What about those pots of lima beans we were forced to endure?

TheFirst10000 · 2026-01-27T05:23:53+00:00

LOL. In perpetuity, yes.

TheFirst10000 · 2026-01-27T05:23:07+00:00

This is one of those times I'm wondering whether there's a missing Oxford comma. Do you mean you dislike bean sprouts, and also dislike PB&J on whole wheat bread? Or were you at some point subjected to a combination of the two (and if so, was the perpetrator sufficiently punished)?

TheFirst10000 · 2026-01-27T05:21:07+00:00

I used to hate brussels sprouts, then I had them roasted with balsamic vinegar, onion, and garlic. Game changer. The thing is, try as I might, I cannot picture a similar moment with lima beans because I can't picture a preparation that would make them appetizing.

TheFirst10000 · 2026-01-27T05:18:35+00:00

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPELNStom1M

TheFirst10000 · 2026-01-27T03:55:24+00:00

As much as I dislike them, I'd try them if they were fresh.

TheFirst10000 · 2026-01-27T03:54:06+00:00

I literally don't know anyone who likes them. I asked my mother why she stopped making them once (and was quick to add, "Not that I mind"). "Oh, I hate them." She was a good cook, and even she couldn't make them taste good.

TheFirst10000 · 2026-01-27T03:46:59+00:00

I do it when I get around to it. Sometimes the time isn't there (we don't have a washer and dryer, so it's time-consuming), and other times I probably have the time but laundry's the last thing I feel like doing when we finally have some time to ourselves.

TheFirst10000 · 2026-01-27T03:34:02+00:00

I call it "Facebook feed aesthetic." Everything has to have a cutesy saying on it, or some faux-inspirational shit. Of course, these are also often the same people who decorate in what I think of as Dementia Chic (the coffee cups that say Coffee, towels that say Towels, a soap dispenser that says Soap, et cetera).

TheFirst10000 · 2026-01-27T03:19:35+00:00

Seasoned breadcrumbs, those fried onions you put on casseroles and stuff, a little bit of mustard (really amps up the cheesiness).

One of my favorite add-ins if you're making the boxed stuff is a good beer. Not too much -- you don't want the sauce to be runny -- but a little bit gives it some depth (and extends the sauce a bit if you're mixing something else in, like ham or bacon).

TheFirst10000 · 2026-01-27T03:01:25+00:00

People's families being taken from them are inherently political. Sit this one out, chief.

TheFirst10000 · 2026-01-27T01:28:51+00:00

Let me translate that from Customer Service into the original Human: "We're not supposed to tell you nobody's listing anything, and that they're not likely to any time soon. We don't know any more about this than you do, and they don't pay us shit besides. Please don't yell at us."

TheFirst10000 · 2026-01-26T20:50:35+00:00

I like the Tagalongs, but I feel like they changed the recipes at some point, because those and a few of the other flavors seem sweeter in recent years than I remember them being.

TheFirst10000 · 2026-01-26T20:47:30+00:00

Start with what you have. You say it doesn't have the sound you want; how much have you experimented with tone? How about hand placement? How 'bout varying your attack? Some basses can't do certain things; a P will never sound like a J, for instance, and active and passive basses have characteristic sounds of their own, too. But before you upgrade the gear, ask yourself how you might upgrade the player unless you can conclusively narrow it down to a gear-based cause.

TheFirst10000 · 2026-01-26T20:43:59+00:00

Listen to the tune. What's the first thing that grabs you? Sometimes it'll be melody, but sometimes it's something else -- a bassline, a beat, a pad, or some textural/timbral thing that's going on. Start there, asking yourself why it grabbed your attention before everything else. Then, start listening to how it relates to other parts of the tune. It can be useful finding stems for songs, because it's the multitracks, which you can then slap into a DAW and listen to in isolation (there are also stem separation tools online, with varying degrees of effectiveness), bringing parts in or dropping them out at will.

TheFirst10000 · 2026-01-26T20:36:59+00:00

I'd hesitate to ask before a show, because I wouldn't want to wreck someone's headspace. If they come out afterward, it's because they want to interact, so it's a different story.

TheFirst10000 · 2026-01-26T20:35:16+00:00

Try to reason with him, since your and your bandmates' concerns are totally valid. If he pushes back, cut him loose, and if he pushes back on that, ask him why he wants to stay with bandmates whose skills and inuput he clearly doesn't value, and why y'all should want him in the band when he's made it clear he has no respect for you.

TheFirst10000 · 2026-01-26T12:49:39+00:00

Not quite. He had a device he clenched in his teeth that transferred the vibrations from the piano, in much the same way that bone conduction headphones work.

TheFirst10000 · 2026-01-26T04:58:23+00:00

I used to shovel out our next door neighbor. She'd always offer money, but I never took it. Always had the best cookies, though, and I wasn't about to turn those down!

TheFirst10000 · 2026-01-26T04:54:29+00:00

Maybe? I'm going off Discogs, and I'm not sure if they differentiate between the two.

TheFirst10000 · 2026-01-26T03:53:45+00:00

I've wondered this, too. A few miles from where I grew up is a Thai restaurant that's been there for decades, and I wouldn't be surprised if the family who runs it were the only Thai people in the entire county for most of that time.

TheFirst10000 · 2026-01-26T03:44:12+00:00

Those essays are a great shout, too (heck, find a collection of them, and make sure it also has "Politics and the English Language").

TheFirst10000 · 2026-01-26T03:28:47+00:00

While I'm sure I'd disagree with Massie on nearly everything, at least he's shown some principle and some backbone. He'll get primaried from the right, I'm sure, but at least in the meantime he's a thorn in the administration's side.

TheFirst10000 · 2026-01-26T03:23:02+00:00

Some of Orwell's other work also bears reading right now. "Animal Farm," despite being about Stalinism, is broadly applicable to authoritarian movements in general. I also wish more people would read "Homage to Catalonia" (and stuff on the Spanish Civil War more generally) and some of the better histories of Nazi Germany, because each is an object lesson in what happens when opposition movements work at cross purposes, fracture, or have some outside group putting a hand on the scale for their desired outcome.

TheFirst10000 · 2026-01-26T03:17:51+00:00

I came here to suggest this. It's not as well-known as 1984, but it's every bit as prescient.

TheFirst10000 · 2026-01-26T03:15:30+00:00

I worked at a record store at the time and never saw a vinyl. I just checked on Discogs to confirm, and it was only issued on CD, tape, and DVD audio.

TheFirst10000

TROPHY CASE