Free thread... in the Blue!?

January 3, 2022 10:37 AM

WTH have you done, cortex? This is clearly a post for the gray. If I was a mod, I'd delete it, with a note to that effect.
posted by Rash to MetaFilter-Related at 10:37 AM (48 comments total)

Sometimes you go just gotta let your hair down.
posted by cortex (staff) at 10:37 AM on January 3, 2022 [32 favorites]

Yeah, I got distracted and thought I was actually posting on the gray. Oops!

But that thread is awesome and Wobbuffet is totally winning it with post material.
posted by mochapickle at 10:48 AM on January 3, 2022 [7 favorites]

Here are some names you can call cortex.
posted by jozxyqk at 11:04 AM on January 3, 2022 [6 favorites]

Sometimes you just have to let your hair down.

Easy for you to say, you amply haired ponytail stroker.
posted by y2karl at 11:50 AM on January 3, 2022 [8 favorites]

short sip of PBR

Oh hell no, that's my nickname and nomadicink owes me royalties for using it.
posted by Tehhund at 12:00 PM on January 3, 2022 [2 favorites]

Mod note: For a slightly more serious take, when I was going back through stuff to put together the newsletter, I was reminded of how we did a fundraiser where people voted on a discussion topic we'd post to the blue, without any link, so we could just have an interesting conversation on a topic of interest, and it was really fun and we had great discussions, and we had talked about continuing it in some form but then there were insurrectionists in the US capitol and a plague ravaging the land and we were a bit busy. Anyway, I mentioned it at the staff meeting as something we should consider doing again, because it was fun, and also because I worry a lot about the way the internet has become increasingly corporatized and restricted into walled gardens, because there's just less idiosyncratic and weird stuff, and less stuff in general available to a general audience, and we've talked about that sometimes in how finding things for FPPs is harder than it used to be (RIP Flash).

Anyway, staff was all enthusiastic and we decided, "Hey! Let's go for it! And let's not let the perfect be the enemy of the good, let's just DO ONE! We can see how we like it and we can iterate!"
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 12:12 PM on January 3, 2022 [38 favorites]

WTH have you done, cortex? This is clearly a post for the gray. If I was a mod, I'd delete it, with a note to that effect.
posted by Rash

Epony-new year!
posted by ricochet biscuit at 1:16 PM on January 3, 2022 [7 favorites]

Love it. Rotate to the green for the next one.
posted by michaelh at 1:25 PM on January 3, 2022 [6 favorites]

That is the one thread where indented replies would be useful.
posted by jamjam at 2:05 PM on January 3, 2022 [4 favorites]

> That is the one thread where indented replies would be useful.

Not going to happen, of course, but I do think built-in reply-quoting functionality should be prioritized if we're going to keep these threads around, which I hope we do.
posted by tonycpsu at 2:15 PM on January 3, 2022 [6 favorites]

Thank you cortex! And, hope you get a lovely new year (and the next one, and the next one, and the next one ... )!

And, please accept a deep honest bow and a salute and a two thumbs up (on arms thrust out the window!) from my house to yours :-)
posted by the quidnunc kid at 3:29 PM on January 3, 2022 [11 favorites]

Well done! Anything that keeps the site and by extension the web weirder is A+ would try again.
posted by signal at 4:07 PM on January 3, 2022 [8 favorites]

Yes, must admit, it's really good!
posted by Rash at 4:09 PM on January 3, 2022 [2 favorites]

I hate it and demand Cortex be brought before council for swift and furious judgement in order to stop oh hey a squirrel.

goes to read thread
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 4:35 PM on January 3, 2022 [8 favorites]

Love it. Rotate to the green for the next one.

All answers with no questions!
posted by Literaryhero at 4:43 PM on January 3, 2022 [24 favorites]

It's very nice to see the mods get to play a bit, try things out, etc. Kudos!
posted by warriorqueen at 4:50 PM on January 3, 2022 [6 favorites]

I feel like I finally got a hug.

Hurrah to our mods!
posted by vers at 4:58 PM on January 3, 2022 [7 favorites]

Tossing favorites like confetti again just feels so good. Thanks, mods!
posted by MonkeyToes at 6:07 PM on January 3, 2022 [6 favorites]

I'm confused
posted by clavdivs at 6:20 PM on January 3, 2022 [5 favorites]

Love it. Rotate to the green for the next one.

All answers with no questions!

An entire day where only answers are posted and the follow-up discussions are proposed questions they could be answering. Call it JeopAskPardMe.

Literally entertainment value (and writing prompts) from 24 hours to last weeks and months.
posted by hippybear at 8:22 PM on January 3, 2022 [15 favorites]

See, sometimes we can have nice things!

now I'm confused too - should this go there or here? Where do we talk about talking about nothing?
posted by dg at 8:38 PM on January 3, 2022 [4 favorites]

ill make a meta.
posted by clavdivs at 8:58 PM on January 3, 2022 [8 favorites]

You guys are brother and sister! I see it in your eyes.
posted by Oyéah at 9:42 PM on January 3, 2022 [3 favorites]

Love it. Rotate to the green for the next one.

All answers with no questions!

Ah, the Quora model. I see you are also a man of refined tastes.
posted by Mayor West at 5:11 AM on January 4, 2022 [10 favorites]

An entire day where only answers are posted and the follow-up discussions are proposed questions they could be answering.

Fun. [Checks the number of days until April 1.]

I'm calling dibs on, "if you know someone who has access to a Geiger counter, you can find out.'
posted by eotvos at 5:19 AM on January 4, 2022 [5 favorites]

The existence of this Meta thread is amply justified IMO for folks like me who really have nothing to contribute to the "Free Thread" right now but who also wanted to voice their strong support for the experiment, and approval of the direction the experiment has taken so far.

The existence of the "Free Thread" itself is amply justified IMO because fuck it, dude.
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 6:27 AM on January 4, 2022 [12 favorites]

AnswerMe: The childhood favorite book you were trying to remember was Knee Deep in Thunder, by Peter Parnall.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 7:23 AM on January 4, 2022 [4 favorites]

Thanks for stopping by, the quidnunc kid. I have missed your presence. Like, a lot.
posted by Bella Donna at 9:47 AM on January 4, 2022 [14 favorites]

Oh - thank you Bella Donna, that is very sweet and kind of you! Hope you are well and good, and that you're having a happy new year!
posted by the quidnunc kid at 12:30 PM on January 4, 2022 [12 favorites]

I voted for you, quidnunc.
posted by davidmsc at 2:25 PM on January 4, 2022 [10 favorites]

Love it. Rotate to the green for the next one. All answers with no questions!

I'd eat it
posted by supermedusa at 2:30 PM on January 4, 2022 [4 favorites]

hell yeah, like, the answer is:
Treaty of Westphalia.
loganstone.
Callisto.
beer batter bong.
posted by clavdivs at 3:46 PM on January 4, 2022 [5 favorites]

Metafilter: now with more lentils than beans.
posted by parmanparman at 4:29 PM on January 4, 2022 [4 favorites]

Sometimes you go just gotta let your hair down.

Wait, when do you ever put it up? That takes a lot of work and skills, y'know!
posted by loquacious at 7:12 PM on January 4, 2022 [2 favorites]

At age 42 I decided to get an undercut and the stylist did a little twist thing with my remaining hair and clipped it behind my head and I was like "oh" and now I do that.
posted by cortex (staff) at 9:39 AM on January 5, 2022 [9 favorites]

It might be a good idea to do a new free thread daily, instead of just keeping one on the front page. The thread received hundreds of posts and there might be more utility to post one daily and divide up that participation.
posted by One Hand Slowclapping at 10:51 AM on January 5, 2022 [1 favorite]

Good to see some new initiatives and some fun!
posted by Mid at 12:03 PM on January 5, 2022

Exactly! I was ready to flag it then I saw it was cortex
posted by infini at 1:06 PM on January 5, 2022 [1 favorite]

I think I'll stick to writing down here where nobody reads the comments anyway and the background is nice and gray.

yes, it rhymes.
posted by infini at 1:07 PM on January 5, 2022 [3 favorites]

you would be surprised.
So I found this.

Are Links Required?
October 25, 2001 5:06 PM

Are front page postings forbidden without a link, no matter the postings content?
posted by clavdivs to Etiquette/Policy at 5:06 PM.
posted by clavdivs at 4:48 PM on January 5, 2022 [2 favorites]

You have always been some of my favorite content, clavdivs!
posted by MonkeyToes at 6:18 PM on January 5, 2022 [3 favorites]

Are Links Required?

Oh, man, seeing the name of MiguelCardoso takes one back. Once he was one of the taller poppies here before he was driven away. As clavdivs is another -- but he at least has driven his pilings into the bedrock here. Nothing will dislodge him.
posted by y2karl at 11:35 PM on January 5, 2022 [5 favorites]

Mais où sont les neiges d'antan?
posted by y2karl at 12:13 AM on January 6, 2022

but how does he smoke a cigar with his ear?
posted by lazaruslong at 12:59 AM on January 6, 2022

You have always been some of my favorite content, clavdivs!

“I am not content! I am a free man!” - clavidivs, running from the bouncing sphere.
posted by Ghidorah at 2:58 AM on January 6, 2022 [7 favorites]

B
Double E
Double R
U
N
(look it up)
posted by mule98J at 3:30 PM on January 6, 2022 [1 favorite]

Thank you MonkeyToes. I believe that is the first time in 20 years that words fail me on every front. I needed that because I had one of those days were failure is rewarded and success not.
posted by clavdivs at 8:57 PM on January 6, 2022 [6 favorites]

Maybe we'll do these weekly? Dunno. But we're doing them weekly in a two-data-points sense, at least: another Monday, another Free Thread.
posted by cortex (staff) at 11:07 AM on January 10, 2022 [1 favorite]