all over, and now have a reasonable idea of what I'd look like if I went totally bald. On the up side, I'm a lot more comfortable now.
posted by Mr. Bad Example


Eponysterical?
posted by sugar and confetti at 5:27 AM on April 26, 2020 [7 favorites]


Ouch, centrifugal, I think you and I may have shared klutz genes. At least yours has educational value for your kid.
I finally saw Only Lovers Left Alive and now want Tilda Swindon and Tom Hiddleston as my vampire mum and dad.
Also unlocked the achievement of using my phone as a WiFi hotspot. I think it's faster than my old WiFi actually.
posted by The Ardship of Cambry at 5:39 AM on April 26, 2020 [2 favorites]


Just watching British crime shows on a slow Saturday night...

We've been making our way through rewatches of Cracker and Prime Suspect which have been brilliant. British crime shows are so so good.
posted by hippybear at 6:01 AM on April 26, 2020 [1 favorite]


10 months ago my husband got inspired to insulate our dining room- this involved cutting out plaster, stuffing in batts and putting in new plaster. Then we ummed an ahhed about paint. A fantastic opportunity to change the colour, then we realised that we'd have to paint the entire kitchen/dining. We colour matched instead. This weekend we actually painted it. Just one more top coat and it's done. Hooray!
posted by freethefeet at 6:17 AM on April 26, 2020 [6 favorites]


sugar and confetti, that story was charming and hilarious.

After multiple mandoline incidents , I got myself a cut-resistant glove and have kept my fingertips intact since, highly recommend.

Things here have been busy and stressful. Taco (my min pin, was attacked by another dog 2 weeks ago) continues to heal up -- he got his stitches out on Wednesday, which was the first time I saw his wounds, and oof. They are healing up pretty well, although he got himself out of his e-collar last night, and now has a spot that's open. I'm not sure if it's just a scab that was picked off or the incision opened up, so I'll be calling the vet Monday, and going out today to get him a t-shirt to keep it covered-ish. I tried gauze and an ace bandage last night, and that did not work at all. Here is a picture I took on Friday, for those who are curious -- it's not too gruesome, but I know I'm sensitive to animal injuries so I don't like to just post them. He's going to definitely end up with some scars and a story about how tough he is, sort of like a shark attack victim.

I had 3 interviews for a new job, but haven't heard back, so we'll see. My current job is a cluster. We have 4 confirmed Covid cases, and were shut down last week. We're re-opening tomorrow, with a skeleton crew because we're keeping home everyone who had contact with those four people for another week. I should be on that list, but there are no other safety people, and we need to make sure that they can get their masks and other PPE, so I'll be in at 5:30 tomorrow morning. Fun. Except not.

My boyfriend and I got to spend a little time together (at a 6' distance) this weekend -- the anniversary of our first date was Friday, and his birthday was yesterday. It was bittersweet, and he was definitely struggling with the grief over not being able to celebrate the way he would have liked. I'm sure we'll have at least a few more milestones where we can make up for it, but it was still kind of sad.

Overall things could be a lot worse, but I've been feeling stressed, sad and lonely lately. the good thing is that, like everything else, this is temporary and will change eventually.
posted by Sparky Buttons at 6:32 AM on April 26, 2020 [13 favorites]


I have been really enjoying Persona 5 Royal, this super cool JRPG where you are a group of high schoolers righting wrongs and forcing evil adults to feel remorse and confess their crimes. You step into an alternate "metaverse" and use monsters, demons, & creatures to battle (pokemon style) against other monsters, demons, & creatures. When you're now in the "metaverse", you're a high school student that rides the subway, works a job, goes shopping.

It's very on brand rights now because it allows you to sort of live a virtual life and do a lot of normal things that we're currently unable to do because of obvious reasons. It's satisfying that itch. It's also not super stressful to play despite it's sometimes adult subject matter (it touches on issues like: suicide, sexual assault, abuse). And yet it's still entertaining and delightful. The art style is as if a comic-book came to life and the music is some of the best gaming music I've ever listened to.

So that's my little mini-review. It's only available on the PS4, but it's worth all your money. Stay safe everyone.
posted by Fizz at 6:59 AM on April 26, 2020 [2 favorites]


went a tiny bit...overboard with the self-inflicted quarantine haircut

I mentioned in the venting thread that I'd said I wasn't going to shave (or even trim) my beard until my school started up again and I got to go back to teaching, and that, on finding out we likely won't go "back" until probably September, I decided to shave.

So I did. I shaved off the beard that I've had for the last ten years, with exceptions for the occasional Halloween costume. For the ten years before that, I had a goatee. What's left of my hair (I've been mostly bald on top since my mid twenties) was kind of shaggy, so I shaved my head, too.

Mrs. Ghidorah, when she saw it, let out an honest to god yelp of terror. She's not a fan. Hell, I'm not a fan. Friends who saw it over zoom were nearly unanimous in the "don't ever do that again, what were you thinking?' camp. At least I've got time to let it all grow out again but until it does, I look like a thumb wearing glasses.
posted by Ghidorah at 7:14 AM on April 26, 2020 [13 favorites]


Ghidorah: Like, seriously. You let the boredom of the shutdown lead you to make a terrible decision.

Let this be a warning to everyone: just because you're bored doesn't mean you need to do stupid things.

#thumbwearingglasses
posted by hippybear at 7:18 AM on April 26, 2020 [1 favorite]


I’m resorting to wearing my hair in a pony tail for the first time in years.

Binge watching The Sopranos for the first time. It’s not really relaxing or wholesome viewing, but it’s keeping me occupied and here we are.

The library where I work may be opening up for curbside delivery soon. I have a lot of conflicting feelings—mostly anxious ones.

On Friday I made the best batch of chocolate chip cookie bars EVER!
posted by bookmammal at 7:31 AM on April 26, 2020 [2 favorites]


Well, in my defense, the boredom was letting the beard grow out longer than I have in years, maybe two months without a trim, when I usually trim it down to 3mm every couple weeks or so. The terrible decision of shaving was more due to the realization settling in that I won't be back at school in May, June, or July, and that my joking refusal to groom was the stupid thing.

A cavalcade of stupid choices, really. But I'm happy to be a hashtag that confuses the hell out of people in service of guiding them away from similar, uh, close shaves.
posted by Ghidorah at 7:36 AM on April 26, 2020 [1 favorite]


We watched Knives Out last night - really fun and entertaining movie that is rentable on all the streaming platforms.
posted by COD at 7:41 AM on April 26, 2020


Knives Out is indeed fun. We saw it in the theaters.
posted by hippybear at 7:46 AM on April 26, 2020


Here's Miley Cyrus doing a pretty credible cover of Wish You Were Here from last night's SNL.
posted by hippybear at 7:59 AM on April 26, 2020 [3 favorites]


went a tiny bit...overboard with the self-inflicted quarantine haircut

Wife has been trimming the sides of my head. We're leaving the top part alone because that requires a bit more skill and training. It's not perfect but I'm not upset and I'm someone that needs to have the sides and back of my head light, otherwise I lose my mind.
posted by Fizz at 8:09 AM on April 26, 2020 [1 favorite]


I too have been going overboard with quarantine haircutting, it's sooo fun!

First week I cut six inches off the length. Next week I added layers. Then I did an undercut the week after. Last week I went half-measure and shaved off the left side. Think I'll grown out the undercut on the right side. And then cut the overall length even shorter.

I've had a busted up shoulder for the last several months and can no longer sleep on my right side. It's so wonderful to sleep on my left side with my shaved head on the silk pillowcase. I wake up and my hair looks great! Well, except for how wacky the lines are in the back and the weird undercut mess on the right side. But it's hair and who cares!
posted by iamkimiam at 8:37 AM on April 26, 2020 [6 favorites]


I added a sixth birdfeeder. And I just now saw a bird using it and I am very happy.
posted by jessamyn (retired) at 9:05 AM on April 26, 2020 [16 favorites]


" looking at the slice of skin under her microscope" Well this child inhabits a very healthy head space, not kidding about this. Best to your finger! It will take some time...
posted by Oyéah at 9:49 AM on April 26, 2020 [3 favorites]


As for me, I found that copy of Grateful Dead's Darkstar I had bookmarked in my dead laptop, (not my Grateful Dead, just dead,) and when I turned it on, it turned me on and I danced for a long, long time, earlier this morning. It is a break from Arvo Pärt for whose music I have developed a cathection, especially played by Anne Akiko Meyers, and the Baltic Youth Symphony, and the Talinnin Symphony, which has the extra percussion in Frateres. The dancing was sublime, at least for me, and the house is still standing...
posted by Oyéah at 9:58 AM on April 26, 2020 [2 favorites]


Mystery meat click Again
posted by growabrain at 10:02 AM on April 26, 2020


I found toilet paper! This is the first time I’ve seen it since the beginning of March. Score!
It’s the little things ...
posted by gt2 at 10:15 AM on April 26, 2020 [3 favorites]


Well, in my defense, the boredom was letting the beard grow out longer than I have in years, maybe two months without a trim

I've been at terminal growth length for my beard for several years now. It won't kill you. I've found the long beard has somehow been a bit of a doorway for new interactions I hadn't had when I was trimming it down. YMMV but I love my long beard.
posted by hippybear at 10:23 AM on April 26, 2020


Last night I made a version of Cha Ca using tilapia. I didn't have fresh turmeric, so fish marinated in a mix of ginger, garlic, harissa & chermoula with turmeric powder. Heated up fish stock and zuzzed it up with diced serrano chile, lime juice, fish sauce, sugar & garlic. Didn't have scallions or basil, so I sauteed hothouse cucumber with onion, peppers, dill and cilantro, and used the fish stock to deglaze the pan after frying the fish & veg. I like noodles in my bowl so I cooked up linguine & drizzled it with sesame oil, then topped with the veg and fish, and filled to the noodle line with chili-oil laced fish stock. It's wonderful how the assertive dill and cilantro combination punches just as brightly as the usual basil & scallion toppings. I have more tilapia in the freezer, so fish tacos are in the future.
posted by winesong at 10:39 AM on April 26, 2020 [7 favorites]


My son and I made butterscotch brownies and those caramel chocolate saltine crackers yesterday. We did a porch drop for neighbors yesterday and I'm dropping some off by my folks today because if left to my own devices, I will inhale them all.

It looks like a forecast in the 60s consistently this coming week and I am so ready to get my hammock out in the backyard with a stack of books.

I'll be attempting my first ever home haircut sometime in the next week or two and it's going to be awful and I'm really excited.
posted by Twicketface at 11:03 AM on April 26, 2020 [5 favorites]


The main thing keeping me & my partner interested in the world lately is the barred owl that has been haunting our yard for the past month. It hunts in the late afternoon so we’ve had lots of relatively close sightings in full daylight. It is part of a breeding pair, I think - we hear them calling to each other, but only ever see one at a time. I don’t know where the nest is but cherish hopes of seeing owletssssss owlets owlets owlets at some point.

Spring has been chilly and wet, I’m ready for more sun. And I have been jealously following everyone’s gardening efforts but without any seeds of my own, since Burpee has yet to send me anything. I just got the shipping notice so fingers crossed for the coming week.
posted by Lawn Beaver at 12:09 PM on April 26, 2020 [5 favorites]


We had an owl pair raise young in a tree across the back alley a few years ago. Surprisingly they never bothered with our on-a-lead-and-harness cat when she was outdoors. Seeing them hanging around for so long was amazing!
posted by hippybear at 12:16 PM on April 26, 2020 [3 favorites]


More / sound on
posted by growabrain at 1:06 PM on April 26, 2020 [2 favorites]


I usually keep my hair cut to about 1" on top and 0.5" on sides/back, but of course now it's grown out to a ridiculous shaggy length and has been making me super-twitchy. I kept going back and forth on buying clippers and doing my own cut; I'd think "Well, hey, it can't be that long until salons can re-open" and then I'd read things like this and think "Holy crap, I am never leaving my apartment again." Anyway, various folks on this thread (even Ghidorah!) finally tipped me over into going for it. Of course, by now everyone is sold out of clippers, but I managed to find some on Amazon that should be here by 5/6, and I guess I can stand my shag till then. (I do think at some point we should have a gallery/thread of MeFite Quarantine Amateur Hour haircuts, special category for those done solo.)
posted by Kat Allison at 1:30 PM on April 26, 2020 [9 favorites]


I made a kick-ass beef bourguignon yesterday for the first time in my new lodge cast-iron dutch oven. We had leftovers today, even better than fresh.
posted by signal at 5:49 PM on April 26, 2020 [2 favorites]


After multiple mandoline incidents , I got myself a cut-resistant glove and have kept my fingertips intact since, highly recommend.

After I cut the tip off a cut-resistant glove, I gave my mandoline away to someone who values their fingertips less.
posted by ktkt at 7:21 PM on April 26, 2020 [3 favorites]


SO we own a regular mandoline- but I don't use it- I use this- OXO hand mandoline for literally goddamn everything- and the trick is- use the hand guard but also, you know, give yourself permission to waste the last bit of whatever you're cutting so you can just compost the handle and not slice off your digits.
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 7:40 PM on April 26, 2020 [3 favorites]


Mandolines are really useful and really terrifying. My parents had a variation on one that seemed to be a bit safer (my google skills aren't giving me any hits for what they had), but still... moving your hands quickly close to a blade is rather scary.
posted by hippybear at 7:43 PM on April 26, 2020 [2 favorites]


Every time I give someone a mandoline as a gift, I warn them. And every time they call me up a month or so later minus a finger pad.

I can't tell if it's perimenopause or coronavirus but all my feelings are big lately. I don't even really mind it that much, I've always been an emotional person and I rather enjoy a strong feeling, but I do wish I knew what was causing this. I don't actually have any quarantine-related problems other than, you know, being quarantined, but I wonder if the strain of it all is getting to me. Is this a thing now, feeling a little extra?

Baked goods don't really agree with me and besides I'm trying to lose a few pounds, but the comfort of the oven is impossible to resist and I've got a maple sour cream cake in there now. I hope I don't eat it.
posted by HotToddy at 8:16 PM on April 26, 2020 [5 favorites]


HotToddy: i've found the older I've gotten the more emotional labile I have become. I have no clue about your age but it might just be the emotional opening of accumulation of years.
posted by hippybear at 8:18 PM on April 26, 2020


I gave myself a really bad haircut a while back, I just checked, it is long enough to get into a ponytail. This is going to be the summer of ugly.
posted by Oyéah at 9:05 PM on April 26, 2020 [3 favorites]


I will sheepishly admit that I was slicing potatoes (and fingers) without the guard because I was in a hurry and didn’t feel like remembering which drawer it was in. And I had just told my kid she couldn’t help with the slicing, because it wasn’t safe using it without the guard. So the painful loss of my fingertip is all my own fault, and has hopefully made the kiddo a little bit wiser.
posted by centrifugal at 9:20 PM on April 26, 2020 [3 favorites]


Oh it will teach a lesson all right. As long as you take care of it. When I was a wee baby neanderthal of about 8 or so, mom
was working late as she usually did so dad was making me dinner after school. He used to get fancy back then so he was throwing together a potato leek soup, while I watched. He was describing what he was doing and not looking at what he was cutting, and sliced the top of his middle finger nearly all the way off. I... was slightly terrified so dad slapped a towel and then band-aid on it... and kept cooking! Even at 8 I understood that maaaybe it was ER time but he kept going, as he kept bleeding from his mangled finger, finally mom came home. And hit the goddamn roof. A half hour later after mom floored it in the old Camery we were at the ER with dad getting his finger stitched together. Docs said if he had delayed even a little more he’d have lost the top- but they were able to reconnect the tip. He still has a scar. I learned a deep lesson about keeping your eye on what you’re cutting- and for about a month when asked how he was healing- dad would flip the bird to show his bandages.
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 9:54 PM on April 26, 2020 [4 favorites]


I had decided to try the whole no shampoo thing, not the baking soda and vinegar method but using only water and occasionally conditioner. I had the time to have terrible hair for a while.

Well. My hair settled after about two weeks, but into being just sorta gross all the time. I gave it 6 weeks and it never improved from that, so yesterday I washed it properly and its so much better. Turns out, some hair looks better washed regularly, at least I won't wonder any more.

Tried to buy a folding weight bench to do exercises at home but I have clearly waited too long, everywhere was out of stock or literally added a hundred bucks to the already inflated price whilst I was looking around. Now I'm thinking I gotta try build one out of wood somehow.
posted by stillnocturnal at 3:24 AM on April 27, 2020 [2 favorites]


I can't tell if it's perimenopause or coronavirus but all my feelings are big lately.

This, I can relate to. (The emotions, not the perimenopause.) For me it is definitely an age-related shift, slowly being apparent over the past few years, rather than all at once. It's been an adjustment, but I think it is a much healthier way to live than the way I was in the past. I'm curious if this will continue to change over time, or if it will settle into something stable.
posted by Dip Flash at 6:31 AM on April 27, 2020 [3 favorites]


Good news and bad news here: the good news is that my dentist's office is doing emergency retreat root canals, even during the pandemic. You can probably figure out what the bad news is.
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 7:59 AM on April 27, 2020 [13 favorites]


I had my first metafilter-related dream last night. I submitted a post on the blue, then realized one of the links was blank. As I was looking for the original link to fill in the contact form, I noticed that the one surviving link was actually an SEO site inexplicably full of pictures of Husky dogs rather than a blog about the TCL programming language. (It looks like the URL exists and is actually a Chinese language gambling site.) As I was trying to figure out the original links, I got mail informing me that there was a new metatalk post called "how the sausage gets made" which described in detail how the mods found out about and fixed my stupid post, along with quoted email exchanges that I didn't remember writing.

Except for once again reminding me that anyone who tells you that it's impossible to read text in a dream is very clearly mistaken, I find it unlikely this dream has any significance. But, as someone who only remembers three or four dreams a year, I feel kind of cheated at having spent one on web forum details. I love our mod and the work they do. I'm not sure I need to dream about it.
posted by eotvos at 2:43 PM on April 27, 2020 [6 favorites]


Rereading Lucifer's Hammer during an epidemic is a special kind paranoia.
posted by Splunge at 3:15 PM on April 27, 2020


I've had three mandolins and every time within the first few uses I'll nick myself, but then never again. I've joked that they just need a blood sacrifice to be satiated and hope like heck this current one lasts a long time. They're so useful though, it's fantastic how quickly you can get uniform cuts.
posted by Carillon at 6:59 PM on April 27, 2020 [2 favorites]


I had my first metafilter-related dream last night. I submitted a post on the blue, then realized one of the links was blank. As I was looking for the original link to fill in the contact form, I noticed that the one surviving link was actually an SEO site inexplicably full of pictures of Husky dogs rather than a blog about the TCL programming language. (It looks like the URL exists and is actually a Chinese language gambling site.) As I was trying to figure out the original links, I got mail informing me that there was a new metatalk post called "how the sausage gets made" which described in detail how the mods found out about and fixed my stupid post, along with quoted email exchanges that I didn't remember writing.

Except for once again reminding me that anyone who tells you that it's impossible to read text in a dream is very clearly mistaken, I find it unlikely this dream has any significance.


All right eotvos, challenge accepted:

"original link" => hot dog
"full of Husky dogs" => big hot dogs
" 'how the sausage gets made' " => big spicy hot dogs.

Not to mention that TCL stands for 'Tool Command Language' — and we all know what happens to cis males during REM sleep, don't we?
posted by jamjam at 7:41 PM on April 27, 2020 [1 favorite]


It's not just cis males who dream about TOOL songs!
posted by hippybear at 7:48 PM on April 27, 2020 [2 favorites]


Although maybe it's only cis males who dream about REM covering TOOL songs.
posted by hippybear at 7:48 PM on April 27, 2020 [1 favorite]


Carillon I've had three mandolins and every time within the first few uses I'll nick myself.....

And, once again, I remind myself not to read Meta when I cannot sleep at night because I had no idea how a musical instrument could be so dangerous. I just spent several minutes trying to figure out which part was the sharp pointy bit.
posted by mightshould at 9:05 PM on April 27, 2020 [11 favorites]


The carnage of the early 20th Century mandolin orchestras are mapped in the historic blood stains on dance hall stage floors from bleeding fingers.
posted by hippybear at 9:52 PM on April 27, 2020 [8 favorites]


Also, an eternal mystery, often pursued by historians, is "why didn't you stop the concert after the first finger was sliced", but apparently "the show much go on" is the eternal answer.
posted by hippybear at 9:53 PM on April 27, 2020 [3 favorites]

Not to mention that TCL stands for 'Tool Command Language' — and we all know what happens to cis males during REM sleep, don't we?
I'll have you know that I only masturbate to Cortex's geometric oil paintings these days. It's a bit weird, and probably makes him really uncomfortable, but it doesn't actually hurt anybody. I haven't had an erotic dream about an interpreted programming language in years. Though, if you whisper LISP in just the right way, I might be willing to join you for another round.

I learned about mandolines on metafilter. I've never heard the word used outside of metafilter. I'm still not convinced they're a real thing and not some long running joke you're all playing on the rest of us.
posted by eotvos at 10:27 AM on April 28, 2020 [2 favorites]


I just finished Chuck Wendig's Wanderers - 800 pages about a pandemic brought on by a fungus, with zombies! (sort of).
posted by COD at 5:29 PM on April 28, 2020


I'm still not convinced they're a real thing and not some long running joke you're all playing on the rest of us.

Mandolines are real, and they will eat your fingers. You will be tricked into the sacrifice, because the slices look so so pretty and matchy matchy.

Actually, I have moved onto spiralizing, which seems to be much safer for amateurs. Wait until you experience the joy of twirly curly giant watermelon radish spirals.
posted by ktkt at 12:18 AM on April 29, 2020 [3 favorites]


I’m the tech guy for a local internet radio station, and they’ve been kinda thriving in this situation. We’ve gone from live broadcasts being something that takes me about 15 hours to set up and be on hand to run, to them covering nearly the whole day from their homes with a laptop and mic. We’re only licensed for UK broadcast otherwise I’d share the link, but it’s been a hell of a few weeks.
posted by lucidium at 4:01 AM on April 29, 2020 [2 favorites]


I just finished Chuck Wendig's Wanderers - 800 pages about a pandemic brought on by a fungus, with zombies! (sort of).

It is clearly the season for this kind of reading; I just finished David Koepp's Cold Storage, featuring a fungus pandemic about to occur and a few zombies.
posted by Dip Flash at 5:37 AM on April 29, 2020 [1 favorite]


Does anyone in the Hatboro-Chalfont-Ambler general area want what is supposed to be a really nice mandoline? It's a big heavy one that does cut things, but in a really non-intuitive way. We're somewhat terrified of it. It can make waffle fries, supposedly.
posted by blnkfrnk at 11:32 AM on April 29, 2020 [1 favorite]


“Beware the Mandolin, my son!

The maws that bite, the flaws that catch!

.....


One, two! One, two! And through and through

The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
posted by mightshould at 2:21 PM on April 29, 2020 [8 favorites]


I hit a really low spot a couple weeks ago in the (mostly empty) office, and I went and took a shower and washed that depression right out of my hair. Something reset me in that hot shower, and I decided that I'M GOING TO FOCUS ON WHAT IS GOING RIGHT RATHER THAN WHAT COULD GO WRONG. This has been my mantra.

Socially, me and some friends (and friends of friends) formed a group called The Isolation Playhouse, and we pick a movie every week, pick characters, then use Zoom to read the script. In character. We've done The Big Lebowski, Best in Show, Clueless, Clue, Pulp Fiction, and Mean Girls. This week is The Princess Bride. Week after is Monty Python and the Holy Grail. We have an intro video.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 5:12 PM on April 29, 2020 [3 favorites]


The Isolation Playhouse

That looks fun! Are the readings online anywhere?
posted by bendy at 8:34 PM on April 29, 2020 [1 favorite]


terretu, I made that banana bread this afternoon and it is life, thank you!!
posted by joycehealy at 4:53 PM on April 30, 2020 [1 favorite]


I was finally able to get some flour this week so I could start a quarantiny sourdough starter and make ritual flour sacrifices to it. IT LIVES.
posted by randomnity at 12:50 PM on May 1, 2020 [3 favorites]


Lots of bubbles today and it smells vaguely like cheese. I think that means it's on the right track, so far!
posted by randomnity at 12:17 PM on May 2, 2020


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