Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with cutting

Cacti experts, help!

peachfuzz — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:15:35 -0800

I have some questions about cacti. First, can you help me identify the awesome cactus my boss' husband gave me? It looks exactly like this one (though that's someone else's photo). Second, can you recommend how to take and transplant a cutting from it? I've read some guides and know to let it callous over before potting it, but I'm not sure how or where to cut - it's larger than this one, with lots of branches and paddles and bulbous bits. Should I just try to get most of a node? And when I pot it, should I bury it or just put an inch or so into the soil? Is half sand and half soil the right mix to use? I've read a lot of different opinions. Ditto on whether to water it after repotting or not. Basically, all cacti tips are welcome.

Thanks!

How do I copy the contents from Excel to Word without the formatting?

holdenjordahl — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 22:48:37 -0800

Does anyone know how to remove the formatting (for lack of better expression) column borders that accompany text when I paste it from Excel to Word? I've checked both Word & Excel help to no avail, probably because I can't frame the question very well. Thanks.

Nevermind, I don't want to be famous.

Anonymous — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 05:10:17 -0800

I'm an artist who has had the incredible luck to have some work released to a large worldwide audience, and have been excited and pleased to get a large influx of new fans adding me on myspace, and emailing me. It's been great until I came home tonight and logged in -- I'm extremely freaked out by a fan's behavior on myspace. I do not know what to do, or even who to ask about this. I feel like this must sound ridiculous. While the work that has gotten the exposure was a collaboration and released by a large entertainment company, it was a work for hire, and I do not have any professional representation or management. I'm doing my own self-promotion and management on my own. I got this lucky break and have suddenly got a some great exposure for my art, and have been getting an unexpected amount of strangers contacting me. I don't know what's "normal" or what to expect here. I'm getting probably 15-20 contacts a day across myspace, facebook and twitter. I imagine this is nothing special in the scheme of "fame" and I imagine it will die down soon. I should also add that I have separate pages on facebook and myspace for my art persona. I do not accept friend requests on personal pages unless I know the person in real life.

Most of the folks contacting me are teenagers. I've tried to respond to everybody that contacts me, just once. Relatively impersonal, but grateful for the kind words, and I do try to find something personal to say to everybody that emails me.

While this has been a little overwhelming, of course it's very exciting and encouraging and I've just decided to enjoy it for as long as it lasts -- I understand this sort of thing is fleeting, to say the least.

A few days ago, I got a message from someone in Mexico (I'm in the US). The mail was very sweet, nothing particularly out of the ordinary of other messages I get, and I sent something back thanking the person and encouraging them to continue pursuing their dreams, as they had one profile picture which hinted toward their own artistic endeavors. I think they responded again, I did not reply. As I'm playing it by ear here, I have had a "reply once and thank them, and leave it at that" rule. I don't keep close track of the messages I receive. I just try to follow a first in/first out rule and then forget about it.

I came home tonight to discover this person in Mexico left a comment on my page with pictures they'd uploaded of my name carved into someone's skin. I suspect it is theirs. It is my first name. It's possible they just found this on google as my name is not terribly unique (not wildly common, either). This is terribly shocking and upsetting. I was actually physically sick and very frightened when I saw it. The accompanying text message was benign, the pictures are terrifying. They uploaded the pictures directly to their profile and linked them in the comments. This person, who I believe is a teenager, has one other friend besides me on their myspace, and mentions my name several times on their profile.

I do not know what to do. I'm afraid to even delete the comment for fear of provoking this clearly disturbed person further. If they lived in the US, I would feel more comfortable contacting authorities, or trying to track down the parents. As it stands, I have no idea what to do as this person is in Mexico, or so says the profile.

I contacted myspace via their customer service form, but beyond that, what can I do? What if they do not respond? My first instinct was to respond to this person, but I stopped myself, as I think that this person just wants attention and I don't want to stoke the fire. My next thought was, delete the comment, unfriend, block, and move on, but frankly, I'm afraid to do that without a gameplan should this escalate.

I am completely freaked out by this. Am I overreacting? To be honest, right now I am so freaked out that I want to delete any self-promotion I have on the entire internet, shut it down completely, stop performing and hide forever. I definitely need some advice.

Handwriting? Writing with ones' hand? Please explain.

monocultured — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 12:33:21 -0800

I'd like to find typographically pretty stencils in small sizes; Something neat and flat that I could have in my notebook and trace with a .005 pen. Alternatively, does anyone know how much it would cost to get something like this laser cut? (or whatever process might work) Preferably close by in Sweden, but mailorder would work.

If you have a hard time visualising: Not pretty stencils

Can geraniums root in water?

footnote — Sun, 18 May 2008 10:54:58 -0800

Can I propagate a geranium stem cutting in plain water, or do I have to use some other kind of medium?

Replacement slide out cutting board?

tslugmo — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 20:39:04 -0800

Where do I find an inexpensive replacement slide out cutting board? Our pull-out cutting board needs to be replaced, and I feel like that shouldn't be so hard to do. I feel like you shouldn't need to construct one, or order a custom one, you should just be able to pick on up for like $40 somewhere, but I haven't been able to find one. I've googled, and all I see are custom jobs. This post here talks about a local hardware store, but it's not local to me. Any sources to order a standard replacement, or are they all different sizes? Suggestions for an easy, budget fix?

Thanks!

How do I get the first piece of cake out of the baking dish without wrecking the first piece itself?

Effigy2000 — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 03:13:56 -0800

Whenever I make a cake or pie in a baking dish, I always find that once it's done, I always wreck the first piece while trying to get the first piece out of the dish and onto a plate. After the first piece, getting subsequent pieces out is easy but that first piece is impossile. But there must be a way! Share your tips on how to get the first piece of pie/cake out of the baking dish and onto a plate without destroying it!

Scar

hadjiboy — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 23:03:04 -0800

Why do Bipolar sufferers cut themselves? A friend of mine, who has the disease, used to cut his arms regularly. I always wanted to ask him why, but was unsure how to broach the subject. I happen to have a minor form of the illness myself, but have never felt compelled to do this, although I have read on a few sites that Bipolar patients usually cut themselves. Is this true? Is there a reason for it?

Cost segregation - Real or scam

growabrain — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 08:51:15 -0800

Taxing question regarding "Cost Segregation": Does it actually work? (More inside) We were approached by an outfit that offers an expensive "engineer-based" study for apartment buildings & other commercial properties (in order to reduce the depreciation of some 'personal' property portions of larger assets)
I am looking for feedback from people who actually got these studies done, and passed IRS scrutiny. What are the real savings? Neither my CPA nor my tax lawyer are familiar with the practice.
Google teaches me that there's a new phenom of franchising this service, so what is your real experience with it?

Where can I find a particular YouTube video for educators about cutting (self-harm)?

raddevon — Mon, 09 Oct 2006 16:14:40 -0800

Where can I find a particular YouTube video for educators about cutting (self-harm)? Johnny Cash's Hurt plays in the background. The opening scene is a child cutting his wrist. It's targeted to educators. It's focus is to urge them to intervene if they know a child who is a cutter or has other emotional problem. A cutter, by the way, is one who cuts his body. I've found this video before but cannot find it again. I guess this is a longshot, but any help is greatly appreciated.

Cut memory foam pad = still comfy?

sirion — Sun, 04 Jun 2006 08:25:26 -0800

Would a memory foam mattress topper be uncomfortable if it were cut in the middle? I've switched to a memory foam-based bed a couple of years ago and have never been happier with my bed.

I want to buy a 3" 5lb queen-sized topper for me and my girlfriend, when we travel, and cut it in half (as they can be packed away in a very small container if the air is sucked out). This sounds perfect, except it would be nice to be able to reassemble the two halves on a queen-sized bed. My experience with the material is enough to say that it seems at least plausible that we wouldn't notice the cut in the center, but I really don't know. Anyone have some more experience with memory foam?

Tools for making interior cuts in thick stacks of paper or wood laminates?

weston — Fri, 30 Dec 2005 12:36:05 -0800

Cutting Tools: I want to cut shapes out of thick stacks of paper and maybe wood laminates. Easy enough, right? Except I want to be able to do cuts that only go from one point in the interior to another point in the interior -- cuts that don't go all the way across or otherwise break the edge. Are there good choices for tools? I tried just being patient with a box cutter and sharp razor blades, but that takes longer than I want to spend and really taxes the wrist. I tried a Dremel and had some limited success, but burnt out a motor (and some of the material). I've eyed some of the circular saws, but think the relatively wide diameters are going to mean I'm not going to be able to get uniform cut-lengths over the various depths (which are probably going to be at least 1/2" and possibly up to 2"). I can't start cutting in the center of the material with a jigsaw.

It's possible I used the wrong attachment for the Dremel or just abused it -- I'm new to them and an amateur with these kinds of tools in general, and picked out the "Carbide Cutting/Shaping Wheel" and a diamond abrasion/cutting tool. I'd be open to suggestions there.

But mostly I'm wondering if there's better tools out there. Bonus points for affordability and portability (full CNC machines are probably out).

Unique female voices in electronic media? Who are the peers of Shelley Jackson and Laurie Anderson?

chocolatepeanutbuttercup — Thu, 24 Nov 2005 15:35:37 -0800

Unique female voices in electronic media? Who are the peers of Shelley Jackson and Laurie Anderson? Unique, cutting edge female voices in electronic media? Who are the peers of Shirley Jackson and Laurie Anderson?

I'm curious as to what the state of the art is in terms of female multimedia artists - I'm NOT looking for musicians or filmmakers, but female artists (art and literature) with a unique vision that you can't imagine easily being duplicated by a male. (I realize Anderson is thought of as a musician, but I think of her primarily as an artist who works in music as well as other media.)