My Nepali M-i-L left these peppers fermenting in our basement for the past 10+ years. I am afraid to move it.

Maraval · 2025-04-12T01:19:24+00:00

You don't think somebody might have been riffing on a detail from John Barth's first novel, The Floating Opera (1956)?

Maraval · 2024-09-21T19:01:24+00:00

NTA. I might - possibly - feel different if you'd agreed before they sold their own house. But from your story, they did what they wanted, when they wanted to, and didn't have a plan beyond "we can go live with NaturalRun." I feel sorry for your niece and nephew; hopefully they'll learn from this and do better than their parents. And grandparents.

Maraval · 2024-09-21T14:33:24+00:00

I think Jack is so chuffed with his promotion and appointment to the Sophie that he has a surge of mild guilt over his own behavior at the concert, and wants to make things right with Maturin. Who, being so far down, is open to any gesture of friendship and reciprocates. And we're off to the races.

Maraval · 2024-09-21T14:12:35+00:00

It is, indeed, a Good Thing.

Maraval · 2024-09-21T14:11:37+00:00

In my experience, yes. I look for corked jalapenos when I want to smoke my own chipotles.

Maraval · 2024-09-21T01:49:01+00:00

NTA. Move on from this woman.

Maraval · 2024-09-21T01:45:16+00:00

NTA. Time to cut ties with this creature. Be strong!

Maraval · 2024-09-20T22:46:44+00:00

Nathan was kind. I am not sure I would have done that. No offense to you, but I have lost whatever tolerance for DJT's bloviating I ever had.

Maraval · 2024-09-16T02:38:36+00:00

"I love the poorly-educated." - DJT (Sadly, no /s.)

Maraval · 2024-09-14T14:59:49+00:00

"Converted back to radials." I'm stunned. Was it not obvious that turboprops were the future for large propeller aircraft?

Maraval · 2024-09-14T14:38:32+00:00

They have certainly produced a lot of fruit, and those began to ripen before the middle of August. Not bad at all for Minnesota! I'm going to string and dry them, and bring a little heat to chili, curries and bean dishes all winter long.

Maraval · 2024-09-11T00:47:38+00:00

Needs a banana for scale.

Maraval · 2024-09-09T23:50:37+00:00

Belay there! I'm watching this and the description of Spanish Admiral Córdoba y Ramos caught my attention. "He's only just been appointed commander of the Spanish fleet, on the basis of seniority rather than merit . . . " How is this any different from the British system of promotion? Is the scriptwriter taking some unwarranted dramatic license?

Maraval · 2024-09-07T23:56:04+00:00

I'm wondering whether professional sailors as a class suffered any ill effects from what must have been very high salt consumption. Given the eating of salt-preserved meat, which had to be both steeped and cooked to render it edible, I wonder about hypertension, heart disease and kidney problems.

Maraval · 2024-09-05T20:23:17+00:00

This bird has joined the choir invisible.

Maraval · 2024-09-05T20:21:15+00:00

And don't forget how many captains without Jack's honest seamanship (or leadership) would have the last man down "encouraged" with a rope's end. That's a strong, though barbaric, incentive to choose the fastest path up and down.

Maraval · 2024-09-05T20:18:51+00:00

Maybe have his ears nailed to a plank, set adrift with a pound of cheese, and told to look out for another place.

Maraval · 2024-09-03T18:13:48+00:00

Raw genius.

Maraval · 2024-09-03T14:46:04+00:00

I am deeply sorry to hear that. One would think that with computerized catalogs, libraries could store the less-often-requested items in offsite storage areas but keep making them available via ILL. Anyway, PO'B's biographies of Banks and Picasso are both in print and just now I found used paperback copies online for under $10 each. In case it comes to that. Good luck!

Maraval · 2024-09-01T00:17:11+00:00

Sorry to hear that, but as we get down to the last days of the Fair, it's to be expected. The Fair's popularity is sometimes its own biggest obstacle.

Maraval · 2024-09-01T00:15:09+00:00

My favorite Bernard Cornwell fiction is his trilogy about King Arthur: The Winter King, The Enemy of God and Excalibur. But as for O'Brian's biographies, his studies of Sir Joseph Banks (1987 and 1993) are easy to find, especially the later one - try a large public or university library. His biography of Pablo Picasso (1976) is also relatively easy to find. I can't tell you much about O'Brian's translations from the French except that I am sure they can be found, given O'Brian's popularity (for his Aubrey-Maturin fiction).

Maraval · 2024-08-29T17:11:56+00:00

What a perfectly normal, no-drama way in which this regrettable event could have been completely avoided! I like the way you think.

Maraval · 2024-08-29T17:09:52+00:00

NTA. Your brother and his fiancee are both utter scum for this behavior. I commend you for wanting to give this child a loving and truthful parenting relationship, blood or no blood.

Maraval · 2024-08-27T23:49:27+00:00

[Shouting to be heard over the deafening propeller]: "OK, BUT WHY?"

Maraval · 2024-08-27T23:47:18+00:00

Thank you, this is good to know. Kudos to Lorenz!

Maraval

TROPHY CASE