I’ve become attached to this eldritch abomination.
I’ve become attached to this eldritch abomination.
Easy. It’s a dried and shellacked squid that has been posed in an artful, somehow bipedal and menacing position. I call it the creeping horror and keep it in an old wooden box.
Not really my taste, but it was a gift.
Well that’s terrifying.
My old vacuum bags were meant to be tossed, but I just emptied it and put it back because $.
I didn’t really expect anyone to know that, which was sort of the joke. He was very famous in his time, but by now it’s a bit of a deep cut.
Artie Shaw was a clarinetist who ran a jazz band. In addition to that, he was also quite the weirdo. Womanizer, liked math a lot (like more than is natural), was an expert marksman who was nationally ranked in that sort of thing, and really into fly fishing. Also, currently, very dead. And that’s good because otherwise he’d be 114.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artie_Shaw
here’s a sample of his work https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_v3GY3ZqdM
Shock: I’m not really Artie Shaw.
I was just thinking about “quirky” because my sister-in-law recently used it to describe her daughter. Her contrasting word (for her son) was “straightforward.”
Personally, I fit the former even though I’ve learned to “pass for normal.” NOT my words. That was a direct quote and it was meant as a compliment. Weird is definitely meant as an insult in the US Midwest.
Environmental, Social, and Governance programs are a trendy topic with investors. For example, if Walmart’s shareholders force it to adopt an ES&G program, that that same pressure gets applied by Walmart to their vendors.
That’s how it’s supposed to work. Devil is in the details, of course. And plenty of “yes buts” to go along with them.
There’s an entire industry devoted to auditing and rating companies on their overall score. Ecovadis is one that I can think of off the top of my head. They’ll audit you, give you a score, and give you areas where you need to improve.
I haven’t decided exactly how cynical I am about the whole thing, but I’m way past letting the perfect strangle the good.
Exactly. After the American revolution started, England needed a new place to send convicts.
If you watch enough old scifi and adventure movies, you’ll learn to welcome the “so that’s where Lucas took that idea from” feeling as an old friend. He lifted a lot.
Did you read even the first paragraph of that article?
In the US they were definitely out of fashion in the '80s and '90s. They were fashion statement that said “I’m a gross hippie” or worse, a BeeGee.
I was a teen at the time and the consensus among teen girls was that a beard was the ultimate dealbreaker of a physical attribute. Makes sense, really, because most guys our age couldn’t grow a nice one if they wanted to. (And also - hippies are gross). I always respectfully disagreed, and would point to our classmate, Murad. He had pretty well grown facial hair by junior year and he looked fiiiinne.
The exception that proved the rule? Luckily (for Murad) my classmates generally agreed, but refused to back down from their opinion in general.
That attitude persisted, with the occasional appearance of a goatee or soul patch in the late '90s, both of which proved to be a gateway drug that led to the appearance of proper beards. I think a lot of guys would have liked to have beards, but realized that they were driving away potential partners. But they were pretty normal by 2010.
I’ll drop this line from wikipedia, which should illustrate just how boringly mainstream beards have become in the US.
Since 2015 a growing number of male political figures have worn beards in office, including Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, and Senators Ted Cruz and Tom Cotton.
Damn hippies.
That’s just it. No one is shocked because this is completely normal. We could argue whether parts of Idaho are worse than parts of Ohio - which you seem to confuse for some reason - but no one with a passing familiarity with either is going to be surprised to hear that this happened quite openly in Coeur D’Alene, Wapakoneta, Piketon…
It’s not some secret.
It’s bad, definitely. And it should be reported. But if we’re being honest about our neighbors, no one can be surprised.
I think you’re vastly underestimating the size of that boat.
7:07am. Milan.
I’m woken by two texts from my coworker. “Thought we were meeting in the lobby at 7:00. Heading to the train station.”
The train leaves at 7:20. “Well I can’t…” or can I?
Clothes on. Glasses on. All toiletries swept into purse. I run like hell.
There’s a pedestrian underpass, but I Frogger across the road and through the square. I’m in the station with a minute to spare and I’m still somehow running. My shoes are shabby Converse and the floor is polished marble. And I’m 45.
Things are going as ok as any of that can be until I have that out of body moment when I know my foot to forward motion ratio is incompatible with staying upright.
I lunged into the fall, made an extremely satisfying “splat” sound, and skidded several horizontal meters on the marble floor. Two or more nicely dressed Italians look at me in horror, but I’m not physically hurt. Big smile. I thought about Mary Catherine Gallagher-ing it with a victory pose, but just got up and kept running.
Made the train as it was pulling out, brushed hair/teeth once i caught my breath. Moved to the correct train car at the next stop, and met up with my colleague.
We had a nice day trip and the waiter was horrified at how much wine we drank at lunch.
Is “going back to school” a thing in Germany? From what I know about that education system I’m guessing not, but in the US that’s a standard answer.
“I want to move to be closer to my aging parents.” - might work. If you haven’t shared much about your life, it’s an easy lie. And it’s dull and depressing, so the odds of followup questions are slim. I hear it a lot when interviewing job candidates in our area.
Her business partner (and co-defendant) is described as a “mental health counselor.” I’m sure she’s fine.
/s
It’s not for everyone, but Penguin Island by Anatole France features great auks. I read it many years ago and enjoyed it (in a dorky 19th century satire sort of way). Not for everyone.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penguin_Island_(novel)