Free Bee
September 11, 2023 9:50 AM Subscribe
Here's a bee. It's a freebie, like this free thread. That is all.
(It was too good a pun opportunity to pass up!)
(It was too good a pun opportunity to pass up!)
Don't B♯, and don't B♭, just B♮.
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 10:00 AM on September 11, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 10:00 AM on September 11, 2023 [3 favorites]
At this point I’m starting to wonder if MetaFilter has been hacked by a bee-obsessed damaged AI.
posted by notoriety public at 10:01 AM on September 11, 2023 [9 favorites]
posted by notoriety public at 10:01 AM on September 11, 2023 [9 favorites]
Bees are awesome. I'm very proud of having overcome my childhood fear of them. Dare I say it, bumble bees are even adorable.
Wasps, hornets, and yellow jackets can still go to hell though.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 10:01 AM on September 11, 2023 [3 favorites]
Wasps, hornets, and yellow jackets can still go to hell though.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 10:01 AM on September 11, 2023 [3 favorites]
Multicellular Exothermic - when crossing the street it helps to C♯ if you don't want to B♭
posted by moonmilk at 10:02 AM on September 11, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by moonmilk at 10:02 AM on September 11, 2023 [4 favorites]
I'm normally a big believer in letting bees and even yellowjackets go about their business undisturbed. But I took a drink out of a soda yesterday and got a live yellowjacket in my mouth. They'd been getting more and more plentiful and aggressive in our yard, making it unpleasant to hang out on our porch most days and more or less impossible to eat there. I was letting that slide, but the bug in my mouth pushed me over the line and led to me spraying the shit out of the nearby yellowjacket nest.
I promise to make it up the local pollinators as soon as I can, and I continue to observe a fragile peace with the orb spider who covers my entire mailbox with dense webs every single day.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:06 AM on September 11, 2023 [1 favorite]
I promise to make it up the local pollinators as soon as I can, and I continue to observe a fragile peace with the orb spider who covers my entire mailbox with dense webs every single day.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:06 AM on September 11, 2023 [1 favorite]
They don't allow you to have bees in here.
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 10:06 AM on September 11, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 10:06 AM on September 11, 2023 [1 favorite]
At this point I’m starting to wonder if MetaFilter has been hacked by a bee-obsessed damaged AI.
We are bee-obsessed damaged real intelligences tyvm
posted by Pallas Athena at 10:15 AM on September 11, 2023 [4 favorites]
We are bee-obsessed damaged real intelligences tyvm
posted by Pallas Athena at 10:15 AM on September 11, 2023 [4 favorites]
I went vegan about five weeks ahead of a half board buffet scenario vacation in Fuerteventura, and I feel like such an idiot for the timing. Ethically it's definitely the right choice for me rn, and I've been able to stop taking daily medication for acid reflux, so I guess dairy was a trigger. What sucks is how good the hotel food would have been if I'd still been vegetarian, and how much more terrible it is now I'm vegan. I'd have eaten way better for less money if I'd stayed home.
All I want is food that's as nutritionally complete and emotionally enticing/exciting/satisfying as the food people with fewer scruples are eating, without having to talk to the chef daily or make a big thing about it, and apparently that's too much to ask even though I spent the same amount of money to be here as the carnist tourists. It's disappointing given the reviews said the vegan offering was decent, but I guess some vegans are happy to just get fruit and vegetables (my partner is one of those and he's having a much better time), whereas I need a decent amount of fat and protein to stay alive and happy.
I'm struggling more generally with how little I feel like I'm made for the world and how little the world is made for me, as a trans, autistic & now vegan person, and this is just one microcosm of that wider unhappiness.
posted by terretu at 10:15 AM on September 11, 2023 [4 favorites]
All I want is food that's as nutritionally complete and emotionally enticing/exciting/satisfying as the food people with fewer scruples are eating, without having to talk to the chef daily or make a big thing about it, and apparently that's too much to ask even though I spent the same amount of money to be here as the carnist tourists. It's disappointing given the reviews said the vegan offering was decent, but I guess some vegans are happy to just get fruit and vegetables (my partner is one of those and he's having a much better time), whereas I need a decent amount of fat and protein to stay alive and happy.
I'm struggling more generally with how little I feel like I'm made for the world and how little the world is made for me, as a trans, autistic & now vegan person, and this is just one microcosm of that wider unhappiness.
posted by terretu at 10:15 AM on September 11, 2023 [4 favorites]
On the other hand we've seen some very friendly chipmunks, spotted flying fish on a boat trip today, the weather has been great, I've been swimming for the first time since top surgery (not yet shirtless since I'm meant to keep my scars out of the sun until next April, and I'm not 100% sure I'm a topless swimming person anyway, regardless of tit status), and my usually-high-conflict-while-vacationing family members have been remarkably chill. It's not all bad, I just want to eat something that feels genuinely high value by my own standards rather than constantly making do with the best the establishment can cobble together.
posted by terretu at 10:20 AM on September 11, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by terretu at 10:20 AM on September 11, 2023 [2 favorites]
They'd been getting more and more plentiful and aggressive in our yard, making it unpleasant to hang out on our porch most days and more or less impossible to eat there.
My understanding is that this time of year they are queenless and hungry and kind of readying to die anyway. If you want to take pity on them, put some jam or sugar water in a dish well away from where you want to hang out.
The nest you sprayed won't be reused anyway, so don't worry too much about that. Maybe leave the shell of it up to deter future colonies (though this can be hit and miss, I've seen bald-faced yellow jackets come back to an old nest a few years later and start building it out again).
posted by eekernohan at 10:23 AM on September 11, 2023 [2 favorites]
My understanding is that this time of year they are queenless and hungry and kind of readying to die anyway. If you want to take pity on them, put some jam or sugar water in a dish well away from where you want to hang out.
The nest you sprayed won't be reused anyway, so don't worry too much about that. Maybe leave the shell of it up to deter future colonies (though this can be hit and miss, I've seen bald-faced yellow jackets come back to an old nest a few years later and start building it out again).
posted by eekernohan at 10:23 AM on September 11, 2023 [2 favorites]
I finished Witcher 3 this weekend, and thought it was great. I'd heard good things about Baldur's Gate 3, so decided to give it a shot. After about 30 minutes I was ready to quit. It felt unfocused and confusing, and contemplated getting a refund. I put it aside for a while, then went back to it. Something clicked, and holy cats it's awesome.
Also a bee visited me while I was reading outside at a coffee shop Saturday morning.
posted by Gorgik at 10:32 AM on September 11, 2023
Also a bee visited me while I was reading outside at a coffee shop Saturday morning.
posted by Gorgik at 10:32 AM on September 11, 2023
🐝utts.
posted by bombastic lowercase pronouncements at 10:39 AM on September 11, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by bombastic lowercase pronouncements at 10:39 AM on September 11, 2023 [3 favorites]
Evil Bee, by the very excellent Menomena. Narrator: they weren't evil, just exploited
posted by Gorgik at 10:46 AM on September 11, 2023
posted by Gorgik at 10:46 AM on September 11, 2023
Five bees for a quarter. Same as in town.
posted by downtohisturtles at 10:49 AM on September 11, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by downtohisturtles at 10:49 AM on September 11, 2023 [3 favorites]
I know the meat bees suck and their bite/sting is very hurty, but if you like figs you have wasps to thank for it!
posted by supermedusa at 10:52 AM on September 11, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by supermedusa at 10:52 AM on September 11, 2023 [1 favorite]
Been doing some Baldur’s Gate 3 as well. Running a College of Swords bard, which is an interesting combo of credible ranged/melee damage while still being a full caster. The actual Bard spell list is a little threadbare though, so I’m going to try dipping two levels of paladin in order to feed all those unused spell slots into the maw of Divine Smite.
posted by notoriety public at 10:56 AM on September 11, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by notoriety public at 10:56 AM on September 11, 2023 [1 favorite]
I'd been sketching ideas for a mural on the side of the garage. Have I ever painted a mural? no! Am I pretty excited about it? yes! Right now the idea is sunflowers and spirea but it's been missing something and that thing is definitely a bee.
Up in the mountains this weekend at 8900 feet: hummingbirds! They like the bright red cushions on the folding chairs.
posted by mochapickle at 10:59 AM on September 11, 2023 [7 favorites]
Up in the mountains this weekend at 8900 feet: hummingbirds! They like the bright red cushions on the folding chairs.
posted by mochapickle at 10:59 AM on September 11, 2023 [7 favorites]
Speaking of bes. I've been contemplating that Hamlet's soliloquy, to be or not to be, was not about suicide. It was about Hamlet recognizing that going up against his stepfather was suicidal, which explains his inaction (along with the fact that he had to fill out five acts). Does that scan for anyone else?
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 11:01 AM on September 11, 2023
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 11:01 AM on September 11, 2023
Oh beehave!
posted by inflatablekiwi at 11:10 AM on September 11, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by inflatablekiwi at 11:10 AM on September 11, 2023 [2 favorites]
We finished The Americans on Friday night. That was seriously well-done writing to get me to root for a couple of sociopathic KGB agents. And the ending. So many series blow the ending, but they nailed it.
posted by COD at 11:15 AM on September 11, 2023 [7 favorites]
posted by COD at 11:15 AM on September 11, 2023 [7 favorites]
B̶̢̢̢̧̢̧̢̡̛̙͇͇̤̝͙̦̗̹̖̖̲̟̼̪̟͙̮̞̞̙͕̠̼̭͈͎̜̹̫̜͈͕͇͍̠̫͖̠͓̞̱̹̞̣̻̺̪̙̰͎͔̼̯̹̙̭̭̱̭̣̖̋̍̑̆̈́̂͛̋̕͜͜͜Ȩ̴̨̡̧̡̧̨̞͚̝̝̪̺̲͎̩̰̭̰͎̱̜̼̫͙̝̰͔͓͓͔̻̲̪̦̞̦͖͈̪͑̓́̄̓̀́͂̊̅̈̿̔̅̇̇͋̃͐̈́́̍̈́͊͆̀͆̃̎͋́̇͊́̔̌͒̏̔̅̈́̎͑̀͊̀͊̆̈́̊̄͐̄̀̿̐̅͌́͛̂͒̔͂̾̇̇̓͒̑̂̓͐͑̇͘̚̚̕̚͜͠ͅẺ̶̡̢̢̢̧̨̨̨̨̛̝̭͔̤͉̺͉̗̰̮͙̼̤̼̼͔͈͚̫͉̱̯͓͉̬̥̦͍͈͉̲̠͎͖͙̘̱͉̣̘̘̫̪͙̯͕̲͎̬̩͔̗͈͉̥̫̣͚͍̭͉̼̳̫̩͎͖͎͈͖̩̞̲͈̮̫̌̔̽̂̀͒͌͑̌̎͆͒̽͌͠ͅͅͅ
̶̡̨̡̨̢̙̖̤͖̰̦̬̗̹̺̱̲̣̦̭̰̬͕͙̱͔̀͐́͐̓̍͛͑͛͐͌̒͆̽̒̏̏̈̉̎̃͐̓͂͂̋̒̃̀͗̂̓̅́̒͐̂͒̏̿̆́̆̄̌͒͗͑͛̉̇̒̀͐̓͛̽͒̈́͗͐̀͗̈́̌̍̍̈̓̓̌́͘̚͘͘̕͜͝͝͝͝͝͝͠͠͝ͅ
̴̧̢̨̢̨̡̧̨͎̖͕̠̹͖̫͉͙̗̫̥͎̠̰̩̤͇̻͙̲̙͈̲̭̯̪̻̳̰͎̟̬̙͓̼͈͕̳̰͙̖͚̖͙̼̻̪͎͕̲̻̻͖̣̼͌̐̓̇͋̾̈̇̔̽̐͛͑̿͌̈́̇̏̎̆̑̄̄̉̀̀̏̄̀̉̑͗̔̾́͛̐͒͘̕̕͜͠͝͠͝͝͝ͅͅǗ̵̡̢̢̡̨̧̳̬͔̟͓̤̱̗̠͍̦͇̖̭̺͓̦͇͇̱͉̬̝̣͈̠̱̩͇̞̥̰͙̥̰̦̤͈̎̀̈́̑͆͐͌̐̊̇͘͜͜͜͠Ṋ̷̡̧̡̛͉̻͕̯̗̩̱̞̟̱͕͔͎͔̙̯͕͖̜͕̪̳̩͔̣̜͍͈̻̰̱̈́̓͂̅̆̂͜͠G̴̢̡̛̛̫̞̦̞̝̫̳͙̪͖̘̟̲͈̫͖̣͍̼͙͛̿͋͂̃̍̀̾̽͗̀͒͒̋͌̊̔̒̑̾̿̊̿̏͆̐͛̉̑͊̓̐̄́͂͆̓̇̈́̎̈́̄͊̓̔̉̓͌̆̃́́̂̀͐̀͌́̋͋͗̂̀̈́͒̈̄́͊͑̈́̈̚̚̚͘̕̚͝͠͝ͅƠ̷̧̧̡̧̨̢̧̡̧̡̢̧̘̬͍͓͇̗͚̼͍̞̦͔͕͎̘̟̻̺̪̦̤̮͚̗̤̮͎̤̼̻̹̹̠̻͚̻̹̜͇̹̺̬̬͉̫̦͓̳͍̦͓̙̯̝͎̝͓̱͖̑͐̔̏̆͆͂͛̈́̆̚͜͝ͅͅV̸̡̢̨̧̧̛̛̭̝͍̜̫̪̱͖̙̪͕͓͓̙͖͓͈̰̤̲̞͔̲̗͇̣̟̘̦̙͚͓͔̮̙̦̜̻̳̪̥̰̎͂̎̓̋̔̑̔̇̅̏̾͌̿̾̓̋͐̔͛̋̿̏̂̋̽͒̏̽́̀̿͐͘̚̚̚̕͘͘͠͠͝͝͝͠ͅE̷̢͓̺̤͖̮̒͑͛̈͆͌͑̈́̃̓̿͋́̇̍̈́́̈̎̿̄̽̓̃͋͌̋̈́̐̒̒̽͌̓̎̋̉̅͂̽̚͘͠͝ͅR̸̡̧̡̧̨̢̡̨̨̨̦͓̝͕̺͙̺̪͎̰̤͉̭̲̱͈̬̲̩̣̬̰͈̦̘̙̳͈̦̺̱̖͕̘͎͉͚̹̫̥͓̪̰̝̖̫̙̳͈͇̜̩̼̜̞̤͈͚̳̪͗̉͌̃͊̔͑̍͐̈́̅̾͛̐̒̔̽̌͆̈̓̌̅̐́̽́́̂̈́̎̊̇͐͗̾̊͑̓̄̌̒͗̀̍̾̀̎̀̓̇́̅̚̚̚̚͜͜͜͠͝͝͠ͅͅͅN̶̡̡̡̧̪̼̰̹͓͈̮͖̤̖̳͈̙͖̰͚̻̯͖͇̖̲̺̳̞͎̣̱̫̯̙̫̜̜̻͔̙̫̱̩͓̦͖͔̦̟̠͚̥̬͕͎͍̺̰̤̭͓̙̈́͊̿̐̀̐͊̒̒̏̓͋̈́̉̿̍̾̒̐̐͌̽͑̕͜͜͜͝͝ͅȂ̵̧̨̛͍͚̣̺̭̯̪̳͍̩̠̤̳͉̫̬͔͙̠̱̦̰͍͖̫̺̪͕̩͚̲̯͓̺͓̙̼͓͕̹͔̥͎̯̦͙̪͓͕̟̠̘̬̘̜̫̰͈̮̗̹̭̥̖̘̞̪̬͉͚̰̱͉͙̟̃̿͂́̇̆̊͊̀͆͜͜͜ͅB̸̨̛̛̖̰͓̳̖̩̰͈̰̥̠̻͙̪̤͎̯̓̉̔̆̊̏̓͑͗̒͋͛̔͗͊̉̓̌̒̍͊͛͐͆͆̊̒͌̉͆̂͐̉͗̇͌͛̽͒̊̀̒͂̀̿̆̉̅͂͒̓́͛̓̊͊͐̉̓̿͂̒̐̒̚̚̕͝͠͝͠ͅͅͅL̵̢̢̧̨̢̧̛̛̥̠̣͓̬͖̪̦̺̤̥̠̲̺̬̯̲͖̥̬̺̜̥̱̦̙̲͚̯͇̥̳̦̩͕̹̞̼͚̫͇̪̱̯̝̱̲̗̫̮̥͇̩̪̬̰̰̳̟̠̘̣͈̳̮͚͔͍̭̤͓̜̞̳̩̯̝̳͙̅͋̔̎̿͒̏̎̇́̀̾́̐̔̀̽̆́̾̀̽̀̇̐̎̐̈́̅̏̾̀̐̍̊͊̒͌̃̆̈́̿̌̆͒̃̀̀́̒̄̕͜͝͠ͅȆ̷͎̐̉͂̀̓͆̑̽̚̕͠
posted by lalochezia at 11:17 AM on September 11, 2023 [4 favorites]
We finished The Americans on Friday night. That was seriously well-done writing to get me to root for a couple of sociopathic KGB agents.
in soviet russia, you sting bee
posted by lalochezia at 11:18 AM on September 11, 2023 [1 favorite]
Great to see the hive mind buzzing like this :)
Summer definitely is getting its last licks in. It was 111 yesterday. I went for a ride yesterday morning and when I got home I had to sit in front of the portable swamp cooler for a while, and I never did feel like I cooled down. Part of that thought might be because I went outside to fix the door on our travel trailer. It's a little thing, one of the fiberglass egg type ones, and I had to fix the fiberglass where the door latch mounts. Someone on the fiberglass rv board posted a ton of info about doing repairs, and since the door latching was getting questionable, it was time to take my first try on this kind of work. And... it worked. It looks like this really isn't a complicated type of thing to do if you're just doing repairs, although I'm not gonna step in and offer to repair a crack in a Corvette or a boat anytime soon. I was working in the shade and I was still cooked. Oh well, at least that's done now and I shouldn't have to worry about the door popping open on the road.
It's been a tiring few days anyways. Thursday I had to rush a pup into the emergency vet, and he needed surgery immediately since his stomach had completely flipped. He's doing a lot better now and wants to eat anything in sight, so we and the vets are happy.
posted by azpenguin at 11:24 AM on September 11, 2023 [2 favorites]
Summer definitely is getting its last licks in. It was 111 yesterday. I went for a ride yesterday morning and when I got home I had to sit in front of the portable swamp cooler for a while, and I never did feel like I cooled down. Part of that thought might be because I went outside to fix the door on our travel trailer. It's a little thing, one of the fiberglass egg type ones, and I had to fix the fiberglass where the door latch mounts. Someone on the fiberglass rv board posted a ton of info about doing repairs, and since the door latching was getting questionable, it was time to take my first try on this kind of work. And... it worked. It looks like this really isn't a complicated type of thing to do if you're just doing repairs, although I'm not gonna step in and offer to repair a crack in a Corvette or a boat anytime soon. I was working in the shade and I was still cooked. Oh well, at least that's done now and I shouldn't have to worry about the door popping open on the road.
It's been a tiring few days anyways. Thursday I had to rush a pup into the emergency vet, and he needed surgery immediately since his stomach had completely flipped. He's doing a lot better now and wants to eat anything in sight, so we and the vets are happy.
posted by azpenguin at 11:24 AM on September 11, 2023 [2 favorites]
I'm covered in bees...
I am very pro-bees, despite their creepy "hive mentality" thing. Yellow jackets though, can fuck right off. Not too keen on wasps either, they are just too freaky. Big ass bumblebees creep me out a bit, but they seem more or less chill.
So it's bee month here on the blue, but for me, it's surgery week. After nine months of horrible body horror, I only have a week left! Mesh put into my vena cava to keep blood clots out of my lungs, and then Thursday, colostomy reversal and perastomal hernia repair, (I hope).
I hope I can make it to next week's free thread with good news. At least if I die on the table, Ms. Windo will not figure out how to end my monthly payments to Metafilter for quite a while.
And Metafilter is the best, and you all, (well not some of you), are also the best.
posted by Windopaene at 11:30 AM on September 11, 2023 [18 favorites]
I am very pro-bees, despite their creepy "hive mentality" thing. Yellow jackets though, can fuck right off. Not too keen on wasps either, they are just too freaky. Big ass bumblebees creep me out a bit, but they seem more or less chill.
So it's bee month here on the blue, but for me, it's surgery week. After nine months of horrible body horror, I only have a week left! Mesh put into my vena cava to keep blood clots out of my lungs, and then Thursday, colostomy reversal and perastomal hernia repair, (I hope).
I hope I can make it to next week's free thread with good news. At least if I die on the table, Ms. Windo will not figure out how to end my monthly payments to Metafilter for quite a while.
And Metafilter is the best, and you all, (well not some of you), are also the best.
posted by Windopaene at 11:30 AM on September 11, 2023 [18 favorites]
Metafilter: Currently consulting on Big Boat Stuck, Potatoes, Bees.
posted by inflatablekiwi at 11:31 AM on September 11, 2023
posted by inflatablekiwi at 11:31 AM on September 11, 2023
DR BEES
#CHANGETHEBEES
DR. BEES RETURNS!
Dr. Bees saves Wednesday Addams
posted by flabdablet at 11:32 AM on September 11, 2023
#CHANGETHEBEES
DR. BEES RETURNS!
Dr. Bees saves Wednesday Addams
posted by flabdablet at 11:32 AM on September 11, 2023
There are still stands of late lavender, buddleia and other flowers around the neighbourhood. When I have time, I like to hang out and watch the bees. Mostly honeybees now, though there are still a few late buff-tail bumblebees, as well as some carder bees (I think), which look a bit like honeybees, but fuzzier.
Some of them visit my terrace for the purple toadflax, which mysteriously sprouted in one of my pots last summer and has come back everywhere this year. But the bees love it, and it's fairly pretty, so it's staying.
posted by Pallas Athena at 11:34 AM on September 11, 2023 [2 favorites]
Some of them visit my terrace for the purple toadflax, which mysteriously sprouted in one of my pots last summer and has come back everywhere this year. But the bees love it, and it's fairly pretty, so it's staying.
posted by Pallas Athena at 11:34 AM on September 11, 2023 [2 favorites]
I've been contemplating that Hamlet's soliloquy, to be or not to be, was not about suicide. It was about Hamlet recognizing that going up against his stepfather was suicidal, which explains his inaction
In college one year I had to fill a few credits so I took a "script reading" course. It was run by the head of the drama department, he discussed plays and their context then we read through them. One of the scripts we read was Hamlet, and before we started the professor explained that at the time Shakespeare wrote it, there was a struggle going on in England between Catholicism and Protestantism; Catholics believed in ghosts and Protestants didn't, so the point is that Hamlet didn't know if the ghost of his father really was that, or was actually Satan tempting him into eternal damnation by murdering an innocent man.
I don't know if that's true, but it sure lent some weight to Hamlet's indecision and made him less of a weak wishy-washy figure.
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:34 AM on September 11, 2023 [3 favorites]
In college one year I had to fill a few credits so I took a "script reading" course. It was run by the head of the drama department, he discussed plays and their context then we read through them. One of the scripts we read was Hamlet, and before we started the professor explained that at the time Shakespeare wrote it, there was a struggle going on in England between Catholicism and Protestantism; Catholics believed in ghosts and Protestants didn't, so the point is that Hamlet didn't know if the ghost of his father really was that, or was actually Satan tempting him into eternal damnation by murdering an innocent man.
I don't know if that's true, but it sure lent some weight to Hamlet's indecision and made him less of a weak wishy-washy figure.
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:34 AM on September 11, 2023 [3 favorites]
One of my favorite memes (can't find the source right now) goes something like this:
"I am leaving this wild for the pollinators" (gesturing expressively to the weeds in the garden)
"These too are for the pollinators" (gesturing vaguely to the unwashed dishes in the sink)
(trips over pile of dirty laundry) - "....pollinators"
posted by inflatablekiwi at 11:41 AM on September 11, 2023 [12 favorites]
"I am leaving this wild for the pollinators" (gesturing expressively to the weeds in the garden)
"These too are for the pollinators" (gesturing vaguely to the unwashed dishes in the sink)
(trips over pile of dirty laundry) - "....pollinators"
posted by inflatablekiwi at 11:41 AM on September 11, 2023 [12 favorites]
Re: Shakespeare...
When I was in high school, our english teacher had us reading Othello. I got to be Iago, and played him as a lurking, horrible, Rasputin-like behind the scenes bastard. In the class after mine, the woman who would become my first love in a couple of years, played the part of Iago as well. She played him as much more widely campy, as was her tone and style. We both nailed it.
I never resonated with Hamlet, tbh
posted by Windopaene at 11:42 AM on September 11, 2023
When I was in high school, our english teacher had us reading Othello. I got to be Iago, and played him as a lurking, horrible, Rasputin-like behind the scenes bastard. In the class after mine, the woman who would become my first love in a couple of years, played the part of Iago as well. She played him as much more widely campy, as was her tone and style. We both nailed it.
I never resonated with Hamlet, tbh
posted by Windopaene at 11:42 AM on September 11, 2023
I’ve only been stung by a yellow jacket one time that I know of, and that was also outside a coffee shop on a concrete and terrazzo courtyard.
I felt an odd sensation near the outer corner of my left eye, and when I reached up to adjust my sunglasses, there was something on them, and when I took them offf to look, I was pinning a yellow jacket to the edge of the left lens. It was surprisingly squishy. I went to fling it off but stopped myself because I knew I’d probably shatter the old RayBans I’d had for years if I lost my grip on them, and that gave the yellow jacket time to turn around and sting me on my thumb about 1/4” below the cuticle.
It did hurt, though not very much, and I was fascinated by the spectacle of the yellow and black stripes of its abdomen flexing like a bellows. But what really startled me was that the pain felt nothing like the many needle sticks and other minor puncture wounds I’d given myself over the years.
Instead, it felt exactly like one of the many, many minor electrical shocks I’d given myself with hand cranked generators and other electrical apparatus I bought at thrift stores and army surplus stores as a kid. As I watched it fly away, I was struck by how much the yellow and black stripes looked like the intercalating metal plates of the variable tuning capacitors of the old vacuum tube table radios I used to take apart.
Could a yellow jacket be delivering a small shock as well as venom when it stings you? From a triboelectric charge it generates as it flies and stores in the alternating segments of its abdomen?
It seems pretty unlikely as I write it out in this comment, but I can’t bring myself to discount the possibility entirely.
posted by jamjam at 11:48 AM on September 11, 2023 [1 favorite]
I felt an odd sensation near the outer corner of my left eye, and when I reached up to adjust my sunglasses, there was something on them, and when I took them offf to look, I was pinning a yellow jacket to the edge of the left lens. It was surprisingly squishy. I went to fling it off but stopped myself because I knew I’d probably shatter the old RayBans I’d had for years if I lost my grip on them, and that gave the yellow jacket time to turn around and sting me on my thumb about 1/4” below the cuticle.
It did hurt, though not very much, and I was fascinated by the spectacle of the yellow and black stripes of its abdomen flexing like a bellows. But what really startled me was that the pain felt nothing like the many needle sticks and other minor puncture wounds I’d given myself over the years.
Instead, it felt exactly like one of the many, many minor electrical shocks I’d given myself with hand cranked generators and other electrical apparatus I bought at thrift stores and army surplus stores as a kid. As I watched it fly away, I was struck by how much the yellow and black stripes looked like the intercalating metal plates of the variable tuning capacitors of the old vacuum tube table radios I used to take apart.
Could a yellow jacket be delivering a small shock as well as venom when it stings you? From a triboelectric charge it generates as it flies and stores in the alternating segments of its abdomen?
It seems pretty unlikely as I write it out in this comment, but I can’t bring myself to discount the possibility entirely.
posted by jamjam at 11:48 AM on September 11, 2023 [1 favorite]
Well, Wordshore has managed to get his upcoming Wisconsin Winter trip onto three of MetaFilter's subsites so far. Let's see how many more of them it can appear on!
Someone needs to write a song about it, obviously.
He could post a project about what he'll do with his time there.
Some kind of thematic movie-watching party.
Maybe he could take on a short odd-job while in Wisconsin.
Obviously an IRL meetup needs to be posted.
I'm sure he can be mentioned on the Podcast.
And let's get some Chat going about this trip.
That should cover ALL the bases.
posted by hippybear at 11:48 AM on September 11, 2023 [3 favorites]
Someone needs to write a song about it, obviously.
He could post a project about what he'll do with his time there.
Some kind of thematic movie-watching party.
Maybe he could take on a short odd-job while in Wisconsin.
Obviously an IRL meetup needs to be posted.
I'm sure he can be mentioned on the Podcast.
And let's get some Chat going about this trip.
That should cover ALL the bases.
posted by hippybear at 11:48 AM on September 11, 2023 [3 favorites]
All but one - if he could somehow fit some bees into the story, that'd be the perfect storm.
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:53 AM on September 11, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:53 AM on September 11, 2023 [1 favorite]
that'd bee the perfect storm?
posted by hippybear at 11:56 AM on September 11, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 11:56 AM on September 11, 2023 [4 favorites]
My parents were hosting a thing, and my dad's bees were HUGELY popular with the parents of young children. Kids playing with "new" toys and don't want to leave? Just trick them into putting the toy down and lure them outside with bees.
If I had a nickel for every time I heard a parent desperately say "Let's go see the bees!", I'd have a lot of nickels.
posted by Baethan at 11:59 AM on September 11, 2023 [2 favorites]
If I had a nickel for every time I heard a parent desperately say "Let's go see the bees!", I'd have a lot of nickels.
posted by Baethan at 11:59 AM on September 11, 2023 [2 favorites]
The bees have spread to Fanfare.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:01 PM on September 11, 2023 [6 favorites]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:01 PM on September 11, 2023 [6 favorites]
I was riding my bike on Thursday morning when a bee (probably a wasp or yellowjacket but I just call them all bees unless I actually know what they are) hit my mouth and then stung my lip as I was brushing it away. It hurt, but not all that much, but over the course of about an hour my lip just kept on swelling bigger and bigger. First it was a bump around the area, then my whole lip, and then my lip got so swollen that it bent at the middle. I googled "bee sting on lip" to see if my reaction was typical and there were similar pictures there so I just took some antihistamines and ibuprofen when I got home and then wore a mask for the rest of the day because I was feeling self-conscious about how I looked. My family was all out when this happened to me, although I sent them pictures, but when I got home and took off my mask none of them could stop laughing. Friday was still swollen enough to wear a mask but by Saturday I was normal-ish after my morning antihistamine dose.
On Sunday I went to a bbq and there were tons of yellowjackets flying around. We stayed outside while eating but it was a good excuse to show the selfies I had taken with my huge lower lip. I think anytime someone mentions bees or bee stings for the next while I'm going to pull out those pictures.
Stings happen and I'm not deathly allergic to them so I'm still doing my part to help out the bees and enjoy seeing them fly around the flowers in my garden. I much prefer the bee stung my lip and didn't get inside my mouth and sting me there because that would have been much worse.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 12:14 PM on September 11, 2023
On Sunday I went to a bbq and there were tons of yellowjackets flying around. We stayed outside while eating but it was a good excuse to show the selfies I had taken with my huge lower lip. I think anytime someone mentions bees or bee stings for the next while I'm going to pull out those pictures.
Stings happen and I'm not deathly allergic to them so I'm still doing my part to help out the bees and enjoy seeing them fly around the flowers in my garden. I much prefer the bee stung my lip and didn't get inside my mouth and sting me there because that would have been much worse.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 12:14 PM on September 11, 2023
Here is an account of a study out of Israel claiming that the Oriental wasp harvests sunlight to generate "electric power":
The brown and yellow parts of the Oriental hornet's body are able to harvest solar energy, and if that function can be mimicked, a novel way of achieving high-efficiency solar energy collection might be just around the corner, says a physicist who has demonstrated that the brown and yellow stripes on the insect's abdomen can absorb the sun's radiation, and the yellow pigment transforms that radiation into electric power.posted by jamjam at 12:18 PM on September 11, 2023 [1 favorite]
I have been stung by wasps and yellowjackets* but never stung by a bee.
* Including one that flew up my pants leg in high school and stung me multiple times before I was able to kill it.
posted by tommasz at 12:46 PM on September 11, 2023
posted by tommasz at 12:46 PM on September 11, 2023
this is just one microcosm of that wider unhappiness.
The weirder we are, the more unusual we are, the more we don't fit with everyone else's agreed-upon social lives, the more that happens. It's exhausting to be unusual. I don't even have any of the statistical reasons to be weird (that I know of, anyway, I think my HMO fell down on that particular job) and I feel the exhausting burden of being Too Weird For Everyone every day. I'm sorry you're feeling that way, especially when adding veganism to the list. That's a very hard thing to follow.
As for bees: I've been stung twice within the last few years, both on the underside of my toe, one on each foot, after a bee flew into my closed toe shoe/under my toes in sandals while I walked. The second time swelled up so bad I had to get a cast shoe to walk on and I'm afraid I'm going to become officially Allergic To Bees if there's a third time :/ I'm trying to avoid the bees.
Something Rotten went GREAT this weekend, I did not flub up anything, and I got to see a bunch of fun ad-libs and other moments. I also did an online play reading one morning and I auditioned for Oklahoma last night. I was hoping for Gertie Cummings of the terrible laugh, i.e. the one part I might be suited for because everyone complains about mine, but I was not permitted to read for Gertie and was obviously just kind of token "we let you read at the end," so so much for that. They have a lot of good ingenues auditioning for this one, so. At least my singing teacher said "no notes!" on my song, so there's that.
posted by jenfullmoon at 1:10 PM on September 11, 2023 [3 favorites]
The weirder we are, the more unusual we are, the more we don't fit with everyone else's agreed-upon social lives, the more that happens. It's exhausting to be unusual. I don't even have any of the statistical reasons to be weird (that I know of, anyway, I think my HMO fell down on that particular job) and I feel the exhausting burden of being Too Weird For Everyone every day. I'm sorry you're feeling that way, especially when adding veganism to the list. That's a very hard thing to follow.
As for bees: I've been stung twice within the last few years, both on the underside of my toe, one on each foot, after a bee flew into my closed toe shoe/under my toes in sandals while I walked. The second time swelled up so bad I had to get a cast shoe to walk on and I'm afraid I'm going to become officially Allergic To Bees if there's a third time :/ I'm trying to avoid the bees.
Something Rotten went GREAT this weekend, I did not flub up anything, and I got to see a bunch of fun ad-libs and other moments. I also did an online play reading one morning and I auditioned for Oklahoma last night. I was hoping for Gertie Cummings of the terrible laugh, i.e. the one part I might be suited for because everyone complains about mine, but I was not permitted to read for Gertie and was obviously just kind of token "we let you read at the end," so so much for that. They have a lot of good ingenues auditioning for this one, so. At least my singing teacher said "no notes!" on my song, so there's that.
posted by jenfullmoon at 1:10 PM on September 11, 2023 [3 favorites]
Ages ago I was in a freshman physics lecture in one of those massive theater-like college lecture halls that hold 600 people, and I was all the way at the back because I came in late and was trying to finish my homework before the end of the lecture, and way off at the front I saw a bee buzzing around the blackboard. For some reason I thought “that bee is going to hit me in the eye” and then it flew the length of the hall, hit me in the eye, and fell into my backpack.
posted by moonmilk at 1:28 PM on September 11, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by moonmilk at 1:28 PM on September 11, 2023 [4 favorites]
My only bee sting so far was the day I was getting on the bus to leave summer camp, age 11. A whole week, no stings, but Nature had to get one lick in before I left the wilderness for civilization.
posted by emjaybee at 1:33 PM on September 11, 2023
posted by emjaybee at 1:33 PM on September 11, 2023
As for bees: I've been stung twice within the last few years, both on the underside of my toe, one on each foot, after a bee flew into my closed toe shoe/under my toes in sandals while I walked.
I got one of those a couple of years ago. Was playing with my kids in a park near a tree with a lot of fallen crab apples on the ground. I guess a bee was enjoying the apples, got crushed by my foot, and got its final revenge on me. Not fun to walk on but thankfully no cast needed either.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 2:09 PM on September 11, 2023
I got one of those a couple of years ago. Was playing with my kids in a park near a tree with a lot of fallen crab apples on the ground. I guess a bee was enjoying the apples, got crushed by my foot, and got its final revenge on me. Not fun to walk on but thankfully no cast needed either.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 2:09 PM on September 11, 2023
Bees and bats are two of my favorite animals.
Recently, at a house I'm renovating but don't live at, I was sitting on the porch and was unnerved by a strong buzzing noise, which I tracked to bumblebees having a lot of fun on the creeping virginia that covers one side of the porch -- the vine makes tiny, ugly white flowers that are apparently crack for bees. They were everywhere.
I counted at least five native bee variants, no european bees, as I stood there for a good fifteen minutes in this cloud of bees: tiny blue ones, ones that look like honeybees but were white instead of brown, big fat bumblebees that just kinda bump into you, others I couldn't even find online but they definitely had heads like bees. It was a very ethereal experience.
Edit: Video on my facebook
posted by AzraelBrown at 2:42 PM on September 11, 2023 [3 favorites]
Recently, at a house I'm renovating but don't live at, I was sitting on the porch and was unnerved by a strong buzzing noise, which I tracked to bumblebees having a lot of fun on the creeping virginia that covers one side of the porch -- the vine makes tiny, ugly white flowers that are apparently crack for bees. They were everywhere.
I counted at least five native bee variants, no european bees, as I stood there for a good fifteen minutes in this cloud of bees: tiny blue ones, ones that look like honeybees but were white instead of brown, big fat bumblebees that just kinda bump into you, others I couldn't even find online but they definitely had heads like bees. It was a very ethereal experience.
Edit: Video on my facebook
posted by AzraelBrown at 2:42 PM on September 11, 2023 [3 favorites]
So are bees the new potato? I am always baffled* by these spontaneous themes, it feels like I am not in on the joke.
*Bee-mused, even.
posted by Athanassiel at 3:03 PM on September 11, 2023 [3 favorites]
*Bee-mused, even.
posted by Athanassiel at 3:03 PM on September 11, 2023 [3 favorites]
I once tried to bring home a baby bumblebee imagining how proud my mother would be.
posted by hippybear at 3:03 PM on September 11, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 3:03 PM on September 11, 2023 [4 favorites]
A favourite meme from the twitters @wackhairline
Wild Bee: just gettin a snack
Me: no prob 🐝
Mason Bee: gonna make a house
Me: build away
Honey Bee: sampling the the lavenders.
Me: I got an assortment
Bumble Bee: hey *bonk* I jus *bonk
Me: *holds flower still*
Wasp: I'LL SEE YOU IN HELL
Me: U TELL THEM WHO SENT YOU
posted by seanmpuckett at 3:14 PM on September 11, 2023 [13 favorites]
Wild Bee: just gettin a snack
Me: no prob 🐝
Mason Bee: gonna make a house
Me: build away
Honey Bee: sampling the the lavenders.
Me: I got an assortment
Bumble Bee: hey *bonk* I jus *bonk
Me: *holds flower still*
Wasp: I'LL SEE YOU IN HELL
Me: U TELL THEM WHO SENT YOU
posted by seanmpuckett at 3:14 PM on September 11, 2023 [13 favorites]
Reminded me to play the excellent album Free the Bees
posted by scruss at 3:22 PM on September 11, 2023
posted by scruss at 3:22 PM on September 11, 2023
I wondered where my anti-wasp sentiment disappeared to and discovered I posted in the wrong thread.
Spouse had to destroy a bee's nest recently as they took up residence in the siding above our sunroom. We were not terribly happy about killing the nest and I suspect we are going to need to get a professional out to make sure there is no hidden damage.
This evening's miscellaneous life tip: waiting for a full automated test suite to finish is a good time for digital tasks like updating the firmware on your exercise machines and making copies (digital and hard) of your passports.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 4:19 PM on September 11, 2023 [1 favorite]
Spouse had to destroy a bee's nest recently as they took up residence in the siding above our sunroom. We were not terribly happy about killing the nest and I suspect we are going to need to get a professional out to make sure there is no hidden damage.
This evening's miscellaneous life tip: waiting for a full automated test suite to finish is a good time for digital tasks like updating the firmware on your exercise machines and making copies (digital and hard) of your passports.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 4:19 PM on September 11, 2023 [1 favorite]
Every time I get stung by a wasp or bee I swell up bigger and bigger and at this point I have gotten to where my mother* was: I calmly tell them that I don't think this is my day to die but if they think it is, well, have at it. The doctor, however, told me it doesn't work like this and in fact the insane amount of swelling and pain may mean that I'm as allergic as I'll ever be. Bee. The last time a paper wasp got me on the arm it was three times its regular size for days and hardly any of my shirts fit.
I've been stung a lot. I don't think my childhood was particularly rural but every time we have a thread like this on mefi I'm kind of bemused. I've been stung I do not know how many times, by yellowjackets and paper wasps and probably regular bees. I've detached a lot of ticks from me and from dogs, had spider bites, mosquito bites, even bed bug bites. Chiggers and fire ants and horseflies, too. It just seems like, well, that's what happens? That's life? Mine, anyway.
Also, tattoos feel like bees. Bees, bees, over and over.
*My mom was deathly allergic and had the 1970s version of an epipen in the refrigerator. Dad used to pull it out and shout at us that if we weren't brave enough to give Mom a shot if she was stung by a bee than she would die and it would be our fault. Left a few psychic scars.
posted by mygothlaundry at 4:33 PM on September 11, 2023 [1 favorite]
I've been stung a lot. I don't think my childhood was particularly rural but every time we have a thread like this on mefi I'm kind of bemused. I've been stung I do not know how many times, by yellowjackets and paper wasps and probably regular bees. I've detached a lot of ticks from me and from dogs, had spider bites, mosquito bites, even bed bug bites. Chiggers and fire ants and horseflies, too. It just seems like, well, that's what happens? That's life? Mine, anyway.
Also, tattoos feel like bees. Bees, bees, over and over.
*My mom was deathly allergic and had the 1970s version of an epipen in the refrigerator. Dad used to pull it out and shout at us that if we weren't brave enough to give Mom a shot if she was stung by a bee than she would die and it would be our fault. Left a few psychic scars.
posted by mygothlaundry at 4:33 PM on September 11, 2023 [1 favorite]
I have no clue what is going on but I am at a cocktail bar so I will order a bees knees.
posted by tofu_crouton at 4:38 PM on September 11, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by tofu_crouton at 4:38 PM on September 11, 2023 [2 favorites]
I think what's going on is that people saw the Farnham and Hay posts close together and were fearing the inevitable Air Supply post and so they all leapt on bees as a topic to fend this off.
posted by hippybear at 4:43 PM on September 11, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by hippybear at 4:43 PM on September 11, 2023 [1 favorite]
Well bees are kind of like cute small potatoes with wings that are essential to modern agriculture... ok no, I have accepted I do not and probably will not understand the bee thing any more than I understood the potato thing. I like both, just... don't get it.
posted by Athanassiel at 4:53 PM on September 11, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by Athanassiel at 4:53 PM on September 11, 2023 [2 favorites]
My favourite is the carpenter bee which is so big and slow flying and fuzzywuzzy that it looks like a child’s drawing of a bee come to life.
Our missing cat was found a month after we’d given up last night! He has lost some weight but is in good shape so I think people took him in for a while. The other cats are bemused by this familiar stranger.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 5:30 PM on September 11, 2023 [8 favorites]
Our missing cat was found a month after we’d given up last night! He has lost some weight but is in good shape so I think people took him in for a while. The other cats are bemused by this familiar stranger.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 5:30 PM on September 11, 2023 [8 favorites]
I am always baffled* by these spontaneous themes
Same!
posted by jessamyn at 5:36 PM on September 11, 2023 [3 favorites]
Same!
posted by jessamyn at 5:36 PM on September 11, 2023 [3 favorites]
In my case: I saw two new bee-related posts but no "free thread" post this morning, the word "freebee" (freebie) popped into my head, and I simply couldn't resist.
posted by Greg_Ace at 5:49 PM on September 11, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 5:49 PM on September 11, 2023 [3 favorites]
what. the. hell. bees?
posted by infinitewindow at 6:24 PM on September 11, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by infinitewindow at 6:24 PM on September 11, 2023 [2 favorites]
I've already made an FPP for today, but this is sort of inconsequential in an "oh fuck I remember this" way.
The Honey Bees -- You Need Us
posted by hippybear at 6:55 PM on September 11, 2023 [1 favorite]
The Honey Bees -- You Need Us
posted by hippybear at 6:55 PM on September 11, 2023 [1 favorite]
I honestly forgot Suzy Izzard's bit ft covered in bees was about (?) beekeepers. Just had "I'm covered in beeeeees!!" popping into memory randomly for years
posted by Baethan at 8:20 PM on September 11, 2023
posted by Baethan at 8:20 PM on September 11, 2023
My rosemary is coming into bloom right now. I don't understand it. But the bees love it.
posted by SPrintF at 8:40 PM on September 11, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by SPrintF at 8:40 PM on September 11, 2023 [1 favorite]
Well, Wordshore has managed to get his upcoming Wisconsin Winter trip
Dear Mother of God. Wordshore... in Wisconsin!? Has anyone here even tried to warn Wisconsin? Shouldn't we call out the National Guard? Someone really needs to alert the WCMA!
Godzilla is about to smash Tokyo and y'all are sitting around talking about bees!?
posted by loquacious at 4:36 AM on September 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
Dear Mother of God. Wordshore... in Wisconsin!? Has anyone here even tried to warn Wisconsin? Shouldn't we call out the National Guard? Someone really needs to alert the WCMA!
Godzilla is about to smash Tokyo and y'all are sitting around talking about bees!?
posted by loquacious at 4:36 AM on September 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
The bees (and other insects) have found their way to music now too!
posted by moonmilk at 4:52 AM on September 12, 2023
posted by moonmilk at 4:52 AM on September 12, 2023
TIL that one of the collective nouns for bees is a "charm." A charm of bees. I find that, well ... charming.
In other news, the weather here has been unbelievably pleasant, post-cataclysm, which seems almost like an insult, since the last few many years September has been hardly less scorching than August. Finally, a nice mid-September, and all it took was vast destruction, apparently.
And, tomorrow is my wedding anniversary ... all in all, we've now been together about as many years as we were years-old when we first got together. Champagne will be had 🥂. Also homemade apple pie 🍎🥧, just because. Our history is that we had started seeing each other a few months earlier, but we began cohabiting during Mardi Gras, and "our song" was established as "If Ever I Cease to Love" ... and it turns out it's aged well! The moon has not yet turned into green cream cheese 🌝, and we haven't ceased to love! 😍 Some info. Lyrics video.
(also btw and unrelatedly, I was born in a certain midwestern state famous for its cheese 🧀. Why do I feel a disturbance in the force?)
posted by taz at 4:52 AM on September 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
In other news, the weather here has been unbelievably pleasant, post-cataclysm, which seems almost like an insult, since the last few many years September has been hardly less scorching than August. Finally, a nice mid-September, and all it took was vast destruction, apparently.
And, tomorrow is my wedding anniversary ... all in all, we've now been together about as many years as we were years-old when we first got together. Champagne will be had 🥂. Also homemade apple pie 🍎🥧, just because. Our history is that we had started seeing each other a few months earlier, but we began cohabiting during Mardi Gras, and "our song" was established as "If Ever I Cease to Love" ... and it turns out it's aged well! The moon has not yet turned into green cream cheese 🌝, and we haven't ceased to love! 😍 Some info. Lyrics video.
(also btw and unrelatedly, I was born in a certain midwestern state famous for its cheese 🧀. Why do I feel a disturbance in the force?)
posted by taz at 4:52 AM on September 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
I think I have a mild allergy to beestings - but it was based on swelling up big after being stung on the lip when I was 10, so after reading any portmanteau in a storm's story above now I'm not so sure. But I've been using it as an excuse to run away from bees since I was 10 and that works for me.
Although I've made my peace - I quietly encouraged people to plant things that would bring pollinators to our community garden, and put in a couple things myself; we have a big pot of anise hyssop now, because I read that bees love it, and I also picked some sunset runner beans for my own plot because they grow huge vines that get covered with other bee-friendly flowers. Save for watering my plot, I can safely leave it alone until after the flowers have given way to the beans anyway, and the anise hyssop is at another end of the garden from where I usually hang out, so I have détente with the bees. Some people in the garden have reported a couple of bad wasp stings, but that's also in a part of the garden I tend to avoid.
Honestly, the bigger problem we have in the garden is rats - we're right bang next to a restaurant and it's New York City, so yeah. Fortunately when things were at their worst the restaurant agreed to foot the bill for all rat mitigation in the garden, so all we need to do is alert them that "yo, we've started seeing a couple of the fuckers again" and they'll send a guy to refill the rat bait stations. We do our part as well (filling in any holes and such, and making sure our compost bins are rat-proof) but we've started seeing a bit of an uptick and it's time to call in the big guns.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:43 AM on September 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
Although I've made my peace - I quietly encouraged people to plant things that would bring pollinators to our community garden, and put in a couple things myself; we have a big pot of anise hyssop now, because I read that bees love it, and I also picked some sunset runner beans for my own plot because they grow huge vines that get covered with other bee-friendly flowers. Save for watering my plot, I can safely leave it alone until after the flowers have given way to the beans anyway, and the anise hyssop is at another end of the garden from where I usually hang out, so I have détente with the bees. Some people in the garden have reported a couple of bad wasp stings, but that's also in a part of the garden I tend to avoid.
Honestly, the bigger problem we have in the garden is rats - we're right bang next to a restaurant and it's New York City, so yeah. Fortunately when things were at their worst the restaurant agreed to foot the bill for all rat mitigation in the garden, so all we need to do is alert them that "yo, we've started seeing a couple of the fuckers again" and they'll send a guy to refill the rat bait stations. We do our part as well (filling in any holes and such, and making sure our compost bins are rat-proof) but we've started seeing a bit of an uptick and it's time to call in the big guns.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:43 AM on September 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
An acquaintance goes by the nickname "Bees." Somehow, appropriate. Almost enviable.
posted by From Bklyn at 6:31 AM on September 12, 2023
posted by From Bklyn at 6:31 AM on September 12, 2023
No bees, but a frog hopped out of my garage this morning.
posted by kathrynm at 9:41 AM on September 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by kathrynm at 9:41 AM on September 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
All these posts and comments about bees and no mention yet of bee girl? I feel old...
I have a question ready for askme but it's so personal and about a painful thing that happened last week, I'm not sure I'll post. Even though I know I might get some good advice or at least some moral support. Should I? Shouldn't I? Toss a coin? I've never posted anything too personal here so I hesitate.
Anyway, here's something beautiful I saw on the internet yesterday: photos of a double rainbow over New York city yesterday. I actually stumbled on videos on TikTok and then looked it up to confirm it was true and not some edited video magic.
posted by bitteschoen at 10:11 AM on September 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
I have a question ready for askme but it's so personal and about a painful thing that happened last week, I'm not sure I'll post. Even though I know I might get some good advice or at least some moral support. Should I? Shouldn't I? Toss a coin? I've never posted anything too personal here so I hesitate.
Anyway, here's something beautiful I saw on the internet yesterday: photos of a double rainbow over New York city yesterday. I actually stumbled on videos on TikTok and then looked it up to confirm it was true and not some edited video magic.
posted by bitteschoen at 10:11 AM on September 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
Beefore all this bee madness and the buzz around it dies out, I do ask that everyone take a moment to remember Eric.
posted by hippybear at 10:17 AM on September 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by hippybear at 10:17 AM on September 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
Cyril Connolly?
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:48 AM on September 12, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:48 AM on September 12, 2023 [5 favorites]
A yellowjacket was crawling on my phone while I was waiting for the bus today and I could feel it hovering around me. When I got on the bus there was a tickling sensation on the back of my head which I resisted touching because I was worried it was the yellowjacket and didn't want to disturb it. After 20+ minutes of it intermittently being there I figured that if it was a yellowjacket it would have lost interest by now and flown away, and that the person sitting behind me would have said something so I gave my head a scratch. Nothing flew away or stung me so I guess it was just a regular itch and not an insect related one.
The bees definitely seem to be more comfortable around people this year. A bee was hovering by my daughter's hair this morning when we were at her school, we were walking for a bit and it was just following her, and I didn't want to tell her because she would freak out so as we were going into the gym I told her to run inside and the bee flew away.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 11:57 AM on September 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
The bees definitely seem to be more comfortable around people this year. A bee was hovering by my daughter's hair this morning when we were at her school, we were walking for a bit and it was just following her, and I didn't want to tell her because she would freak out so as we were going into the gym I told her to run inside and the bee flew away.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 11:57 AM on September 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
I may have caused a small sunflower explosion. We had a few (maybe 10-20) sunflowers come through last year, and being lazy I let them grow and then as the snow came just let them die and didn’t remove the dead stalks and heads. They got covered with a deep snow for 5 months or so and I didn't really think about it until removing the dead stalks later in Spring……
….and now Sunflower explosion!. Photos don’t do justice to just how many sunflowers have come through and so so many are still growing. Hundreds of new sunflowers! So many little flying insects swarming around them it makes me happy. 🌻
Edit (probably helped that I did remove all the thistle and myrtle spurge this year and most of the ragweed)
posted by inflatablekiwi at 12:01 PM on September 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
….and now Sunflower explosion!. Photos don’t do justice to just how many sunflowers have come through and so so many are still growing. Hundreds of new sunflowers! So many little flying insects swarming around them it makes me happy. 🌻
Edit (probably helped that I did remove all the thistle and myrtle spurge this year and most of the ragweed)
posted by inflatablekiwi at 12:01 PM on September 12, 2023 [3 favorites]
Sending good thoughts to Windopaene. Best wishes.
Bees are cool. Wasps (often black or bluish, seriously skinny waist) are OK. Hornets (yellowjackets) are assholes. Little insect sharks with zero social skills, and an insatiable need to dive into my beer and taste my helping of ribs, when we're dining al fresco. One stung my arm in July when I had the temerity to fan it away from my glass. Fucker.
Mrs C just celebrated a birthday, my biggest hassle last week was repairing our overheated 5 hp outboard, and we're down to the short strokes of getting ready for a trip to France in October.
I am so friggin lucky that things are so good for me right now. I'd spread it around if I could.
Bee well, everyone.
posted by Artful Codger at 2:37 PM on September 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
Bees are cool. Wasps (often black or bluish, seriously skinny waist) are OK. Hornets (yellowjackets) are assholes. Little insect sharks with zero social skills, and an insatiable need to dive into my beer and taste my helping of ribs, when we're dining al fresco. One stung my arm in July when I had the temerity to fan it away from my glass. Fucker.
Mrs C just celebrated a birthday, my biggest hassle last week was repairing our overheated 5 hp outboard, and we're down to the short strokes of getting ready for a trip to France in October.
I am so friggin lucky that things are so good for me right now. I'd spread it around if I could.
Bee well, everyone.
posted by Artful Codger at 2:37 PM on September 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
This is not about bees because I am getting a bit tired
So I went through a major catastrophic breakup in my 20s, and it was my first and I was struggling to hold myself together. At one point I stepped out of work and was getting myself lunch, and the song "I Can See Clearly Now" came over the radio - and it just felt like God's hand was patting me on the head and telling me I would be okay, and I burst out crying by the lettuce in this lousy Bodega. The next day I was getting lunch in the same Bodega and it happened again, and this time I laughed. I kept hearing it every few days for the next few weeks and it got me over a hump.
Ever since, time to time when I have been fretting about something, sometimes I will be in a car or in a store and it will come on the radio, and I get that same reassurance that everything will be okay and it will all work out.
The past couple weeks I have been in a tense point in my job - I have been working somewhere part time, and they are trying to figure out if they can afford me full time at the salary I want and give me health insurance. I know they are talking about it, but there is no word yet.
Today I was home and put on a random Spotify channel while I cleaned the kitchen. And 14 songs into it was - "I Can See Clearly Now."
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:18 PM on September 12, 2023 [8 favorites]
So I went through a major catastrophic breakup in my 20s, and it was my first and I was struggling to hold myself together. At one point I stepped out of work and was getting myself lunch, and the song "I Can See Clearly Now" came over the radio - and it just felt like God's hand was patting me on the head and telling me I would be okay, and I burst out crying by the lettuce in this lousy Bodega. The next day I was getting lunch in the same Bodega and it happened again, and this time I laughed. I kept hearing it every few days for the next few weeks and it got me over a hump.
Ever since, time to time when I have been fretting about something, sometimes I will be in a car or in a store and it will come on the radio, and I get that same reassurance that everything will be okay and it will all work out.
The past couple weeks I have been in a tense point in my job - I have been working somewhere part time, and they are trying to figure out if they can afford me full time at the salary I want and give me health insurance. I know they are talking about it, but there is no word yet.
Today I was home and put on a random Spotify channel while I cleaned the kitchen. And 14 songs into it was - "I Can See Clearly Now."
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:18 PM on September 12, 2023 [8 favorites]
This is not about bees because I am getting a bit tired
There's absolutely nobeeuire- sorry, requirement to talk about bees here.
posted by Greg_Ace at 6:05 PM on September 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
There's absolutely no
posted by Greg_Ace at 6:05 PM on September 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
Empress, enough people seem to want you that perhaps there won't be anything to worry about?
posted by jenfullmoon at 6:42 PM on September 12, 2023
posted by jenfullmoon at 6:42 PM on September 12, 2023
Welp, in other news today, a friend of mine got TMI-levels of ill while we were at karaoke and I ended up driving her to the ER. I'm grateful I finally got ahold of her mother (a nurse) and while it still looked like they hadn't done anything to help her other than give her a few tests by the time I left, hopefully they will sometime do SOMETHING, probably meds and an IV. I don't think she's gonna die or anything, but she's definitely having an unpleasant 24 hours.
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:56 PM on September 12, 2023
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:56 PM on September 12, 2023
Empress, enough people seem to want you that perhaps there won't be anything to worry about?
Not quite - so far it's only one "we're interested but we may not be able to afford you at the rate you want" and a whole shitton of "first interviews that decide that they don't want a second".
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:06 AM on September 13, 2023
Not quite - so far it's only one "we're interested but we may not be able to afford you at the rate you want" and a whole shitton of "first interviews that decide that they don't want a second".
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:06 AM on September 13, 2023
The Pennsylvania Renaissance Festival shares space with a winery. Which means they can't spray for bees, because the bees are essential to the whole winemaking process.
When I worked there I sold sugar water. Specifically, Italian ices. I had a cart with a couple of coolers in it and I wandered the grounds dishing out Italian ices into cups for grateful patrons.
Which meant I was covered in sugar water at all times. Also, yellowjackets. Because the winery didn't actually have many bees, but they had yellowjackets aplenty.
So I had to come to terms with bees pretty quickly. I only got stung twice; I got good at figuring out where the bees were, what they wanted, and how to avoid getting between the bees and the sugar.
One morning I was out doing my thing when I saw a previous customer, a kid maybe nine years old, holding an Italian ice in one hand and swatting ferociously at a bee with the other. It was going to end badly, so I went over and said, "Can I have that?"
And he said "What? This?" and made a defensive gesture with the Italian ice.
I said, "No, the bee."
Baffled, the kid said, "Sure."
So I put my sugar-water-covered hand out, and the yellowjacket landed on it and began feeding happily. I said "Thank you!" and walked off.
The kid laughed, the parents laughed, great bit of improv.
Later that day I was selling my stuff in another part of the fair when the kid came up to me. He said "You want this one too?" and held out his hand with a yellowjacket on it.
posted by MrVisible at 6:15 AM on September 13, 2023 [4 favorites]
When I worked there I sold sugar water. Specifically, Italian ices. I had a cart with a couple of coolers in it and I wandered the grounds dishing out Italian ices into cups for grateful patrons.
Which meant I was covered in sugar water at all times. Also, yellowjackets. Because the winery didn't actually have many bees, but they had yellowjackets aplenty.
So I had to come to terms with bees pretty quickly. I only got stung twice; I got good at figuring out where the bees were, what they wanted, and how to avoid getting between the bees and the sugar.
One morning I was out doing my thing when I saw a previous customer, a kid maybe nine years old, holding an Italian ice in one hand and swatting ferociously at a bee with the other. It was going to end badly, so I went over and said, "Can I have that?"
And he said "What? This?" and made a defensive gesture with the Italian ice.
I said, "No, the bee."
Baffled, the kid said, "Sure."
So I put my sugar-water-covered hand out, and the yellowjacket landed on it and began feeding happily. I said "Thank you!" and walked off.
The kid laughed, the parents laughed, great bit of improv.
Later that day I was selling my stuff in another part of the fair when the kid came up to me. He said "You want this one too?" and held out his hand with a yellowjacket on it.
posted by MrVisible at 6:15 AM on September 13, 2023 [4 favorites]
As one of the people propagating the bees issue, I would like to apologize if I was droning on. My apologies, hivemind! I could not bee sorrier. It was just some buzz I got caught up in. Sorry, honey. I didn't mean to be a pest. I see now it was getting annoying and that really stings. And also, I--
[carried off, still clumsily searching for puns]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:20 AM on September 13, 2023 [6 favorites]
[carried off, still clumsily searching for puns]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:20 AM on September 13, 2023 [6 favorites]
Back in the early days of Trump megathreads, there used to be a thing about bees coming to save us. (example)
I wonder if that stopped out of concern for the bees, or just the realization that there just weren't enough bees for the tasks at hand.
posted by MtDewd at 8:04 AM on September 13, 2023
I wonder if that stopped out of concern for the bees, or just the realization that there just weren't enough bees for the tasks at hand.
posted by MtDewd at 8:04 AM on September 13, 2023
(Hey, if you missed out on that rad metafilter stained glass piece from last year's auction, it's up for auction again. Current bid is $250. Here's the link!)
posted by mochapickle at 9:44 AM on September 13, 2023
posted by mochapickle at 9:44 AM on September 13, 2023
I'm told by her mother that the friend had a liter of fluids pumped into her for 20 minutes and was then sent home. I hope that uh, covered everything.
posted by jenfullmoon at 1:38 PM on September 13, 2023
posted by jenfullmoon at 1:38 PM on September 13, 2023
Carry on with the bee stuff if you like, I'm just stressed to the gills these days and that's affecting my hijinks threshhold. But I don't want to spoil others' fun still.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:04 PM on September 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:04 PM on September 13, 2023 [1 favorite]
In bee world, it's "Dance Like Everyone Is Watching Everything You Do Very Very Carefully"
posted by hippybear at 3:14 PM on September 13, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 3:14 PM on September 13, 2023 [2 favorites]
Welp. I quit my job today. I'm going to apply for some childcare jobs, but I really want out.
posted by kathrynm at 5:58 PM on September 13, 2023 [8 favorites]
posted by kathrynm at 5:58 PM on September 13, 2023 [8 favorites]
I got into Oklahoma as ensemble. At least I won't be sitting around idle and bored starting Sunday.
posted by jenfullmoon at 7:13 AM on September 14, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by jenfullmoon at 7:13 AM on September 14, 2023 [4 favorites]
Last night's opening act for the Albany Hops and Harvest Festival was...
Bees in the Barn.
posted by mikelieman at 7:28 AM on September 14, 2023
Bees in the Barn.
posted by mikelieman at 7:28 AM on September 14, 2023
Waving in job-hunt solidarity over here, kathryyn.
Had a long talk with my direct manager here where I am - he was very candid about their situation, and had a bit of a brainstorm he's sharing.
We have the budget guy on one side who only wants to offer me $X, and my rate is X + about $15K. BUT - my direct manager had an idea; they're also trying to fill another role, and he was wondering if I'd be interested in taking on half the duties of THAT role to maybe justify the added $15K. I'd have to go through some certification first (and would have to be making $X in the interim) and the owner would have to agree to his idea. But - this could be REALLY promising; if they say yes and so do I, then the other duties of this role would go to someone else, and that would save them money, plus it would get me what I need. (Even a tiny raise, in fact.)
The owner just has to agree to it, and we need to make sure that the duties they'd ask me to take on would be things I could handle. HE thinks I can do it, and from the sound of it so do I. And - it would lead me in a direction I was considering careerwise anyway.
He's going to float that idea to the owner and we'll see what pans out. In the meantime I have an in initial interview tomorrow and I'm going to a job fair on Tuesday, and I'm continuing to look, but....this could be a VERY intriguing turn of events.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:08 AM on September 14, 2023 [1 favorite]
Had a long talk with my direct manager here where I am - he was very candid about their situation, and had a bit of a brainstorm he's sharing.
We have the budget guy on one side who only wants to offer me $X, and my rate is X + about $15K. BUT - my direct manager had an idea; they're also trying to fill another role, and he was wondering if I'd be interested in taking on half the duties of THAT role to maybe justify the added $15K. I'd have to go through some certification first (and would have to be making $X in the interim) and the owner would have to agree to his idea. But - this could be REALLY promising; if they say yes and so do I, then the other duties of this role would go to someone else, and that would save them money, plus it would get me what I need. (Even a tiny raise, in fact.)
The owner just has to agree to it, and we need to make sure that the duties they'd ask me to take on would be things I could handle. HE thinks I can do it, and from the sound of it so do I. And - it would lead me in a direction I was considering careerwise anyway.
He's going to float that idea to the owner and we'll see what pans out. In the meantime I have an in initial interview tomorrow and I'm going to a job fair on Tuesday, and I'm continuing to look, but....this could be a VERY intriguing turn of events.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:08 AM on September 14, 2023 [1 favorite]
(aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand two hours later I pull up my email to find TWO different recruiters have written me to say "i just saw your profile on Linkedin, can we talk about this thing I'm working on and haven't posted yet?")
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:48 AM on September 14, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:48 AM on September 14, 2023 [1 favorite]
Once you get a chance to catch your breath between recruiter calls, you might just want to go buy a lottery ticket.
posted by hippybear at 9:52 AM on September 14, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 9:52 AM on September 14, 2023 [2 favorites]
I'd already planned on getting a ticket, amusingly enough!
(More just for shits-and-giggles, I was in a bit of a rough mood yesterday and called someone to cheer me up, and we joked that "hey, you never know what could happen tomorrow" and that turned into "yeah, for all I know the lottery is an option" and I'm counting it as more like, my buying a few hours of daydreaming for five bucks.)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:56 AM on September 14, 2023
(More just for shits-and-giggles, I was in a bit of a rough mood yesterday and called someone to cheer me up, and we joked that "hey, you never know what could happen tomorrow" and that turned into "yeah, for all I know the lottery is an option" and I'm counting it as more like, my buying a few hours of daydreaming for five bucks.)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:56 AM on September 14, 2023
I don't feel like starting another UFO/UAP thread, but the latest news is that once again, there is no news.
posted by jenfullmoon at 11:31 AM on September 14, 2023
posted by jenfullmoon at 11:31 AM on September 14, 2023
apart from the Mexican alien mummies
posted by flabdablet at 12:17 PM on September 14, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by flabdablet at 12:17 PM on September 14, 2023 [1 favorite]
NYT: NASA didn't want to identify who their new UFO/UAP guy is.
Pledging a new, transparent, scientifically rigorous look at U.F.O.s, NASA on Thursday said it had appointed a director of research on the topic — and then kept the name of the director a secret for about seven hours.
Nicola Fox, the associate administrator for NASA’s science mission directorate, said the person serving as the new director of U.A.P. research had been in that role “for a while now,” but declined to identify him. ”We will not give his name out,” she said.
On Thursday evening, the agency identified the director as (BLEEP BLEEP) in an updated news release. He previously served as NASA’s liaison with the Defense Department for U.A.P. issues.
NASA officials said that part of the reason for initially keeping (BLEEP BLEEP)'s identity secret was the harassment experienced during the period of the study by some of the 16 members of the independent panel, who included university professors, space industry officials and a science journalist.
“Some of them actually rose to actual threats,” said Daniel Evans, assistant deputy associate administrator for research in NASA’s science mission directorate. “And yes, that’s in part why we are not splashing the name of our new director out there, because science needs to be free.”
Of course the guy's going to get death threats. Awesome. I love the 2020's.
And for those wondering about the alien corpses:
“Has NASA been in touch with the Mexican authorities about the rather sensational revelations earlier this week of two allegedly nonhuman corpses?” the journalist said. “And what, if any, importance do you attach to these discoveries?”
Dr. Spergel replied, “This is something that I know I’ve only seen on Twitter.”
posted by jenfullmoon at 4:36 PM on September 14, 2023
Pledging a new, transparent, scientifically rigorous look at U.F.O.s, NASA on Thursday said it had appointed a director of research on the topic — and then kept the name of the director a secret for about seven hours.
Nicola Fox, the associate administrator for NASA’s science mission directorate, said the person serving as the new director of U.A.P. research had been in that role “for a while now,” but declined to identify him. ”We will not give his name out,” she said.
On Thursday evening, the agency identified the director as (BLEEP BLEEP) in an updated news release. He previously served as NASA’s liaison with the Defense Department for U.A.P. issues.
NASA officials said that part of the reason for initially keeping (BLEEP BLEEP)'s identity secret was the harassment experienced during the period of the study by some of the 16 members of the independent panel, who included university professors, space industry officials and a science journalist.
“Some of them actually rose to actual threats,” said Daniel Evans, assistant deputy associate administrator for research in NASA’s science mission directorate. “And yes, that’s in part why we are not splashing the name of our new director out there, because science needs to be free.”
Of course the guy's going to get death threats. Awesome. I love the 2020's.
And for those wondering about the alien corpses:
“Has NASA been in touch with the Mexican authorities about the rather sensational revelations earlier this week of two allegedly nonhuman corpses?” the journalist said. “And what, if any, importance do you attach to these discoveries?”
Dr. Spergel replied, “This is something that I know I’ve only seen on Twitter.”
posted by jenfullmoon at 4:36 PM on September 14, 2023
Okay, bee-obsessed Metafilter! I hung out with friends tonight, and as I was driving one home, she said, "I made this bee" (crocheted) "and I have it in my purse and I want to put it somewhere." Me: "How about my car?" So we declared it yarn-bombed, of sorts, and now I have a wee little bee to tell y'all about.
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:36 PM on September 14, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:36 PM on September 14, 2023 [2 favorites]
Okay - in the interest of my not wanting to turn the Free Threads into Micromanaging-The-Particulars-of-EC's-Job-Hunt, is there anyone who wants to discuss my manager's conversation above? I'm having some small doubts about his plan now and wanted to hash them out, but I don't think this is the place for it. If you're interested in being a sounding board let me know and I"ll Memail you.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:04 AM on September 15, 2023
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:04 AM on September 15, 2023
Just did, thank you!
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:21 PM on September 16, 2023
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:21 PM on September 16, 2023
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posted by Greg_Ace at 9:52 AM on September 11, 2023 [3 favorites]