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i'm a self taught hobbyist sketch artist in my mid thirties - i have a mfa in creative writing, and make genuinely not-enough money in my current field of adjunct teaching and writing - recently i started taking a few art classes at a community art school and it has radically changed my relationship to my art. i am fantasizing about going to art school full time and dedicating myself to my art - is this reasonable or should i stick with keeping it a 'hobby'? more, long details within - [more inside]
posted by lightgray to Education at 3:21 PM - 39 answers

I'm looking at getting at 55" TV for digital signage. Which is the best smart TV system for that? I'm hoping to be able to just drop images into a Google Drive or Google Photos folder and have them show up automatically rather than using a USB drive. [more inside]
posted by roaring beast to Technology at 3:16 PM - 3 answers

I’m looking for advice or tips to convince my aging parents to get help around the house when they are resistant to doing this. Have you been an adult who eventually realized you needed assistance? Have you talked your parents into getting help when they thought they could take care of everything themselves? [more inside]
posted by davidstandaford to Human Relations at 11:58 AM - 30 answers

Many older people in my life (60+) are having their beliefs drastically changed by things they see on social media, so in the last few years, their values have swung far over from where they used to sit. If I suggest new media for them to consume, they'll try it. So, what should I suggest? YouTube channels would probably be the best, but open to other platforms too.
posted by vanilla.extract to Media & Arts at 11:44 AM - 12 answers

I have a packet of dry gravy mix. It makes one cup [more inside]
posted by Czjewel to Food & Drink at 7:57 AM - 14 answers

This will require a fair bit of explanation so I'm going straight to below the cut. [more inside]
posted by Rhedyn to Media & Arts at 7:27 AM - 38 answers

My weighted blanket suddenly doesn't feel heavy anymore. What is happening? [more inside]
posted by LoonyLovegood to Health & Fitness at 2:30 AM - 7 answers

I'd like to hear a version of Jerusalem in a minor key. Bonus for other important songs transposed major to minor or vice versa. [more inside]
posted by Hactar to Society & Culture at 12:41 AM - 6 answers

Recently, I noticed that the little pie indicator for iCloud in my sidebar was sitting with a mere sliver for days on end. It claims to be uploading four files. I can't get it to either finish, or stop. Help. [more inside]
posted by Well I never to Computers & Internet at 10:52 PM - 3 answers

I plan to give a gift to my sister of items for the bath or a home spa treatment, that type of thing. Do you have any suggestions? One thing she has been interested in in the past is a foot mask, but I am open to any thing related. We live in the USA, she in the Northwest and I in the Southwest.
posted by NotLost to Shopping at 10:45 PM - 11 answers

Looking for engrossing, moving memoirs and novels about becoming middle-aged, but not about marriage or parenting/children. What's your favorite? [more inside]
posted by cboggs to Writing & Language at 10:34 PM - 7 answers

There is mold growing in my window AC unit (GE Profile PHC06/PHC08). It is definitely mold, not just dirt or dust. What should I do? [more inside]
posted by catquas to Home & Garden at 3:26 PM - 4 answers

I would love to find a memoir I read in the late 70’s written by a European man in Africa who became known for being able to rid villages of black mamba snakes. There was much more to the book, but the snake wrangling was memorable. Or maybe I’m conflating more than one book? Thank you.
posted by Gusaroo to Writing & Language at 3:11 PM - 3 answers

I have a giant pile of kale from a farm stand. So, picked literally this morning. Tonight for dinner we are having the tomato feta pasta that went viral during Covid. How should I cook this kale to complement that? [more inside]
posted by BlahLaLa to Food & Drink at 2:44 PM - 9 answers

This question has confused me utterly. I even timed myself scrambling eggs today - it takes me less than 35 seconds at just-over-lowest heat for fairly dry eggs. Yet all the recipes described and linked in that thread refer to from 5 minutes at medium heat to 40 minutes at low heat. [more inside]
posted by I claim sanctuary to Food & Drink at 11:24 AM - 30 answers

I have about three cups of cherry tomatoes. What should I make with these? [more inside]
posted by NotLost to Food & Drink at 10:21 AM - 16 answers

As a home buyer or seller, do I qualify for getting some of my money back? [more inside]
posted by Toddles to Law & Government at 7:27 AM - 1 answer

I, who dislike eggs in all forms, have stupidly volunteered to make scrambled eggs for a guest. Moreover, the guest likes creamy scrambled eggs, a thing I have never in my life encountered and find completely unrelatable. Metafilter scrambled egg discourse is full of terrifying absolutes and contradictions, but I don't need the best outlier recipe with a weird trick, I need a robust recipe that will turn out OK-ish, not disgusting to a scrambled egg eater, even if I don't taste it at all and have no idea what I'm going for. Help? [more inside]
posted by Bardolph to Food & Drink at 3:59 AM - 31 answers

My friend (who lives in downtown San Francisco) believes she might have bedbugs, and was looking for recommendations for local pest control services (she already tried Terminix, with less-than-satisfactory results). [more inside]
posted by gtrwolf to Home & Garden at 12:05 AM - 5 answers

I work at a small startup, and recently I was informed (by a health clinic I was trying to make an appointment at) that my insurance is marked in the system as being "inactive" starting on April 1st. When I emailed our HR person about it, the response I got was... weird, and made me nervous that my company isn't being honest with me. Would absolutely love input from anyone who's knowledgeable about employer-sponsored small group insurance plans and/or HR on this - details inside. Thank you! [more inside]
posted by second banana to Work & Money at 4:59 PM - 7 answers

I am planning to delete my account. What is the difference between html and json formats? If I want to see my photos and captions later which will open better? [more inside]
posted by Lawn Beaver to Computers & Internet at 4:34 PM - 5 answers

My dad (85 yr old retired geology professor) and I (55 yr old science teacher) have an 8 hr road trip coming up to visit family back where he grew up. Last summer we had some audiobook hits and misses on a similar road trip. Humor and/or narratives from 50s/60s/70s is probably best bet, not science. More inside… [more inside]
posted by chr1sb0y to Society & Culture at 2:52 PM - 25 answers

What is vinegar fermentation supposed to look like / am I doing it right? [more inside]
posted by Joey Buttafoucault to Food & Drink at 2:08 PM - 2 answers

I buy a lot of secondhand items, and discount items from Amazon, the dollar store, etc. My young kids play with these items, in their damp little well-licked hands. What are some general principles to follow, to avoid unhealthy components like lead? [more inside]
posted by vanilla.extract to Science & Nature at 2:06 PM - 7 answers

Okay, I have had purely barbershop cuts for many years, but do I need a salon? The cut in question is a K-Pop-esque two-block cut. [more inside]
posted by Frowner to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion at 9:23 AM - 14 answers

I recently watched the Columbo episode with Ruth Gordon, "Try and Catch Me." The murder victim is found with black paint under his fingernail from -- and pardon me for not spoilering a TV show from 1977 -- scratching an arrow in some metal to lead to the clue that reveals who his murderer was. Where else has this been used? [more inside]
posted by The corpse in the library to Media & Arts at 8:26 AM - 3 answers

My 7 year old has been a picky eater his whole life, along with having a really sensitive gag reflex. Things are okay with mealtimes, but sometimes the mention of food makes him gag so much that he almost throws up. Like, turns read, starts sweating, has to try really hard not to vomit. Suggestions? Is myofunctional therapy what we need? Details inside... [more inside]
posted by dabadoo to Health & Fitness at 7:58 AM - 36 answers

All my hobbies are passive - with one major exception, but still. I usually just sit and read and watch and scroll. Why, and how can I change this? I want to be a person with more hobbies and interests. [more inside]
posted by unicorn chaser to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation at 5:35 AM - 36 answers

Are there any good, effective ways to dodge YouTube's music copyright detection systems these days? I'm no robber baron--just a regular non-online-popular person who would like to soundtrack his bike-ride videos with cool music. Maybe even a whole song that would be the sonic bedrock for the video edit. A decade ago, I was able to slow a music track down by 10 percent, and that worked. No longer! For context, I'm nobody, and get fewer than 100 hits on my videos, so this doesn't need to be a bulletproof solution.
posted by flod to Computers & Internet at 1:56 AM - 14 answers

What colors are “in” for home decor for babies and thirty-something moms? Help me yarn shop! [more inside]
posted by Mizu to Grab Bag at 10:26 PM - 17 answers

Who wrote a fiction that described teachers being “corrupted by the flow of youth passing between their fingers” - or words to that effect? A cited quote is your quarry, gentlemen. Good hunting.
posted by Lemkin to Media & Arts at 5:27 PM - 3 answers

It's driving me nuts. I think the word starts with a P like “prospective” but that's not it. When you reconstruct a skull from a few fragments, build out a face from a skull or age someone 20 years. What's it called?
posted by brachiopod to Writing & Language at 4:05 PM - 37 answers

A recent Reel we're trying to find was about two kinds of emotions: the difference between just feeling something, and feeling something enough to motivate you to change things in the world. The first example given was of the difference between merely envying someone's toned six-pack and wanting it enough to go to the gym every morning. Another of passing a beautiful garden. Ring any bells?
posted by johngoren to Religion & Philosophy at 3:51 PM - 1 answer

I am psychologically humiliated and I do not know how to deal with the issue. [more inside]
posted by anonymous to Human Relations at 2:59 PM - 16 answers

When I lived in Canada I could order contacts online without verifying my prescription with an optometrist so I could avoid optometrist fees - is there any way I can do that in the US today? [more inside]
posted by dokodomo to Shopping at 2:18 PM - 4 answers

There is a birthday. It's still wintry in Maine, so Gingerbread! Non-Dairy preferred, but rules can be bent. I have seen the NYTimes version of beloved food writer Laurie Colwin's gingerbread. Chopped candied ginger will be added. Fresh Ginger? Lemon curd will be on the side and there will likely be a lemon glaze. Give me your inspiration, your recipes, whatever you've got. It will be made in both a round pan for wedges, and probably cupcakes.
posted by theora55 to Food & Drink at 1:59 PM - 7 answers

Want to let some people help post content on our work account. What's the "best practice" these days? [more inside]
posted by Iteki to Technology at 1:58 PM - 4 answers

Looking to improve my rudimentary skills in one foreign language and knock the rust off my skills in a different one. Is there a free mobile app or website that will be good for both of these needs? Is Duolingo still the best game in town even after killing/reviving(?) their owl?
posted by TwoStride to Technology at 12:45 PM - 13 answers

I love to play around with the new AI image generators, these are a lot of fun. I have a subscription to Midjourney and what is does really well is blending images in an interesting way. As far as I can see no other AI can do this well, Stabilitys blended images are very uninspiring. I want to make a bracket style tournament with some 32 artworks/photos/whatever and blend them together and see where it ends up, what changes if you switch the pairings etc.. I have done this with Midjourney via the GUI, but it is very time intensive and if you want to iterate on it you have to do it all over. But Midjourney has no API! I used Replicate for my unsatisfying trial run with Stability but seemingly the other image generators available there can only blend images in a straightforward style, like layering one above the others. Do you know of any AI that can blend images well and has an API?
posted by SweetLiesOfBokonon to Technology at 11:37 AM - 3 answers

I'm traveling to Japan soon and want to visit funky little shops that do one thing very well. [more inside]
posted by theodolite to Travel & Transportation at 9:06 AM - 9 answers

I work for a museum that has a well-known painting. An old, very bad image of the painting has been loose on the internet for a very long time, including as the reference image on wikipedia. How do I fix this? [more inside]
posted by PussKillian to Computers & Internet at 8:27 AM - 10 answers

Is there anyone/any platform that is keeping a running tally of how Trump cuts are impacting states across sectors? [more inside]
posted by brookeb to Law & Government at 10:03 PM - 2 answers

Building a playlist for a mood I’m calling “I hate everything and everyone; I hope the sun devours us all.” This mood is every day all day for me so as many songs as possible please!
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese to Media & Arts at 3:59 PM - 138 answers

A person sitting near me accidentally dropped some kind of milky coffee drink in my purse last week while I was traveling. Please help me figure out how to get it clean and fresh-smelling at home, or tell me if it's done for. [more inside]
posted by gentlyepigrams to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion at 3:32 PM - 12 answers

Someone I know experienced severe smoke inhalation during a house fire, and has been in an induced coma for several days. What exactly is the mechanism of such a severe smoke injury, and what might be a reasonable expectation for recovery / outcomes?
posted by anonymous to Science & Nature at 2:58 PM - 5 answers

The motor runs, but nothing else happens. There is no water through-put. Just today I had plumbers in to install an under-sink water filter, and they said there is nothing wrong with the hookup to the washer. So...WTF? [more inside]
posted by Guy_Inamonkeysuit to Home & Garden at 1:33 PM - 12 answers

So, it's been widely reported (NY Times, SF Chronicle) that the performers (often minors) in this pageant are under or un-paid, maltreated, forced to work while injured, and completely controlled by Falun Gong and its "leader" Li Hongzhi -- my question is why do legitimate venues (like Lincoln Center, NJ PAC, college auditoriums) allow this sort of exploitation to even be booked? It can't be ignorance. I know they make money, but wouldn't you refuse to book this act at your theater? Or is this just incredibly naive of me to ask?
posted by mmf to Society & Culture at 12:18 PM - 14 answers

I have 24 of these thin plywood wall thingies that I want to hang in a 3x8 grid to mimic a headboard. How please? [more inside]
posted by cilantro to Home & Garden at 11:38 AM - 8 answers

This was me in January. We've moved and the cat is now with us. 95% of the time everything is great, but we're having some persistent issues and I don't know how to address them. The cat will bite and scratch at my partner, drawing blood and leaving marks on her arm once or twice a day. We really need to address this but am really not sure where to start. [more inside]
posted by Carillon to Pets & Animals at 11:17 AM - 22 answers

I love Trader Joe's chili pepper sauce for Taco Bell-esque bean burritos. Alas, it's discontinued. What's a good substitute? Also: out of the available Trader Joe's sauces, which is closest? [more inside]
posted by kristi to Food & Drink at 10:43 AM - 2 answers

Looking for early cgi animation of cars having sex? [more inside]
posted by varion to Computers & Internet at 10:37 AM - 3 answers

How do I Listen to a document in Word using Read Aloud but still be able to highlight sentences? [more inside]
posted by ljs30 to Computers & Internet at 9:48 AM - 1 answer

I am befuddled by this slot in the hotel fridge door. [more inside]
posted by quinndexter to Food & Drink at 4:54 AM - 3 answers

Could you help me find the counted cross stitch pattern for a ring of mushrooms with "You cannot kill me in a way that matters"? Image
posted by Nancy Lebovitz to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation at 4:10 AM - 3 answers

Ear worm that I can't figure out. The main part of the chorus sounds like "Waaaaaaaailin'!" or "Raaaaaaay Lynn!" or "Heeeeeeyyyyy Lynn!" That's repeated two or three times and then it's "Never let me down oh no" or something along those lines, repeated a couple times in a more conversational tone. Genre/style is like the Rolling Stones or the Eagles or something along those lines. [more inside]
posted by lapis to Media & Arts at 8:06 PM - 19 answers

I am looking for recommendations for a library shelf map - i.e. a graphical representation of where to find an item (or item range) in the stacks of our library so that library users can more easily find what they seek. [more inside]
posted by malpractice to Technology at 7:03 PM - 12 answers

Losing my mind trying to find an oldish song by a defunct Canadian indie band whose title is some variation on [Woman's name][Couture-related][Negative occurrence] that would be like "Sally's Denim Disaster" or "Mary's Fashion Failure".
posted by Alvy Ampersand to Media & Arts at 5:09 PM - 6 answers

I am looking for recommendations for a wheelchair bound elderly person who can walk only a few steps with assistance. more details... [more inside]
posted by chasles to Health & Fitness at 2:26 PM - 15 answers

My mom passed away two years ago. She had a 23andMe account. I have her password, but 23andMe won't allow me to log in without updating it...via an email sent to her defunct email address...or a message sent to her defunct phone number. Is this a lost cause or is there some way for me to get in?
posted by rednikki to Computers & Internet at 2:04 PM - 9 answers

What to do in Columbus for a few days? [more inside]
posted by cozenedindigo to Travel & Transportation at 2:03 PM - 16 answers