The Sixth Sense of the MeFite ... and it's your Free Thread
August 19, 2024 12:05 AM Subscribe
Have you ever had an inexplicable incident or encounter? Seemed to read someone's mind? Moved items remotely? Experienced Second Sight? Seen, or felt, a ghost or other unexplained presence? Predicted or foretold a very unlikely, but ultimately correct, event? Something else happened to you which was much more than a coincidence? ... Or write about whatever is on your mind, in your heart, on your plate or in your journal, because this is your weekly free thread. [lastliest]
Ha, ha! Okay, I'm going to admit this at last, and go ahead and laugh at me (I'm laughing at myself): every time the site gets in a certain feral "mood," I go and have a look at the state of the moon ... and almost every time, it looks something like this. Confirmation bias, blah, blah, I'm sure, but also we're all werewolves.
Other than that, not really. Not much. Well, one entirely sober, entirely straight midday weird hallucination (I guess) thingy. Happened while I was walking the dog, and the dog didn't seem to notice anything, so, yeah, random drive-by hallucination I guess. I GUESS.
posted by taz at 12:29 AM on August 19 [15 favorites]
Other than that, not really. Not much. Well, one entirely sober, entirely straight midday weird hallucination (I guess) thingy. Happened while I was walking the dog, and the dog didn't seem to notice anything, so, yeah, random drive-by hallucination I guess. I GUESS.
posted by taz at 12:29 AM on August 19 [15 favorites]
High school. A friend asked for a pencil, from the opposite side of the room. He mimed holding a pencil
I threw it across the class room and it landed perfectly in his fingers, lead facing down, ready to write. He did not try to catch it.
posted by constraint at 12:59 AM on August 19 [18 favorites]
I threw it across the class room and it landed perfectly in his fingers, lead facing down, ready to write. He did not try to catch it.
posted by constraint at 12:59 AM on August 19 [18 favorites]
My gran was a ghost when she was alive.
My grandparents had two homes, one in the city and one here, on the farm. Most of the time my granddad would be in the city, and granny would be on the farm. They loved each other and were together when it was practical, but with two businesses, this was the way they handled stuff.
When I was a teenager, I went to live with them. During school terms I'd live with granddad, and during the holidays with granny. So one day, granddad and I are in the kitchen, having dinner, and I can hear granny "singing" upstairs. She had a weird and very unique way of always murmuring as she went about her stuff. So I asked my granddad if he could hear it too -- "yeah, she always does that, haven't you noticed before?". And that was that. She was 350 km away, as the crow flies, but she was also upstairs, singing. Nothing to worry about.
posted by mumimor at 1:22 AM on August 19 [33 favorites]
My grandparents had two homes, one in the city and one here, on the farm. Most of the time my granddad would be in the city, and granny would be on the farm. They loved each other and were together when it was practical, but with two businesses, this was the way they handled stuff.
When I was a teenager, I went to live with them. During school terms I'd live with granddad, and during the holidays with granny. So one day, granddad and I are in the kitchen, having dinner, and I can hear granny "singing" upstairs. She had a weird and very unique way of always murmuring as she went about her stuff. So I asked my granddad if he could hear it too -- "yeah, she always does that, haven't you noticed before?". And that was that. She was 350 km away, as the crow flies, but she was also upstairs, singing. Nothing to worry about.
posted by mumimor at 1:22 AM on August 19 [33 favorites]
I was once working in quite an exploitative industry, and out of frustration a coworker decided to go and start his own company in the industry.
This was around the time "The Dark Knight" was released. At after work drinks, I prophesised "You'll either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villian".
The latter occurred.
posted by chmmr at 1:28 AM on August 19 [6 favorites]
This was around the time "The Dark Knight" was released. At after work drinks, I prophesised "You'll either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villian".
The latter occurred.
posted by chmmr at 1:28 AM on August 19 [6 favorites]
The roof has been off my garage for the past few days, and the builders are finally putting the new one on. I'm kind of going to miss being able to see the sky from the spot where I usually store my bikes.
Also it was great to evict all those creepy-crawlies.
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 1:28 AM on August 19 [6 favorites]
Also it was great to evict all those creepy-crawlies.
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 1:28 AM on August 19 [6 favorites]
On Saturday I sold a guitar amp that I bought from a friend a few years ago. Found the original receipt from when he bought it...on the 17th of August 2003. Enjoyed the symmetry of sending it to its next home exactly 21 years later.
Suggested nickname: Cicada
posted by fairmettle at 1:29 AM on August 19 [15 favorites]
Suggested nickname: Cicada
posted by fairmettle at 1:29 AM on August 19 [15 favorites]
Some decades ago Jesus (or something like) told me audibly to Get off the road now!, I was cycling. I did so, and a semi roared by leaving no room on the road. Doesn't seem any reason to unpack it.
When I was ten dad was driving somewhere I'd never been (I think south of Bristol, UK), and I had a vision of a crash, a car run into a light pole, so i said "Slow down, there's a crash around the bend", and there was! A Ford Capri had hit a light pole and was perched pointing up at 40 degrees.
I've learned to listen to these things. I think it (whatever it is) came from my mum as she was still close to her Romany/G roots. People were very wary of my mum.
posted by unearthed at 1:45 AM on August 19 [18 favorites]
When I was ten dad was driving somewhere I'd never been (I think south of Bristol, UK), and I had a vision of a crash, a car run into a light pole, so i said "Slow down, there's a crash around the bend", and there was! A Ford Capri had hit a light pole and was perched pointing up at 40 degrees.
I've learned to listen to these things. I think it (whatever it is) came from my mum as she was still close to her Romany/G roots. People were very wary of my mum.
posted by unearthed at 1:45 AM on August 19 [18 favorites]
I live in an approximately 100 year old home that had a pretty wild history before I bought it. After I moved in, and for maybe the first seven or eight years of living in this house, I would frequently find small coins, mostly pennies, in odd places where I was pretty sure they had not been previously - sitting on a window sill or in the middle of the living room floor or on a bookshelf where I would have had no reason to ever place coins.
It eventually stopped but I never was able to come up with a satisfactory explanation. The idea that I might be scattering small change around my house when sleepwalking seemed unlikely but it didn't seem any likelier that someone was entering while I was gone or asleep to leave old coins lying around or that I had a mischievous spirit with a surplus of small change.
Since the last version made for the best story, I would sometimes describe it as the Penny Ghost when describing the mystery to friends but it's not like I particularly believed that was actually the explanation. It was more that I didn't have any better ideas..
posted by Nerd of the North at 2:03 AM on August 19 [9 favorites]
It eventually stopped but I never was able to come up with a satisfactory explanation. The idea that I might be scattering small change around my house when sleepwalking seemed unlikely but it didn't seem any likelier that someone was entering while I was gone or asleep to leave old coins lying around or that I had a mischievous spirit with a surplus of small change.
Since the last version made for the best story, I would sometimes describe it as the Penny Ghost when describing the mystery to friends but it's not like I particularly believed that was actually the explanation. It was more that I didn't have any better ideas..
posted by Nerd of the North at 2:03 AM on August 19 [9 favorites]
According to sketchy online sites (and oprah.com), ghost/spirit coins are deceased loved ones communicating with you, mostly just to say you are valued and supported (though, they say, you should also consider the positions of the coins and dates or other info in case of something slightly more specific). My deceased loved ones are apparently nudging me to clean under my stove, which I admit is probably a good idea!
posted by taz at 2:26 AM on August 19 [11 favorites]
posted by taz at 2:26 AM on August 19 [11 favorites]
I just had this weird feeling you were going to post a free thread sometime soon.
posted by Phanx at 2:29 AM on August 19 [15 favorites]
posted by Phanx at 2:29 AM on August 19 [15 favorites]
Doesn't seem any reason to unpack it.
Yup. I've had personally or known a few people I trust who've had things like this happen. There are perfectly reasonable explanations for each and every instance, all of which are in the past and cannot be measured, and therefore belief about the nature of the event is necessarily personal. When someone starts trying to tell me they have The Answer about such things, I usually take it as a cue to relocate.
posted by cupcakeninja at 2:40 AM on August 19 [2 favorites]
Yup. I've had personally or known a few people I trust who've had things like this happen. There are perfectly reasonable explanations for each and every instance, all of which are in the past and cannot be measured, and therefore belief about the nature of the event is necessarily personal. When someone starts trying to tell me they have The Answer about such things, I usually take it as a cue to relocate.
posted by cupcakeninja at 2:40 AM on August 19 [2 favorites]
A year after Douglas Adams passed away, a friend's theater company wanted to do a sort of staged reading of the Hitchhikers' radio plays as a fundraiser. He tried to get permission from the Adams estate, but I think they were working on the movie negotiations and they never answered. So he went on the down-low instead and did it anyway.
I was helping out with the opening night prep, and at one point went to go get some various drinks for the concessions. When I paid for it, the total cost - plus tip - came to exactly forty-two dollars, even. I brought the receipt to show my friend when I returned, saying "I think Douglas Adams just personally gave you permission to do this."
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:28 AM on August 19 [23 favorites]
I was helping out with the opening night prep, and at one point went to go get some various drinks for the concessions. When I paid for it, the total cost - plus tip - came to exactly forty-two dollars, even. I brought the receipt to show my friend when I returned, saying "I think Douglas Adams just personally gave you permission to do this."
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:28 AM on August 19 [23 favorites]
Speaking of buying/selling guitar stuff, after having some extra income this summer I wanted to use some of the money for a used sub-500€ guitar that would maybe hold it's value. Meaning I didn't really NEED another guitar, but wanted to buy one instead of just slowly diddling the money away on wine and weed. I'm a big fan of offset guitars (the body shape of for example Fender's Jaguar & Jazzmaster) and bought my first Squier VM Jaguar last year.
I've been reading a LOT of VERY good reviews about the Squier J. Mascis signature Jazzmaster. (The guitar is cheap-ish I think about 550 new but VERY good in it's price range and even above it. First ones came out in 2011 and was discontinued in 2021 or so, and very recently this year is back in production, with a laurel fretboard instead of rosewood, that is the only bigger difference I think.) I posted a want to buy ad and a local dude messaged me. He had one from 2012, vintage white with tortoiseshell pickguard, which was amazing because I really don't like the look of the original gold anodized aluminum one.
So I went out to their rehearsal space to try it out. First thing I notice is that the neck feels big in my hand. Second thing I notice is that this thing sounds and plays like a dream even unplugged. I hemmed and hawed a bit, but I ended up buying it for less than what he was asking, I paid 380 € with a nice padded leather strap and Schaller strap-locks. After playing it over the weekend I'm in LOVE with the guitar. So solid, so slick and nice (the jumbo frets are awesome), the setup is very low on 11-gauge strings and 12-year-old vintage white is I think starting to yellow with age, which is super sweet, love the colour. Here's a picture of the JMJM along with the back of my Jaguar and my old maybe 1998 Tokai Telecaster, which I've modified back then with a self-designed and -cut tortoise pickguard and a humbucker, along with some knobs from a Fender amp. In the picture there are actually FOUR guitars with tortoise shell pickguards, including the Taylor GS Mini acoustic.
Usually with guitar gear you should NEVER buy into the hype, but sometimes very good things can be had for not a lot of money.
posted by fridgebuzz at 3:41 AM on August 19 [9 favorites]
I've been reading a LOT of VERY good reviews about the Squier J. Mascis signature Jazzmaster. (The guitar is cheap-ish I think about 550 new but VERY good in it's price range and even above it. First ones came out in 2011 and was discontinued in 2021 or so, and very recently this year is back in production, with a laurel fretboard instead of rosewood, that is the only bigger difference I think.) I posted a want to buy ad and a local dude messaged me. He had one from 2012, vintage white with tortoiseshell pickguard, which was amazing because I really don't like the look of the original gold anodized aluminum one.
So I went out to their rehearsal space to try it out. First thing I notice is that the neck feels big in my hand. Second thing I notice is that this thing sounds and plays like a dream even unplugged. I hemmed and hawed a bit, but I ended up buying it for less than what he was asking, I paid 380 € with a nice padded leather strap and Schaller strap-locks. After playing it over the weekend I'm in LOVE with the guitar. So solid, so slick and nice (the jumbo frets are awesome), the setup is very low on 11-gauge strings and 12-year-old vintage white is I think starting to yellow with age, which is super sweet, love the colour. Here's a picture of the JMJM along with the back of my Jaguar and my old maybe 1998 Tokai Telecaster, which I've modified back then with a self-designed and -cut tortoise pickguard and a humbucker, along with some knobs from a Fender amp. In the picture there are actually FOUR guitars with tortoise shell pickguards, including the Taylor GS Mini acoustic.
Usually with guitar gear you should NEVER buy into the hype, but sometimes very good things can be had for not a lot of money.
posted by fridgebuzz at 3:41 AM on August 19 [9 favorites]
I've experienced what I'd consider genuine pre-cognition a couple times in my life. It's a weird thing. A specific feeling like something has already happened before it occurs, and then it occurs. One was a simple 1/50 chance, could be easily written off as a weird feeling and luck, but another at 1/4096 odds feels harder to write off. It was in the midst of a bit of a breakdown and I was generally a mess, maybe I was riding a weird wavelength?
Regardless, you've already read this comment in each version of the life you've lived, the problem is you just keep forgetting. Get it together, champ!
posted by Philipschall at 3:48 AM on August 19 [7 favorites]
Regardless, you've already read this comment in each version of the life you've lived, the problem is you just keep forgetting. Get it together, champ!
posted by Philipschall at 3:48 AM on August 19 [7 favorites]
Yeah, not really time to get into any of the stories, but I've had several unusual experiences. There's definitely stuff that we can sometimes perceive that there's no way to repeat, verify, or explain through rational empiricism.
Lately around here, things have felt very choppy. I've had people randomly threaten violence against me, I've seen another conflict almost start and then thankfully fizzle out. Yesterday on a group bike ride, we had a whole bunch of stuff go wrong. I'm not all woo-woo about it, but these are all pretty atypical events. It is true that there's a big ol full moon tonight, and somebody told me that Mercury's in retrograde. I don't know, I treat all that stuff as speculation, but I am hoping that things calm down a bit.
posted by Smedly, Butlerian jihadi at 4:26 AM on August 19 [5 favorites]
Lately around here, things have felt very choppy. I've had people randomly threaten violence against me, I've seen another conflict almost start and then thankfully fizzle out. Yesterday on a group bike ride, we had a whole bunch of stuff go wrong. I'm not all woo-woo about it, but these are all pretty atypical events. It is true that there's a big ol full moon tonight, and somebody told me that Mercury's in retrograde. I don't know, I treat all that stuff as speculation, but I am hoping that things calm down a bit.
posted by Smedly, Butlerian jihadi at 4:26 AM on August 19 [5 favorites]
What about that feeling when you know someone is watching you, you are absolutely certain, and you turn around to see that, in the building across the street, two floors up, someone is staring at you through a window. Variations on that have happened to me so many times. How does that work?
posted by jabah at 4:30 AM on August 19 [12 favorites]
posted by jabah at 4:30 AM on August 19 [12 favorites]
I have definitely had experiences that lead me toward believing that “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,/Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”
But those are not the anecdotes I will relay today. I had one experience of a sound debunking that I think is interesting.
Around the hospital every full moon there was always a lot of talk about how the ER would get strange cases, and also how way more babies were born.
I'm not sure if I could measure the former, but as for the latter, I happen to have a database with thousands of birthdates, and a bit of sql knowledge. So I wrote a function that would determine how many days it had been since the last full moon, and ran it against those 50k birthdates and plotted it out. No discernible pattern was found.
posted by bitslayer at 4:54 AM on August 19 [14 favorites]
But those are not the anecdotes I will relay today. I had one experience of a sound debunking that I think is interesting.
Around the hospital every full moon there was always a lot of talk about how the ER would get strange cases, and also how way more babies were born.
I'm not sure if I could measure the former, but as for the latter, I happen to have a database with thousands of birthdates, and a bit of sql knowledge. So I wrote a function that would determine how many days it had been since the last full moon, and ran it against those 50k birthdates and plotted it out. No discernible pattern was found.
posted by bitslayer at 4:54 AM on August 19 [14 favorites]
This story is not mine; it is my mother's.
My mom grew up one of six daughters in a poor Mexican family in a small town about an hour west of San Antonio. The childhood home she grew up in was essentially two rooms: the back was the bedroom for Grandma and Grandpa, the front was where the kitchen and living room was, and the girls would have a pallet laid out nightly for all of them to share. Remember, this is rural Texas and it gets hot. My mom's family was too poor for air-conditioning (also, it was the early 60s) so they would leave the front screen door open for any chance of a cool breeze. One night, when she was about nine or ten, my mom was asleep with her sisters on their pallet. She was woken in the night by a furious frantic crying. Her sisters, mind you, were still fast asleep. She says she saw a woman in all black at the screen door, crying and weeping. She was terrified because she knew this was La Llorona. She watched the woman cry and weep at their door for who knows how long, but eventually the woman went away. It has stuck with her her entire life. (This is a story we heard around Christmas too.)
My grandmother also claims that she saw Le Lechuza one early morning while she was out burning the garbage; an enormous owl landed on a nearby tree while she was doing this and chased her back to the house.
My mother was also apparently cured by a cunandero when she was a child too; she and a neighbourhood girl got sick with something going around at the time, so my grandmother took her to the cunandero. Mom got well; the other child did not (so I'm told).
I have had minor experiences that aren't as interesting as my mother's! I like to tell this story now, especially, since my sister and I will be the only guardians of it as Mom's Alzheimer's progresses.
posted by Kitteh at 5:04 AM on August 19 [11 favorites]
My mom grew up one of six daughters in a poor Mexican family in a small town about an hour west of San Antonio. The childhood home she grew up in was essentially two rooms: the back was the bedroom for Grandma and Grandpa, the front was where the kitchen and living room was, and the girls would have a pallet laid out nightly for all of them to share. Remember, this is rural Texas and it gets hot. My mom's family was too poor for air-conditioning (also, it was the early 60s) so they would leave the front screen door open for any chance of a cool breeze. One night, when she was about nine or ten, my mom was asleep with her sisters on their pallet. She was woken in the night by a furious frantic crying. Her sisters, mind you, were still fast asleep. She says she saw a woman in all black at the screen door, crying and weeping. She was terrified because she knew this was La Llorona. She watched the woman cry and weep at their door for who knows how long, but eventually the woman went away. It has stuck with her her entire life. (This is a story we heard around Christmas too.)
My grandmother also claims that she saw Le Lechuza one early morning while she was out burning the garbage; an enormous owl landed on a nearby tree while she was doing this and chased her back to the house.
My mother was also apparently cured by a cunandero when she was a child too; she and a neighbourhood girl got sick with something going around at the time, so my grandmother took her to the cunandero. Mom got well; the other child did not (so I'm told).
I have had minor experiences that aren't as interesting as my mother's! I like to tell this story now, especially, since my sister and I will be the only guardians of it as Mom's Alzheimer's progresses.
posted by Kitteh at 5:04 AM on August 19 [11 favorites]
Long ago, 1989 or so, I'm walking to a friend's house. The easiest way to get there is to walk through a little-used parking garage. I walk around one way, and there's a very threatening-looking homeless guy glaring straight at me. I turn around and walk the other way through the garage, and there's the same guy glaring at me. I look to the side, and someone has used a stencil to spraypaint on the wall the neutral, flat-mouthed version of the happy face with SAY NOTHING ACT CASUAL below it. I did, and made it to my friend's house unmolested, and for 35 years now it's been my go-to mantra for any strange or vaguely threatening situation. I was probably just interrupting the poor guy's lunch or whatever.
posted by outgrown_hobnail at 5:07 AM on August 19 [10 favorites]
posted by outgrown_hobnail at 5:07 AM on August 19 [10 favorites]
Oh, I will also add that because I was the first grandchild born with blue eyes (my dad is white), Grandma tied a deer's eye (a kind of bean) with red thread around my tiny baby wrist to make sure I was not cursed with the Evil Eye. There is photographic evidence of this!
posted by Kitteh at 5:07 AM on August 19 [8 favorites]
posted by Kitteh at 5:07 AM on August 19 [8 favorites]
When I was high school aged, I was sitting across from my mother at the kitchen table reading silently. She was doing something, also silently. Suddenly, I heard a voice inside my head exclaim, "In an adobe hacienda!??" and I repeated it aloud quizzically. My mother looked up and said she had been hearing that song in her head. To the best of my knowledge, I had never heard that song before.
With my sister (we act like twins) each of us has blurted out something and the other was just thinking it. This has happened hundreds of times over the years.
posted by a humble nudibranch at 5:13 AM on August 19 [8 favorites]
With my sister (we act like twins) each of us has blurted out something and the other was just thinking it. This has happened hundreds of times over the years.
posted by a humble nudibranch at 5:13 AM on August 19 [8 favorites]
All the time.
But precognition: only three times in my life. The first two times may have saved my life, the third time a toddler's death may have been averted.
posted by kozad at 5:25 AM on August 19 [7 favorites]
But precognition: only three times in my life. The first two times may have saved my life, the third time a toddler's death may have been averted.
posted by kozad at 5:25 AM on August 19 [7 favorites]
These days I'm just glad people are experiencing cognition at some point in time be it pre, post or during.
posted by srboisvert at 5:26 AM on August 19 [18 favorites]
posted by srboisvert at 5:26 AM on August 19 [18 favorites]
My grandfather served in the Canadian infantry in WWI. One day, an artillery shell exploded and buried him in dirt. As he lay in the pile of dirt, an angel came to him and said. "You will survive the war. You will serve the Lord." One of his comrades saw his boots sticking out of the pile of dirt and recognised him because of his unusually small feet. The comrade dug my grandfather out of the pile of dirt, he survived the war, went to Divinity school, and became a minister.
Many years ago, my ex's cat died. Some months later, I was lying on the bed in the spare bedroom, and I distinctly felt something the size of a small animal walk around the perimeter of the bed, and then lie down on my chest. Of course there was nothing there. But some months after that, one of our friends came to visit. We put her up in the spare bedroom. She came out one morning and announced that she distinctly felt something the size of a small animal walk around the perimeter of the bed, and then lie down on her chest.
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 5:28 AM on August 19 [12 favorites]
Many years ago, my ex's cat died. Some months later, I was lying on the bed in the spare bedroom, and I distinctly felt something the size of a small animal walk around the perimeter of the bed, and then lie down on my chest. Of course there was nothing there. But some months after that, one of our friends came to visit. We put her up in the spare bedroom. She came out one morning and announced that she distinctly felt something the size of a small animal walk around the perimeter of the bed, and then lie down on her chest.
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 5:28 AM on August 19 [12 favorites]
Usually with guitar gear you should NEVER buy into the hype, but sometimes very good things can be had for not a lot of money.
Last year I worked my butt off with a story: an editor asked me to participate in an anthology, first by sending him some story pitches. I sent three. He rejected them. I sent three more. he accepted one. I wrote the story. He sent it back with a major, structural revision. I rewrote the thing. He rejected it, saying it was a good story but didn't fit the anthology. I sent him three more pitches. He accepted one. I wrote it. He sent it back with medium-scale revisions. I rewrote it. He accepted it!
I took the money and bought myself a pretty nice bass (Cort A5-plus) as a memento of the whole process. Five string (because I'm listening to a lot of metalcore), Hipshot bridge and tuners, Bartolini active pickups, the works. It was a really good instrument but, after a year, I just didn't vibe with it, and usually reached for my $200 Squire PJ Bass Affinity instead.
So I put in on FB marketplace, and I got a lot of nibbles but no bites that didn't seem scammers. I lowered the price a few times, and finally got somebody offering $550. It turns out I had been tracking a Solar A2.6C for exactly that price! So, fate.
The bass buyer came over to my house. He was a nice guy, we talked for a bit, and he took the bass. I went over to the guitar sellers' place, also nice, bought the Solar, and it's metal A.F.
It's an entry-level Solar, so no fancy bridge or pickups, but it plays and sounds like a dream IMO. My inner 15 year old is psyched but also a little pissed I didn't have a guitar like this when I was 15 years old. I would have ruled.
I named it "The Blackbird" after the X-Men's planes.
It has a little bit of a 50-year-old-guy-with-a-porsche vibe, but I think it's a much cheaper and more sustainable kind of mid-life crisis than sports cars, affairs or drugs.
posted by signal at 5:43 AM on August 19 [8 favorites]
Last year I worked my butt off with a story: an editor asked me to participate in an anthology, first by sending him some story pitches. I sent three. He rejected them. I sent three more. he accepted one. I wrote the story. He sent it back with a major, structural revision. I rewrote the thing. He rejected it, saying it was a good story but didn't fit the anthology. I sent him three more pitches. He accepted one. I wrote it. He sent it back with medium-scale revisions. I rewrote it. He accepted it!
I took the money and bought myself a pretty nice bass (Cort A5-plus) as a memento of the whole process. Five string (because I'm listening to a lot of metalcore), Hipshot bridge and tuners, Bartolini active pickups, the works. It was a really good instrument but, after a year, I just didn't vibe with it, and usually reached for my $200 Squire PJ Bass Affinity instead.
So I put in on FB marketplace, and I got a lot of nibbles but no bites that didn't seem scammers. I lowered the price a few times, and finally got somebody offering $550. It turns out I had been tracking a Solar A2.6C for exactly that price! So, fate.
The bass buyer came over to my house. He was a nice guy, we talked for a bit, and he took the bass. I went over to the guitar sellers' place, also nice, bought the Solar, and it's metal A.F.
It's an entry-level Solar, so no fancy bridge or pickups, but it plays and sounds like a dream IMO. My inner 15 year old is psyched but also a little pissed I didn't have a guitar like this when I was 15 years old. I would have ruled.
I named it "The Blackbird" after the X-Men's planes.
It has a little bit of a 50-year-old-guy-with-a-porsche vibe, but I think it's a much cheaper and more sustainable kind of mid-life crisis than sports cars, affairs or drugs.
posted by signal at 5:43 AM on August 19 [8 favorites]
I just want to come in from the other end and say that I’ve never had anything spooky, divine, or otherwise inexplicable happen to me. This is not a diss against anybody coming forward with their own experiences; I remain steadfastly open minded. However, I do have dreams about sending emails, so even my subconscious isn’t very exciting.
posted by The River Ivel at 6:00 AM on August 19 [16 favorites]
posted by The River Ivel at 6:00 AM on August 19 [16 favorites]
A month or after my mom died of cancer my dad took me to the wake for a relative of his. After we paid our respects at the casket we sat in the second to last row of folding chairs for a bit. The seats around us were all empty. Another relative came to talk and offer condolences to us on my mom's death. As they were talking I felt a hand on my shoulder, as if offering comfort to the boy who had just lost his mother. I didn't turn around as I was listening to the adults speak. Eventually, the hand left my shoulder. When I looked around to see who it was I realized there was no one in the seats behind us or anywhere near.
I haven't had a similar experience since.
posted by tommasz at 6:06 AM on August 19 [8 favorites]
I haven't had a similar experience since.
posted by tommasz at 6:06 AM on August 19 [8 favorites]
I don't believe in ghosts. I know they're not real, spirits and disembodied souls aren't a thing...but I've met two ghosts in my life. I've probably told these stories here before if they sound familiar.
The first one, we were in Wisconsin helping my in-laws set up an estate sale, cleaning and organizing a house to sell all the stuff inside it but we weren't able to stay for the actual sale days.
I was working on the back 'servant's stairs', a steep stairway with a tight turn in the middle that had become storage, there was barely room to walk up it with all the stuff stacked on the steps. I started at the bottom, handing things to someone below to take and move somewhere so it could be reviewed; hand the stuff, move up a step, hand the stuff....etc.
When I got to the landing, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a small, black dog, in sort of a play-bow, looking at me around the corner. As I turned it had gone up the stairs away from me. At the top of the stairs was a closed door.
I told my wife that I thought I saw a ghost -- no more details than that -- to which she reminded me that I don't believe in ghosts, and we went on. Later that day, as we were going through things in the attic, where the closed door led, my wife called me over to look at something -- it was a photo from the 1920s, in a frame with a poem, a photo of a small black dog. The poem was about loss; the picture and poem were a memorial to the dog who had died in the 1920s, his name was Curly. I excitedly told her -- THAT'S THE GHOST I MET. We had put the photo out for sale at the estate sale. Nobody bought it, not even after the 75% off day. My inlaws mailed it to us, so Curly's memorial is on our shelf.
The other ghost haunted the foreclosure that we bought and are slowly renovating. It's an innocuous ghost, weird noises, hiding things you had just set down, but its most obvious proof of existence is that I would discover pennies around the house, especially in places I had already swept or cleaned or just was at and should have noticed a penny. So, we call the ghost Penny.
The back porch had a foundation of three walls against the house's foundation, sort of a crawlspace without any way to access it. As part of renovating I cut a hole in the floor so I could get down there and see how it was constructed....and under there we found a mummified cat. We removed the cat and brought it back to the house we live in, it's in our garage now, in order to build a case for it to display (we're weird like that).
Ghost activity at the foreclosure stopped.
Now, my wife, who uses the garage as a workshop, says she's had tiny ghost experiences as well, no pennies, but she has said that the (living, asshole) cat who always wants to sneak out into the garage now stops at the door, looks distressed, and turns back.
BUT -- I still don't believe in ghosts; this is random weirdness being anthropomorphized, enough with coincidental occurrences to be attributed to the same 'thing', which make an entertaining story.
Everything else update: the quiet before the storm -- not much happened last week, not much happening this week, but classes start next Tuesday. Last Sunday, we filmed some additional footage for the independent film I'm producing, which went well -- the director wasn't pleased with what was shot the first time in July, it was what he wanted to film but didn't come out the way he saw in his head, but we had extra film and budgeted for more film processing, so we're still on track. Premiere is planned for November 13th; the director thinks we're only going to have a rough cut ready by that time but I'm more optimistic.
posted by AzraelBrown at 6:42 AM on August 19 [5 favorites]
The first one, we were in Wisconsin helping my in-laws set up an estate sale, cleaning and organizing a house to sell all the stuff inside it but we weren't able to stay for the actual sale days.
I was working on the back 'servant's stairs', a steep stairway with a tight turn in the middle that had become storage, there was barely room to walk up it with all the stuff stacked on the steps. I started at the bottom, handing things to someone below to take and move somewhere so it could be reviewed; hand the stuff, move up a step, hand the stuff....etc.
When I got to the landing, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a small, black dog, in sort of a play-bow, looking at me around the corner. As I turned it had gone up the stairs away from me. At the top of the stairs was a closed door.
I told my wife that I thought I saw a ghost -- no more details than that -- to which she reminded me that I don't believe in ghosts, and we went on. Later that day, as we were going through things in the attic, where the closed door led, my wife called me over to look at something -- it was a photo from the 1920s, in a frame with a poem, a photo of a small black dog. The poem was about loss; the picture and poem were a memorial to the dog who had died in the 1920s, his name was Curly. I excitedly told her -- THAT'S THE GHOST I MET. We had put the photo out for sale at the estate sale. Nobody bought it, not even after the 75% off day. My inlaws mailed it to us, so Curly's memorial is on our shelf.
The other ghost haunted the foreclosure that we bought and are slowly renovating. It's an innocuous ghost, weird noises, hiding things you had just set down, but its most obvious proof of existence is that I would discover pennies around the house, especially in places I had already swept or cleaned or just was at and should have noticed a penny. So, we call the ghost Penny.
The back porch had a foundation of three walls against the house's foundation, sort of a crawlspace without any way to access it. As part of renovating I cut a hole in the floor so I could get down there and see how it was constructed....and under there we found a mummified cat. We removed the cat and brought it back to the house we live in, it's in our garage now, in order to build a case for it to display (we're weird like that).
Ghost activity at the foreclosure stopped.
Now, my wife, who uses the garage as a workshop, says she's had tiny ghost experiences as well, no pennies, but she has said that the (living, asshole) cat who always wants to sneak out into the garage now stops at the door, looks distressed, and turns back.
BUT -- I still don't believe in ghosts; this is random weirdness being anthropomorphized, enough with coincidental occurrences to be attributed to the same 'thing', which make an entertaining story.
Everything else update: the quiet before the storm -- not much happened last week, not much happening this week, but classes start next Tuesday. Last Sunday, we filmed some additional footage for the independent film I'm producing, which went well -- the director wasn't pleased with what was shot the first time in July, it was what he wanted to film but didn't come out the way he saw in his head, but we had extra film and budgeted for more film processing, so we're still on track. Premiere is planned for November 13th; the director thinks we're only going to have a rough cut ready by that time but I'm more optimistic.
posted by AzraelBrown at 6:42 AM on August 19 [5 favorites]
I jokingly refer to the process of ritually burning sage to ward off bad influences as, “spraying for ghosts”.
posted by notoriety public at 6:48 AM on August 19 [9 favorites]
posted by notoriety public at 6:48 AM on August 19 [9 favorites]
Nerd of the North -- I had overlooked your change-leaving spirit story, sorta-jinx!
posted by AzraelBrown at 6:51 AM on August 19 [1 favorite]
posted by AzraelBrown at 6:51 AM on August 19 [1 favorite]
Nothing terribly dramatic from me, aside from the occasional weirdness (i.e. once in college I looked in a bathroom mirror and felt that my deceased father was looking back at me, through my eyes), but I have occasionally had a very particular type of deja vu in which I'd swear that I'd previously dreamed about the situation that I'd just experienced; just random moments, though, nothing like, say, winning lottery numbers.
posted by Halloween Jack at 6:57 AM on August 19 [2 favorites]
posted by Halloween Jack at 6:57 AM on August 19 [2 favorites]
the process of ritually burning sage
i had forgotten that, though I knew of it. In my family we have a bell to ring, but I forgot it the last two times someone moved. I guess I'm not too worried about ghosts.
posted by mumimor at 6:57 AM on August 19 [2 favorites]
i had forgotten that, though I knew of it. In my family we have a bell to ring, but I forgot it the last two times someone moved. I guess I'm not too worried about ghosts.
posted by mumimor at 6:57 AM on August 19 [2 favorites]
I had a vision. What if I made a savory donut? What would that look like? I have some rosemary and basil in the garden. Maybe a focaccia themed donut. So I took my regular donut recipe, cut the sugar, added fresh herbs, garlic, and parm, and then fried them up. They were pretty amazing. Used marinara, fig/olive relish, anchovies, bruschetta, red pepper/almond pesto, and chunky garlic and jalapeño sauce for toppings and dipping.
Slept well. Had another vision. This time the savory donut was tarragon themed. I think I'm going to try a minced and sautéed mushroom and garlic filling piped into the middle. Maybe with hollandaise for dipping. Next weekend's project.
posted by Stanczyk at 7:08 AM on August 19 [9 favorites]
Slept well. Had another vision. This time the savory donut was tarragon themed. I think I'm going to try a minced and sautéed mushroom and garlic filling piped into the middle. Maybe with hollandaise for dipping. Next weekend's project.
posted by Stanczyk at 7:08 AM on August 19 [9 favorites]
I have a lot of bizarre dreams and nightmares, to the extent that it feels like there is a fringe film festival playing in my head every night, and sometimes there are coincidences between my dreams and real life, such as me dreaming about a particular person I haven't seen in some time and then hearing from them or seeing them the following day.
For instance, there is a former flame of mine whom I am very sporadically in touch with. At one point several years ago, I hadn't heard from him in something like six or eight months and hadn't even been thinking about him, I had a dream about him, and then the evening of the following day I got an email from him. I told him about this and it freaked him out a bit, so I told him the best/worst dream coincidence story I have.
In my twenties I lived for nearly five years in a horrible rooming house with a bunch of, er, uncongenial people. One of them, Rex, was an interfering busybody and general nuisance with a penchant for cross dressing and a phobia of bathing. At 27, I bought a condo and moved into it, and lived there for five and a half years until I sold it and bought the house I now have. One night several years into my condo phase, I had a dream that I was asleep in my bedroom at the rooming house and that I woke up and saw Rex standing by my bed, masturbating. I sat up and ordered him to leave my room at once.
There was no more to the dream as I really did wake up right after that. I shuddered convulsively over the memory of it while getting ready to leave for the day, then dismissed it from my mind. Then, while on my way to work an hour or so later, I saw Rex at the subway station.
I'm an atheist with no belief in the supernatural whatsoever. I believe in science and nature, and that there is a lot of natural law that we haven't figured out yet. So I believe dreams are projective, not predictive, but such coincidences sometimes creep me out a little.
posted by orange swan at 7:26 AM on August 19 [4 favorites]
For instance, there is a former flame of mine whom I am very sporadically in touch with. At one point several years ago, I hadn't heard from him in something like six or eight months and hadn't even been thinking about him, I had a dream about him, and then the evening of the following day I got an email from him. I told him about this and it freaked him out a bit, so I told him the best/worst dream coincidence story I have.
In my twenties I lived for nearly five years in a horrible rooming house with a bunch of, er, uncongenial people. One of them, Rex, was an interfering busybody and general nuisance with a penchant for cross dressing and a phobia of bathing. At 27, I bought a condo and moved into it, and lived there for five and a half years until I sold it and bought the house I now have. One night several years into my condo phase, I had a dream that I was asleep in my bedroom at the rooming house and that I woke up and saw Rex standing by my bed, masturbating. I sat up and ordered him to leave my room at once.
There was no more to the dream as I really did wake up right after that. I shuddered convulsively over the memory of it while getting ready to leave for the day, then dismissed it from my mind. Then, while on my way to work an hour or so later, I saw Rex at the subway station.
I'm an atheist with no belief in the supernatural whatsoever. I believe in science and nature, and that there is a lot of natural law that we haven't figured out yet. So I believe dreams are projective, not predictive, but such coincidences sometimes creep me out a little.
posted by orange swan at 7:26 AM on August 19 [4 favorites]
The thing I enjoy the most about all the inexplicable shit that happens to me is maintaining my longstanding and principled refusal to try to explain or read meaning into any of it. I have no interest whatsoever in clogging my worldview with inherently untestable guesses.
posted by flabdablet at 7:29 AM on August 19 [5 favorites]
posted by flabdablet at 7:29 AM on August 19 [5 favorites]
I would discover pennies around the house, especially in places I had already swept or cleaned or just was at and should have noticed a penny. So, we call the ghost Penny.
That one in my own house I do have an explanation for. I've seen one of the cats I work for knock coins onto the floor and then bat them enthusiastically from one end of the house to the other; I suspect she likes the sound they make as they slide and roll and carom.
Any time some small object isn't where I remember leaving it, there's a really good chance it will turn up somewhere completely random several months later.
Cats, man.
posted by flabdablet at 7:38 AM on August 19 [6 favorites]
That one in my own house I do have an explanation for. I've seen one of the cats I work for knock coins onto the floor and then bat them enthusiastically from one end of the house to the other; I suspect she likes the sound they make as they slide and roll and carom.
Any time some small object isn't where I remember leaving it, there's a really good chance it will turn up somewhere completely random several months later.
Cats, man.
posted by flabdablet at 7:38 AM on August 19 [6 favorites]
My spouse and I have done weird spirit tethered things independently on several occasions. One time we walked into our friends' house, several minutes removed from each other, and both said in the same order, "it smells like French fries" and "those pears look like wood". Our friends were suitably freaked out.
posted by mollweide at 7:41 AM on August 19 [4 favorites]
posted by mollweide at 7:41 AM on August 19 [4 favorites]
That reminds me of the time we walked into a neighbor's house with our child and she said "It smells like pizza!" It didn't smell like pizza at all.
However, the homeowners, named Beau and Jo, psychiatric nurses, used to own a Colorado pizza chain, Beaujo's Pizza. (A rather unspectacular spook story!)
posted by kozad at 7:59 AM on August 19 [3 favorites]
However, the homeowners, named Beau and Jo, psychiatric nurses, used to own a Colorado pizza chain, Beaujo's Pizza. (A rather unspectacular spook story!)
posted by kozad at 7:59 AM on August 19 [3 favorites]
I found a nice clean nug of really good weed wrapped in an individual tiny plastic bag at a Wal-Mart on my birthday one time decades ago. Closest I've felt to providence, wanted weed on my birthday but had none until the ground at walmart provided. However, Newton's first law means someone out there lost a nug of great weed. I just hope it wasn't their birthday too.
posted by GoblinHoney at 8:05 AM on August 19 [4 favorites]
posted by GoblinHoney at 8:05 AM on August 19 [4 favorites]
I would discover pennies around the house, especially in places I had already swept or cleaned or just was at and should have noticed a penny.
Oh, man, you've reminded me - the day before I had the final interview with my current job, I went on a long walk and found five pennies over the course of my travels, the most I've ever found outside on the street. They were all scattered along a few miles' path, but it was still notably more than I've ever found.
They made me an offer 20 minutes into that interview.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:06 AM on August 19 [8 favorites]
Oh, man, you've reminded me - the day before I had the final interview with my current job, I went on a long walk and found five pennies over the course of my travels, the most I've ever found outside on the street. They were all scattered along a few miles' path, but it was still notably more than I've ever found.
They made me an offer 20 minutes into that interview.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:06 AM on August 19 [8 favorites]
I’ve related this before, so it might sound familiar.
My father’s mother was a strong, quiet woman who gave a spine to a somewhat bitter (he had lost four sons) and cranky husband. A former nurse, she did not complain, ever.
After a visit from these grandparents—they lived 300 miles away—I had a vivid dream. I stood in a clean, bright room with tiled walls and a mirror running along one at chest height, and reflected before me in the mirror was my grandmother, who stood about two yards beside me. She wore a blue nylon robe and cautioned me to only view her in the mirror—I was NOT to turn and look at her directly.
She was ill, she explained, and would die soon. She firmly insisted that I was not to be sad or upset, but expressed concern that my grandfather would not handle the loss well.
The next morning I related the dream to others at our bus stop.
Not long after we were informed that Gram had cancer and would not last long. I did not share the dream with my father until after her funeral.
I recently learned that my cousin, a month younger than myself, experienced exactly the same dream at about the same time. Clearly Gram had been trying her best to take care of her family.
posted by kinnakeet at 8:16 AM on August 19 [10 favorites]
My father’s mother was a strong, quiet woman who gave a spine to a somewhat bitter (he had lost four sons) and cranky husband. A former nurse, she did not complain, ever.
After a visit from these grandparents—they lived 300 miles away—I had a vivid dream. I stood in a clean, bright room with tiled walls and a mirror running along one at chest height, and reflected before me in the mirror was my grandmother, who stood about two yards beside me. She wore a blue nylon robe and cautioned me to only view her in the mirror—I was NOT to turn and look at her directly.
She was ill, she explained, and would die soon. She firmly insisted that I was not to be sad or upset, but expressed concern that my grandfather would not handle the loss well.
The next morning I related the dream to others at our bus stop.
Not long after we were informed that Gram had cancer and would not last long. I did not share the dream with my father until after her funeral.
I recently learned that my cousin, a month younger than myself, experienced exactly the same dream at about the same time. Clearly Gram had been trying her best to take care of her family.
posted by kinnakeet at 8:16 AM on August 19 [10 favorites]
My family thinks that I have a sort of uncanny thing about knowing how situations will shake out. It most often comes up with health stuff; fr ex in one instance a family member got a terrifying diagnosis with a very dodgy survival chance. At the hospital, my mother asked me how I could be so calm and I was like, "but he's going to be fine? It'll be a shitty two months but he'll be fine." And that proved to be exactly the case. Another family member got a relatively no-big-deal diagnosis, and I for no specific reason -at the time- burst into inconsolable tears and was generally just thrown right into grief. Sure enough the diagnosis was incorrect, the real one was terminal cancer, and they died shortly afterwards.
But it also happens with happier stuff! I knew what house we were going to buy the minute I looked at the Zillow listing. There are like 6000 things that can go wrong between seeing a listing and buying a house but at no time did I actually think any of them would happen.
I don't necessarily think this is spooky-ooky. There could have been a bunch of subconscious cues from doctors that tipped me off to the first situation, and the second, well, maybe it just seemed obvious to me that the person was super sick. And I'm sure if the house hadn't worked out I'd think nothing of it. But these days when I get that deep, certain feeling about something I tend to pay attention.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 8:19 AM on August 19 [3 favorites]
But it also happens with happier stuff! I knew what house we were going to buy the minute I looked at the Zillow listing. There are like 6000 things that can go wrong between seeing a listing and buying a house but at no time did I actually think any of them would happen.
I don't necessarily think this is spooky-ooky. There could have been a bunch of subconscious cues from doctors that tipped me off to the first situation, and the second, well, maybe it just seemed obvious to me that the person was super sick. And I'm sure if the house hadn't worked out I'd think nothing of it. But these days when I get that deep, certain feeling about something I tend to pay attention.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 8:19 AM on August 19 [3 favorites]
I retract my earlier amp nickname suggestion, as I misread the date as the number of years. Cicadas famously have a 17-year life cycle as it is a prime number which baffles the predators which can't match up with their lowly even number cycles. My apologies to any amps killed by predators as a result of my error.
posted by fairmettle at 8:31 AM on August 19 [6 favorites]
posted by fairmettle at 8:31 AM on August 19 [6 favorites]
When I was about 12, I was talking with my friend on the phone (remember talking on the phone?). It was a wholly unremarkable conversation, and would be forgotten even to me if the strangest thing hadn't occurred. My friend had an older brother who had a car, and he had had car problems, and said to me in an awed voice, "...and do you know how much it'll cost him to fix??"
I did know. I don't know how I knew, but I knew it was exactly $87 (or whatever it was). My friend said, "How did you know that?" I said "I don't know." So that was weird.
posted by zardoz at 9:15 AM on August 19 [3 favorites]
I did know. I don't know how I knew, but I knew it was exactly $87 (or whatever it was). My friend said, "How did you know that?" I said "I don't know." So that was weird.
posted by zardoz at 9:15 AM on August 19 [3 favorites]
Did someone say plate of shrimp?
posted by hairless ape at 9:17 AM on August 19 [6 favorites]
posted by hairless ape at 9:17 AM on August 19 [6 favorites]
When Barnes and Noble and Borders were new in the Chicago suburbs with their "fancy" cafes, I went with a friend to browse the books and have a hot chocolate. As I started drinking the hot chocolate I noticed a strange, subtle, slightly familiar taste to it that I couldn't quite place. It was familiar but I couldn't figure it out. As I drank down my cup I was getting more and more worried. It didn't taste "bad", but it was definitely a little bit off and I *knew* the taste was familiar.
Finally I finished it and put down my cup, having obsessed about it the whole time. My friend asked me how the hot chocolate was and I said "It was ok, but it had a strange taste..." and she said "caramel". I knew instantly that she was right, and it was as if she had read my mind, knew what I was tasting and identified it. You could have knocked me over with a feather.
Well, it turns out she had seen the barista put the caramel syrup in my hot chocolate. I had never had a fancy hot chocolate like that before and didn't even ever consider that such a thing was a possibility.
posted by Reverend John at 9:27 AM on August 19 [3 favorites]
Finally I finished it and put down my cup, having obsessed about it the whole time. My friend asked me how the hot chocolate was and I said "It was ok, but it had a strange taste..." and she said "caramel". I knew instantly that she was right, and it was as if she had read my mind, knew what I was tasting and identified it. You could have knocked me over with a feather.
Well, it turns out she had seen the barista put the caramel syrup in my hot chocolate. I had never had a fancy hot chocolate like that before and didn't even ever consider that such a thing was a possibility.
posted by Reverend John at 9:27 AM on August 19 [3 favorites]
I've been having Weird Shit Happen To Me since age 11, when my grandmother's ghost attended her memorial, and my mother and my aunt (a no-nonsense person and one you would not expect) also noticed it. I feel like I got Chosen For The Weird after that, and periodically I have random stuff happen, like getting poked or touched by something invisible, seeing something literally disappear in front of my face in an empty area (ever lose a key in an empty hallway?!) having a premonition come true occasionally. Sometimes I've had eyewitnesses to the craziness happening, so I knew I wasn't out of my mind about it either. And I had St. Anthony and St. Expedite come through for me BIG TIME on the job front in both finding a job and actually getting in to start it before budget cuts and hiring freezes, and praying to St. Jude about the election had a huge sea change happen within a week. I don't even like Catholicism, but saints Get Shit Done, man. There are more things in heaven and earth, indeed.
I tend to refer to this sort of a thing like a club, like the "Weird Things Happen To Me Club,"* and if you've never experienced that stuff, then of course you wouldn't believe me, of course you think I'm nuts. I don't even bother trying to talk to those people about it, it's not worth the fight. (And presumably that's why people tend to lose it on this topic on MeFi, so I'm impressed so far that hasn't happened, knock wood.)
* I still think there should be perhaps T-shirts or subtle "WTH" pins.
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:28 AM on August 19 [4 favorites]
I tend to refer to this sort of a thing like a club, like the "Weird Things Happen To Me Club,"* and if you've never experienced that stuff, then of course you wouldn't believe me, of course you think I'm nuts. I don't even bother trying to talk to those people about it, it's not worth the fight. (And presumably that's why people tend to lose it on this topic on MeFi, so I'm impressed so far that hasn't happened, knock wood.)
* I still think there should be perhaps T-shirts or subtle "WTH" pins.
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:28 AM on August 19 [4 favorites]
I have had a few experiences which, while not truly inexplicable were very surreal. Dreaming about someone before I met them in one case, including details I didn't learn about until years after I met them. (Of course memory is malleable and memories of dreams even more so, and you can't really go back and confirm the details after the fact.)
The one that sticks with me most: I uses to drive a Plymouth Valiant. It was a barely functional rust bucket that ate alternators, and the doors would occasionally just come unlatched while I was driving, but it was my first car and I loved it. But I had never had any trouble out of the brakes.
One day I was driving and teached the top of a hill when I "heard" a voice in my head "say" "you better check your brakes" . I didn't even think about it, I just stepped on the brake and nothing happened. I stepped harder on the brake, and still nothing, as I went down the hill I was literally standing on the brake, and the car very slightly slowed.
I stopped literally inches, less than a hands breadth, from a car stoppes at a red light at the bottom of the hill. I caught my breath and looked up.
The car ahead of me was a hatchback. There were two very small kids playing unsecured in the hatch. If I had tried to stop where I normally would have stopped, the momentum of the Plymouth would have annihilated that car, and those kids would have been dead.
At the time I tried to think of any subconscious cue I might have been responding to, but I couldn't come up with anything. I had just joined the Church a few months before, and in the years since then I have had enough experiences of the numinous experiences that I no longer feel a need to have a definitive explanation for why that happened. I am just very, very grateful it did.
posted by pattern juggler at 9:46 AM on August 19 [5 favorites]
The one that sticks with me most: I uses to drive a Plymouth Valiant. It was a barely functional rust bucket that ate alternators, and the doors would occasionally just come unlatched while I was driving, but it was my first car and I loved it. But I had never had any trouble out of the brakes.
One day I was driving and teached the top of a hill when I "heard" a voice in my head "say" "you better check your brakes" . I didn't even think about it, I just stepped on the brake and nothing happened. I stepped harder on the brake, and still nothing, as I went down the hill I was literally standing on the brake, and the car very slightly slowed.
I stopped literally inches, less than a hands breadth, from a car stoppes at a red light at the bottom of the hill. I caught my breath and looked up.
The car ahead of me was a hatchback. There were two very small kids playing unsecured in the hatch. If I had tried to stop where I normally would have stopped, the momentum of the Plymouth would have annihilated that car, and those kids would have been dead.
At the time I tried to think of any subconscious cue I might have been responding to, but I couldn't come up with anything. I had just joined the Church a few months before, and in the years since then I have had enough experiences of the numinous experiences that I no longer feel a need to have a definitive explanation for why that happened. I am just very, very grateful it did.
posted by pattern juggler at 9:46 AM on August 19 [5 favorites]
Oh, another time I was walking with my dog, Harry. I was several blocks from home. Harry was walking a few paces behind me when he said "By the way, John, have I ever mentioned that I'm a talking dog?". So I stopped and looked at Harry. Then I looked around me for who said that. There was no one. I looked at the house that I was walking by to see if someone from the house had said it. No one was in any of the windows or doors or anywhere in the yard that I could see. Also I didn't know the people who lived there or anyone in that neighborhood. So I looked at Harry wondering if I should consider what he said to be true.
At this point my brother-in-law stepped out from behind a large evergreen tree in the yard. He had been driving by on the street, seen me, then driven around the block to park his car and hide behind the tree until I walked by.
posted by Reverend John at 9:49 AM on August 19 [17 favorites]
At this point my brother-in-law stepped out from behind a large evergreen tree in the yard. He had been driving by on the street, seen me, then driven around the block to park his car and hide behind the tree until I walked by.
posted by Reverend John at 9:49 AM on August 19 [17 favorites]
Mine is relatively minor, but here goes...
In the late 90s I'd been dating a woman for a few weeks when I told her that I felt some sort of connection with her that I'd never felt with any other person - and that, as a pragmatic die-hard atheist, I just could not explain. After a couple months she broke it off and moved on, which didn't surprise me since she'd made it clear up front that she wasn't interested in a long-term relationship, and we parted amicably. A few months after that we reconnected, I forget how/why, and ended up becoming platonic friends - which I was fine with because in hindsight I saw that we really weren't suited for each other as romantic partners.
But I found that I still felt that connection with her. 25 years later we're still best friends, I still feel that connection, and I still can't explain it. Somehow she's "family" in a way that almost nobody else in my life has been.
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:05 AM on August 19 [5 favorites]
In the late 90s I'd been dating a woman for a few weeks when I told her that I felt some sort of connection with her that I'd never felt with any other person - and that, as a pragmatic die-hard atheist, I just could not explain. After a couple months she broke it off and moved on, which didn't surprise me since she'd made it clear up front that she wasn't interested in a long-term relationship, and we parted amicably. A few months after that we reconnected, I forget how/why, and ended up becoming platonic friends - which I was fine with because in hindsight I saw that we really weren't suited for each other as romantic partners.
But I found that I still felt that connection with her. 25 years later we're still best friends, I still feel that connection, and I still can't explain it. Somehow she's "family" in a way that almost nobody else in my life has been.
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:05 AM on August 19 [5 favorites]
Here's Harry! (sorry about the low quality picture of a picture)
posted by Reverend John at 10:09 AM on August 19 [8 favorites]
posted by Reverend John at 10:09 AM on August 19 [8 favorites]
When I was in elementary school, I went on a school field trip to a theme park. I was in a pool and did not know how to swim at the time. The water was up to my neck, so I spent the whole time clinging onto the sides. Eventually, I thought I would dunk my head under water to see what it was like. It felt safe enough since I was hanging onto the ledge.
Then... I was not in the pool. I no longer felt water around me. I could breath normally. My eyes were open. Everything was black. I was extremely confused, but not panicked or afraid. Before I could fully react, a voice who I knew to be Jesus whispered in my ear: "Breathe." How did I know the voice was Jesus? Why? I don't have an answer for that. I did not grow up in a religious family and wasn't sure I even believed in God then. Then I came up from the water and was back in the pool like normal. I didn't swallow or choke on any water. I remember feeling surprisingly calm given what just transpired. It remains the weirdest thing that has ever happened to me.
posted by joeyjoejoejr at 10:09 AM on August 19 [4 favorites]
Then... I was not in the pool. I no longer felt water around me. I could breath normally. My eyes were open. Everything was black. I was extremely confused, but not panicked or afraid. Before I could fully react, a voice who I knew to be Jesus whispered in my ear: "Breathe." How did I know the voice was Jesus? Why? I don't have an answer for that. I did not grow up in a religious family and wasn't sure I even believed in God then. Then I came up from the water and was back in the pool like normal. I didn't swallow or choke on any water. I remember feeling surprisingly calm given what just transpired. It remains the weirdest thing that has ever happened to me.
posted by joeyjoejoejr at 10:09 AM on August 19 [4 favorites]
This is, I think, the opposite of precognition.
My Mom called me Saturday evening and said “I’ve got some bad news.” Last time she called me and said that it was because my father had died. However this time she didn’t sound nearly as upset and since we were planning on a visit on Sunday I assumed the bad news was she couldn’t make it so I jokingly said “Oh, who died this time?”
A brief pause and then, “Well technically she’s not dead yet but on life support.”
My dear aunt is expected to pass in the next few days. Due to family drama we haven’t been close, but she was wonderful when I was a kid. I’m glad her kids are able to say goodbye and I hope she’s at peace.
I will no longer be making “Who died?” jokes on the phone anymore.
posted by lepus at 10:16 AM on August 19 [7 favorites]
My Mom called me Saturday evening and said “I’ve got some bad news.” Last time she called me and said that it was because my father had died. However this time she didn’t sound nearly as upset and since we were planning on a visit on Sunday I assumed the bad news was she couldn’t make it so I jokingly said “Oh, who died this time?”
A brief pause and then, “Well technically she’s not dead yet but on life support.”
My dear aunt is expected to pass in the next few days. Due to family drama we haven’t been close, but she was wonderful when I was a kid. I’m glad her kids are able to say goodbye and I hope she’s at peace.
I will no longer be making “Who died?” jokes on the phone anymore.
posted by lepus at 10:16 AM on August 19 [7 favorites]
For most of my life, I have been a rational materialist, kindly but firmly dismissing belief in gods and ghosts alike.
On the morning of the presidential debate between Bush and Gore in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, I had a vision of a friend of mine from high school, Natalie, in my dorm single. It was a very realistic, lifelike vision. I could not understand the expression on her face, and when I realized she was intertwined with the ladder to my bunk in a way that would be impossible, she disappeared. I didn’t think often of this friend, so it was a surprise to me that my brain would conjure her up so vividly.
Turns out she had died only a few hours before in a car accident 90 miles away.
A few years ago I reconnected with her best friend, a new age hippyish woman, and shared my story with her. Amber replied that Natalie had never appeared to her, but had malevolently appeared to Amber’s shitty boyfriend around that time and contributed to a welcome breakup soon after. So it wasn’t just me that was visited by Natalie’s ghost.
In my yearlong methamphetamine psychosis I never saw any gods personally, but many, many irrational occurrences were visited upon me that I could not explain, even taking into account the fact that I was certainly suffering from delusions and hallucinations. Twelve-step programs recommend acknowledging that there are higher powers than oneself. Very few of the higher powers who might have touched my life during that time seemed benevolent; most were indifferent at best and cacklingly cruel at worst. Imagine living in Ted Chiang’s short story “Hell is the Absence of God,” but no one else acknowledges it. That’s the best shorthand I have to describe it.
posted by infinitewindow at 10:24 AM on August 19 [4 favorites]
On the morning of the presidential debate between Bush and Gore in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, I had a vision of a friend of mine from high school, Natalie, in my dorm single. It was a very realistic, lifelike vision. I could not understand the expression on her face, and when I realized she was intertwined with the ladder to my bunk in a way that would be impossible, she disappeared. I didn’t think often of this friend, so it was a surprise to me that my brain would conjure her up so vividly.
Turns out she had died only a few hours before in a car accident 90 miles away.
A few years ago I reconnected with her best friend, a new age hippyish woman, and shared my story with her. Amber replied that Natalie had never appeared to her, but had malevolently appeared to Amber’s shitty boyfriend around that time and contributed to a welcome breakup soon after. So it wasn’t just me that was visited by Natalie’s ghost.
In my yearlong methamphetamine psychosis I never saw any gods personally, but many, many irrational occurrences were visited upon me that I could not explain, even taking into account the fact that I was certainly suffering from delusions and hallucinations. Twelve-step programs recommend acknowledging that there are higher powers than oneself. Very few of the higher powers who might have touched my life during that time seemed benevolent; most were indifferent at best and cacklingly cruel at worst. Imagine living in Ted Chiang’s short story “Hell is the Absence of God,” but no one else acknowledges it. That’s the best shorthand I have to describe it.
posted by infinitewindow at 10:24 AM on August 19 [4 favorites]
I only have one really weird thing.
So when I was like 14-15 or so, was spending time at a friends house as my folks were out of town. We went to the local Prairie Village pool. I tripped on the high dive, hit my head on the board, and plopped into the water.
Remember the lifeguards asking me questions after they got me out, "who are your parents" type stuff. Don't remember the ambulance ride to the hospital. So I did have a fractured skull, probably pretty concussed. But I do remember being in the OR. I do remember looking down on myself from above, and seeing the doctors putting a green foam pad with 4 electrode attachments on it, (have always assumed it was an EKG thing). Did stop breathing in the OR, and then remember waking up in recovery.
So I am in a room with another kid. Docs come in to check him out. Sit him up and are doing the stethoscope thing on his back. And what do I see on his back? Four little circular marks on his back, where the electrode things were that I saw in the OR being put on my back. Never knew such a thing existed, and have no way or rationally explaining how I could have seen what I saw...
posted by Windopaene at 10:28 AM on August 19 [6 favorites]
So when I was like 14-15 or so, was spending time at a friends house as my folks were out of town. We went to the local Prairie Village pool. I tripped on the high dive, hit my head on the board, and plopped into the water.
Remember the lifeguards asking me questions after they got me out, "who are your parents" type stuff. Don't remember the ambulance ride to the hospital. So I did have a fractured skull, probably pretty concussed. But I do remember being in the OR. I do remember looking down on myself from above, and seeing the doctors putting a green foam pad with 4 electrode attachments on it, (have always assumed it was an EKG thing). Did stop breathing in the OR, and then remember waking up in recovery.
So I am in a room with another kid. Docs come in to check him out. Sit him up and are doing the stethoscope thing on his back. And what do I see on his back? Four little circular marks on his back, where the electrode things were that I saw in the OR being put on my back. Never knew such a thing existed, and have no way or rationally explaining how I could have seen what I saw...
posted by Windopaene at 10:28 AM on August 19 [6 favorites]
Another family member got a relatively no-big-deal diagnosis, and I for no specific reason -at the time- burst into inconsolable tears and was generally just thrown right into grief. Sure enough the diagnosis was incorrect, the real one was terminal cancer, and they died shortly afterwards.
OK honestly it's been a super long time since I thought about this and now, from my rather older perspective, I am pretty sure the reason I knew the diagnosis was wrong was that he was lying to me (as in, he already knew the true diagnosis and just was telling us the gentler one) and while I probably am not psychic I'm not terrible at sniffing out a liar.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 10:34 AM on August 19 [4 favorites]
OK honestly it's been a super long time since I thought about this and now, from my rather older perspective, I am pretty sure the reason I knew the diagnosis was wrong was that he was lying to me (as in, he already knew the true diagnosis and just was telling us the gentler one) and while I probably am not psychic I'm not terrible at sniffing out a liar.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 10:34 AM on August 19 [4 favorites]
Once, my closest friend since we were 15 assaulted me at a drunken party, while his wife was sleeping in the next room. That became the end of our friendship, but apart from my therapist, I have never told anyone why. I'll bet he didn't either.
Then many, many years later, I was walking my dog near the factory where he worked, and on an impulse I went over and knocked on the door. The door person said he had left for holidays the day before, and I decided to contact him when he came back.
Later, it turned out he had died from a heart attack at that exact moment, in the ocean. I have always taken it as him saying goodbye.
posted by mumimor at 10:42 AM on August 19 [3 favorites]
Then many, many years later, I was walking my dog near the factory where he worked, and on an impulse I went over and knocked on the door. The door person said he had left for holidays the day before, and I decided to contact him when he came back.
Later, it turned out he had died from a heart attack at that exact moment, in the ocean. I have always taken it as him saying goodbye.
posted by mumimor at 10:42 AM on August 19 [3 favorites]
butts.
posted by bombastic lowercase pronouncements at 10:43 AM on August 19 [4 favorites]
posted by bombastic lowercase pronouncements at 10:43 AM on August 19 [4 favorites]
I used haunted to describe a lot of things. I don’t necessarily believe in ghosts in the literal sense, but very much so in the poetic sense. Like when I’m just about to fall asleep and get an auditory hallucination of my own voice calling to me from the woods. I know it’s just my sleepy brain playing tricks, but it still freaks me out. Might as well enjoy the creepy feeling by leaning into the ghost story rather than just being spooked by my own glitchy brain.
We endeavoured to capture some feral kittens last week but the traps only caught annoyed squirrels and birds which were released without a fuss. So we’ve given up. Apparently there was a dog roaming, and construction in the back lot, so I imagine the kittens decided the best course of action was to leave. No cat distribution system for us.
posted by eekernohan at 10:51 AM on August 19 [4 favorites]
We endeavoured to capture some feral kittens last week but the traps only caught annoyed squirrels and birds which were released without a fuss. So we’ve given up. Apparently there was a dog roaming, and construction in the back lot, so I imagine the kittens decided the best course of action was to leave. No cat distribution system for us.
posted by eekernohan at 10:51 AM on August 19 [4 favorites]
I'm quite curious about how much exposure people who tend to read significance into weird experiences have had to psychedelics and/or psychosis.
I've had fair amounts of the former and one fairly brief but profound bout with the latter, and my takeaway from all of that is wonder at just how well the human brain's reality modeller works most of the time.
This makes it very easy to take the occasional coherence failure or spontaneous internal special effect in stride. It's also left me much less inclined to get dogmatic about what other people can or cannot possibly have experienced.
posted by flabdablet at 10:52 AM on August 19 [4 favorites]
I've had fair amounts of the former and one fairly brief but profound bout with the latter, and my takeaway from all of that is wonder at just how well the human brain's reality modeller works most of the time.
This makes it very easy to take the occasional coherence failure or spontaneous internal special effect in stride. It's also left me much less inclined to get dogmatic about what other people can or cannot possibly have experienced.
posted by flabdablet at 10:52 AM on August 19 [4 favorites]
When I was around 10 years old, my mom's best friend from Georgia stayed with us. I slept on the couch while she got my room. On the day she flew out, I moved back into my bedroom. I couldn't sleep that night because in the dark, a woman was in the bed with me. Not moving, not acknowledging me, just there. I lay there stiff as a board until morning, until I got up for school. Obviously in the light of day no one was there, and I just got on with it.
When I got home from school that afternoon, my mom sat me down and explained that LeAnn had died the night before driving home from the airport.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 10:52 AM on August 19 [4 favorites]
When I got home from school that afternoon, my mom sat me down and explained that LeAnn had died the night before driving home from the airport.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 10:52 AM on August 19 [4 favorites]
Death related--
I heard my maternal Grandma's voice say "soon", two days before her youngest passed away.
I used to hear the names of the winners of awards shows a second before they were announced. That went away before I was 10.
I also knew The Late Mr. Nerd was gone about 16 hours before I got confirmation. Just a Song Before I Go was the first thing that played when I shuffled his iTunes while waiting for him to come back.
posted by luckynerd at 11:03 AM on August 19 [5 favorites]
I heard my maternal Grandma's voice say "soon", two days before her youngest passed away.
I used to hear the names of the winners of awards shows a second before they were announced. That went away before I was 10.
I also knew The Late Mr. Nerd was gone about 16 hours before I got confirmation. Just a Song Before I Go was the first thing that played when I shuffled his iTunes while waiting for him to come back.
posted by luckynerd at 11:03 AM on August 19 [5 favorites]
My parents always had a lot of weird coincidence stories related to people dying — a bell rang all on its own, an orchid that hadn't bloomed yet suddenly did. Nurses pronounced my mom dead at 4:32 pm, in room 432. Obviously a minute or more passed between when she stopped breathing, the nurses my dad went to fetch came into the room, and they got through all their poking and prodding to confirm things, but 4:32 in #432, almost like she planned it.
posted by emelenjr at 11:07 AM on August 19 [2 favorites]
posted by emelenjr at 11:07 AM on August 19 [2 favorites]
I just went over to apple podcasts on my desktop, and now you have to create an apple account and sign in, just to listen to a podcast in a browser.
So ... y'know, goodbye apple podcasts. Do they think I can't get this shit somewhere else?
posted by adept256 at 11:08 AM on August 19 [5 favorites]
So ... y'know, goodbye apple podcasts. Do they think I can't get this shit somewhere else?
posted by adept256 at 11:08 AM on August 19 [5 favorites]
I'm going in and out of the house in the hope of seeing the moon rise. But unfortunately there are some low-hanging clouds right now. Last night I couldn't sleep, but later in the night I can only just see it through some tall pine trees. It would be best now, or within this hour. Hope is blue, tonight.
posted by mumimor at 11:49 AM on August 19 [3 favorites]
posted by mumimor at 11:49 AM on August 19 [3 favorites]
I've become more skeptical as I've grown older. I do have a few strange experiences though.
One was with a guy I used to work with. He was remarkably intuitive, the kind of person who "got" people more than usual. I left that job and wasn't in contact with him for a few months. Then one day I was busy drawing something, and suddenly thought "Hmm. What was my work laptop's lock combination again?" for no reason, I didn't have the laptop or the lock any more, and nothing I was doing had prompted that thought.
I got up and checked my records. As I was doing this my phone rang and it was my colleague, frustrated because he needed to find the code for that laptop's lock.
I also once got a strong urge to phone a friend who lives in another city who I'd not spoken to for a while. Just randomly in the middle of the day. I phoned and it turns out she was contemplating killing herself, and it was a good thing I phoned just then.
posted by Zumbador at 11:57 AM on August 19 [11 favorites]
One was with a guy I used to work with. He was remarkably intuitive, the kind of person who "got" people more than usual. I left that job and wasn't in contact with him for a few months. Then one day I was busy drawing something, and suddenly thought "Hmm. What was my work laptop's lock combination again?" for no reason, I didn't have the laptop or the lock any more, and nothing I was doing had prompted that thought.
I got up and checked my records. As I was doing this my phone rang and it was my colleague, frustrated because he needed to find the code for that laptop's lock.
I also once got a strong urge to phone a friend who lives in another city who I'd not spoken to for a while. Just randomly in the middle of the day. I phoned and it turns out she was contemplating killing herself, and it was a good thing I phoned just then.
posted by Zumbador at 11:57 AM on August 19 [11 favorites]
I just remembered something else that I'm sure has a mundane cause but is amusing anyway:
In one house I rented, the built-in doorbell didn't work so we got a stick-on button for the front door that was linked (by radio signal, I think) to a bell unit that you plugged into an electrical socket in the house. It worked fine, but every once in a while the bell unit - due I'm sure to some random radio signal interference - would emit a single "dong" without the usual preceding "ding". The first couple of times my housemate or I double-checked to make sure the button hadn't malfunctioned and someone was actually at the front door (there wasn't), but after that we decided to call it George the Very Selective Poltergeist just for fun.
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:06 PM on August 19 [7 favorites]
In one house I rented, the built-in doorbell didn't work so we got a stick-on button for the front door that was linked (by radio signal, I think) to a bell unit that you plugged into an electrical socket in the house. It worked fine, but every once in a while the bell unit - due I'm sure to some random radio signal interference - would emit a single "dong" without the usual preceding "ding". The first couple of times my housemate or I double-checked to make sure the button hadn't malfunctioned and someone was actually at the front door (there wasn't), but after that we decided to call it George the Very Selective Poltergeist just for fun.
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:06 PM on August 19 [7 favorites]
I like supernatural butts and I will elucidate why
posted by kirkaracha at 12:07 PM on August 19 [13 favorites]
posted by kirkaracha at 12:07 PM on August 19 [13 favorites]
it was a good thing I phoned just then
I used to beat myself up all the time for being a slackarse prick who was always late for everything, but honestly the longer I've lived, the more times I've been struck by the fact of running late having put me in exactly the right place at exactly the right time to do exactly the right thing about something completely unrelated to whatever it was I was late for. So although I've got better at not being late as I've got older, I've also stopped feeling guilty about it when it does happen.
I figure it's all of a piece with whatever it is that has me almost always getting a street park right where I'm driving to, regardless of how crowded the street is at the time. My passengers don't believe me when I tell them I phoned ahead for that parking spot, as of course they shouldn't because that's obviously bullshit, but it works so reliably that it might as well not be.
Also lost count of the number of times I've been able to resolve somebody's intractable technical issue just by standing next to them and giving the machine involved a good hard stare. Ms flabdablet calls this the "it always works for Stephen effect". It's fun, but also kind of a pain in the arse when it comes to reproducing a problem in order to fix it properly.
posted by flabdablet at 12:26 PM on August 19 [5 favorites]
I used to beat myself up all the time for being a slackarse prick who was always late for everything, but honestly the longer I've lived, the more times I've been struck by the fact of running late having put me in exactly the right place at exactly the right time to do exactly the right thing about something completely unrelated to whatever it was I was late for. So although I've got better at not being late as I've got older, I've also stopped feeling guilty about it when it does happen.
I figure it's all of a piece with whatever it is that has me almost always getting a street park right where I'm driving to, regardless of how crowded the street is at the time. My passengers don't believe me when I tell them I phoned ahead for that parking spot, as of course they shouldn't because that's obviously bullshit, but it works so reliably that it might as well not be.
Also lost count of the number of times I've been able to resolve somebody's intractable technical issue just by standing next to them and giving the machine involved a good hard stare. Ms flabdablet calls this the "it always works for Stephen effect". It's fun, but also kind of a pain in the arse when it comes to reproducing a problem in order to fix it properly.
posted by flabdablet at 12:26 PM on August 19 [5 favorites]
I was working late one night, which I used to do a lot. It was around 2:00am and I was downtown at my business doing paperwork, thinking about the old days back in college. The phone started ringing. Now, you never answer a late night phone call to a closed business, it's just asking for trouble. But something told me to answer. Calling me was a friend from college who I had not seen in over ten years, and who lived half a continent away. I was flabbergasted. "I was just thinking about the old days," she said. "Yeah, me too!" I said, "but it's two in the morning. What made you call me at two in the morning at my place of work, of all places? How do you even know where I work?" She didn't have a real good answer (note: this was before cell phones or the internet), but we stayed in touch for a few years after that. Strangely, she always knew when I was going to call her, and I always knew when she was going to call me.
posted by jabah at 12:37 PM on August 19 [6 favorites]
posted by jabah at 12:37 PM on August 19 [6 favorites]
almost always getting a street park right where I'm driving to
My family always referred to that as our "parking car-ma".
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:54 PM on August 19 [3 favorites]
My family always referred to that as our "parking car-ma".
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:54 PM on August 19 [3 favorites]
technical question.
two or three days ago, I hit my metafilter button and it went to a page that was blue with just a few words like "metafilter' a big <>
posted by clavdivs at 12:59 PM on August 19
two or three days ago, I hit my metafilter button and it went to a page that was blue with just a few words like "metafilter' a big <>
posted by clavdivs at 12:59 PM on August 19
Yeah. Seen a few weird things over the years. Some of them I was pretty sure didn't have a current explanation but others were much harder to decide. Doesn't matter (to me).
One of the seems-hard-to-explain things happened a long time ago when Scientology/Dianetics opened a center in town. They had short "courses" to explain things. I tried one*.
One of the "exercises" was standing in pairs, looking at each other's eyes for something I can't remember now. Instead what I remember was "seeing" something there and "reaching out" and "relaxing" it.
The guy then started struggling with keeping his eyes open. Finally apologized and said he didn't want to go further.
No idea what happened. Never tried to repeat it.
[*I eventually asked for my guaranteed refund towards the end because they kept stating facts from "studies" for proving different things but would never tell me where to find the "studies". They insisted I sign a "I do not believe in this stuff" type thing before they did refund it and seemed to be surprised that I would.]
posted by aleph at 1:24 PM on August 19 [3 favorites]
One of the seems-hard-to-explain things happened a long time ago when Scientology/Dianetics opened a center in town. They had short "courses" to explain things. I tried one*.
One of the "exercises" was standing in pairs, looking at each other's eyes for something I can't remember now. Instead what I remember was "seeing" something there and "reaching out" and "relaxing" it.
The guy then started struggling with keeping his eyes open. Finally apologized and said he didn't want to go further.
No idea what happened. Never tried to repeat it.
[*I eventually asked for my guaranteed refund towards the end because they kept stating facts from "studies" for proving different things but would never tell me where to find the "studies". They insisted I sign a "I do not believe in this stuff" type thing before they did refund it and seemed to be surprised that I would.]
posted by aleph at 1:24 PM on August 19 [3 favorites]
When I was a teenage juvenile delinquent, I used to hang out in the park with my friends. We used to play a game. I don't think we had a name for the game, and I don't know how we came up with it. The game requires 6 or 7 or more players. You choose one person to be the Centre. They step away far enough away that they can't hear everyone else. Everyone Else chooses a target, and then stands in a circle. The Centre comes back and stands in the centre of the circle. Everyone Else rests their fingers on the Centre's shoulders and silently thinks about the Target. It might take as little as a few seconds or maybe as long as five minutes, but every time we tried it, the Centre always collapsed onto the Target. I don't really have a good explanation about why or how this game worked.
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 1:49 PM on August 19 [5 favorites]
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 1:49 PM on August 19 [5 favorites]
The moon is up over the clouds, and it is amazing, huge and pink. I even got some OK pictures, given that I used my phone to take them.
I feel lucky. It's a really quiet night, often it's so windy here, most people liken it to a storm (it's not), and the trees would be swaying and there would be noise. But now it looks like a romantic painting.
posted by mumimor at 1:55 PM on August 19 [7 favorites]
I feel lucky. It's a really quiet night, often it's so windy here, most people liken it to a storm (it's not), and the trees would be swaying and there would be noise. But now it looks like a romantic painting.
posted by mumimor at 1:55 PM on August 19 [7 favorites]
I envy you all. No 6th sense (I might have the opposite), no prescient dreams, no ghosts, no aliens. I want to believe.
posted by The_Vegetables at 2:07 PM on August 19 [3 favorites]
posted by The_Vegetables at 2:07 PM on August 19 [3 favorites]
Eh. Things happen and we go on. Belief doesn't seem to enter in to it. It'd be nice if they stuck around to explain but they don't seem to. Left with mostly, wtf? Not belief. Though I should say several stories had real belief with them.
posted by aleph at 3:03 PM on August 19 [1 favorite]
posted by aleph at 3:03 PM on August 19 [1 favorite]
Years ago I was telling my partner over morning coffee about a weird dream I just had. I was in a flying car with my father who had died 25 years before, and with my business partner's husband, who'd been airlifted to the hospital with severe anaphylactic shock from hornets stings the week before.
The car wasn’t actually flying, it was driving on transparent roadways you could only see from occasional sun-glint, and when I looked out the window down at the big city we were over, I saw six buildings on fire, so I picked up the phone on a wall of the car to call 911, but I couldn’t get through and as I watched the top popped off one of the buildings and a huge shower of sparks came out, then the top of another building popped off with more sparks, so I hung up with the thought that it was too late anyway.
My partner kind of shrugged, and then said 'hey your message light is blinking' on the phone which was right behind me on the wall. I played the message on speaker, and it was her business partner who didn’t identify herself but said in a sepulcheral tone "we have been terrorized" and hung up.
So I turned on the TV and it was the morning of 9/11.
posted by jamjam at 3:06 PM on August 19 [7 favorites]
The car wasn’t actually flying, it was driving on transparent roadways you could only see from occasional sun-glint, and when I looked out the window down at the big city we were over, I saw six buildings on fire, so I picked up the phone on a wall of the car to call 911, but I couldn’t get through and as I watched the top popped off one of the buildings and a huge shower of sparks came out, then the top of another building popped off with more sparks, so I hung up with the thought that it was too late anyway.
My partner kind of shrugged, and then said 'hey your message light is blinking' on the phone which was right behind me on the wall. I played the message on speaker, and it was her business partner who didn’t identify herself but said in a sepulcheral tone "we have been terrorized" and hung up.
So I turned on the TV and it was the morning of 9/11.
posted by jamjam at 3:06 PM on August 19 [7 favorites]
I like to think our house has a friendly ghost, but if so, I am oblivious to their hauntings. I hope that is not too frustrating for them.
posted by the primroses were over at 3:15 PM on August 19 [3 favorites]
posted by the primroses were over at 3:15 PM on August 19 [3 favorites]
I've shared this story here before so I'd hate to bore anyone by sharing it again but in the "spirit" of the thread, here goes.
When I was in college, three of my friends and I rented one of the apartments in a large house directly across from campus. Our first night there, barely unpacked and after too much wine, I crawled up the stairs, slipped onto my bare mattress under a flat sheet, and I quickly fell asleep from exhaustion, but slept restlessly in the hot August night. I had a really odd but originally sweet dream about a little boy I met in the middle of a field of Queen Anne's Lace. He was so energetic and curious, studying every bird in the trees and the leaf of every plant. He took my hand and led me to a church and took me up the stairs to a choir loft. There he told me that this was where he died. What? ... Who?
He told me that there was a mean priest at the church who hurt all the choir boys, and when he threatened to tell his mom the priest pushed him off that choir loft. Then suddenly the loft collapsed, sending me and the boy crashing into the pews below.
It felt like I had slammed into the bed when I was jolted awake. Shit. Heart beating like a winded beagle. Weird. First night, too. Not a good sign. I went downstairs for coffee and told my roommates about this odd dream I'd just had.
A couple of weeks later we were invited to a party a couple of houses down. Some locals were throwing it. Ex-students who apparently never mustered the inertia to move away and then blinked and had spent most of their adult life there. It was a bigger party than I thought it would be, and I met a nice bunch of people, but it wasn't until later in the night that we were all in the kitchen, my roommates and the local couple, maybe a few others, when the husband pipes up, "So you live in the long building on the corner, right?" And I said yeah, we had just moved in a couple of weeks ago.
"You know it used to be a church?"
Really?
"Yeah, decades ago. It was kind of infamous. Pedophile priest killed a boy there, pushed him off the choir loft. The church never recovered. The denomination just disappeared from town. Church was abandoned and started to get derelict. About ten years ago they sold it to this developer and he gutted the whole thing, slapped on a new facade, put in a bunch of apartments. They say it's haunted." My roommates and I were stunned.
I still don't believe in ghosts, but that shit was fucked up. It does make me wonder about dimensions though.
posted by Stanczyk at 3:20 PM on August 19 [11 favorites]
When I was in college, three of my friends and I rented one of the apartments in a large house directly across from campus. Our first night there, barely unpacked and after too much wine, I crawled up the stairs, slipped onto my bare mattress under a flat sheet, and I quickly fell asleep from exhaustion, but slept restlessly in the hot August night. I had a really odd but originally sweet dream about a little boy I met in the middle of a field of Queen Anne's Lace. He was so energetic and curious, studying every bird in the trees and the leaf of every plant. He took my hand and led me to a church and took me up the stairs to a choir loft. There he told me that this was where he died. What? ... Who?
He told me that there was a mean priest at the church who hurt all the choir boys, and when he threatened to tell his mom the priest pushed him off that choir loft. Then suddenly the loft collapsed, sending me and the boy crashing into the pews below.
It felt like I had slammed into the bed when I was jolted awake. Shit. Heart beating like a winded beagle. Weird. First night, too. Not a good sign. I went downstairs for coffee and told my roommates about this odd dream I'd just had.
A couple of weeks later we were invited to a party a couple of houses down. Some locals were throwing it. Ex-students who apparently never mustered the inertia to move away and then blinked and had spent most of their adult life there. It was a bigger party than I thought it would be, and I met a nice bunch of people, but it wasn't until later in the night that we were all in the kitchen, my roommates and the local couple, maybe a few others, when the husband pipes up, "So you live in the long building on the corner, right?" And I said yeah, we had just moved in a couple of weeks ago.
"You know it used to be a church?"
Really?
"Yeah, decades ago. It was kind of infamous. Pedophile priest killed a boy there, pushed him off the choir loft. The church never recovered. The denomination just disappeared from town. Church was abandoned and started to get derelict. About ten years ago they sold it to this developer and he gutted the whole thing, slapped on a new facade, put in a bunch of apartments. They say it's haunted." My roommates and I were stunned.
I still don't believe in ghosts, but that shit was fucked up. It does make me wonder about dimensions though.
posted by Stanczyk at 3:20 PM on August 19 [11 favorites]
(1) Mostly childhood memories, highly unreliable and most likely to be either synesthesia or mis-remembered dreams:
Eight years old. Wandering the woods near my grandmother's house, in the Sierra Nevada foothills. There is a terrible high screech across the meadow, and I see something, and also don't see something at the same time. There's something moving aside the grass, the shrubbery, moving in my direction. I can see the objects and grass being displaced but I don't see the thing itself. I break out of my freeze and bolt. Probably an overactive imagination.
(b) Age eleven, A UFO overflying my house, silent, slow, classically round object, approx 200 feet altitude, maybe 30-40mph? Late evening/early twilight. Most likely a Cessna or glider.
(c) Teenage (eighteen), again at grandmother's home. Distinct memory of walking outside, early dawn, summertime (6 am?). Turn the corner, and there it is: a large bipedal black ape/hominid. Not too far from me or the house- maybe 30 feet? I look at it, it looks at me, it strides away, down the hill, into the tree line. Probably a vivid dream, or maybe I just mis-perceived a bear. Black bears can walk in a bipedal manner for prolonged periods, right?
(d) Twenty-five, staying at a hotel in Exeter UK, said to be haunted. Recovering from a wedding/ back-packing across UK. Sleeping in late. Suddenly feel the abrupt sensation of cold fingers pressing/ poking into my back, as though somebody were trying to shake me awake. An invisible force. Probably some sort of sleep paralysis thing.
posted by LeRoienJaune at 3:52 PM on August 19 [3 favorites]
Eight years old. Wandering the woods near my grandmother's house, in the Sierra Nevada foothills. There is a terrible high screech across the meadow, and I see something, and also don't see something at the same time. There's something moving aside the grass, the shrubbery, moving in my direction. I can see the objects and grass being displaced but I don't see the thing itself. I break out of my freeze and bolt. Probably an overactive imagination.
(b) Age eleven, A UFO overflying my house, silent, slow, classically round object, approx 200 feet altitude, maybe 30-40mph? Late evening/early twilight. Most likely a Cessna or glider.
(c) Teenage (eighteen), again at grandmother's home. Distinct memory of walking outside, early dawn, summertime (6 am?). Turn the corner, and there it is: a large bipedal black ape/hominid. Not too far from me or the house- maybe 30 feet? I look at it, it looks at me, it strides away, down the hill, into the tree line. Probably a vivid dream, or maybe I just mis-perceived a bear. Black bears can walk in a bipedal manner for prolonged periods, right?
(d) Twenty-five, staying at a hotel in Exeter UK, said to be haunted. Recovering from a wedding/ back-packing across UK. Sleeping in late. Suddenly feel the abrupt sensation of cold fingers pressing/ poking into my back, as though somebody were trying to shake me awake. An invisible force. Probably some sort of sleep paralysis thing.
posted by LeRoienJaune at 3:52 PM on August 19 [3 favorites]
Why o why isn't this our Halloween thread! It's full of awesome fun spooky stuff.
posted by mightshould at 4:23 PM on August 19 [4 favorites]
posted by mightshould at 4:23 PM on August 19 [4 favorites]
It’s another dark, spooky, and muggy night here in Puerto Rico, because the recently privatized electrical utility has not been able to restore power for going on 7 nights in the wake of hurricane Ernesto, despite ample warning and ample vacuuming of public funds for generous executive pay since privatization.
posted by mubba at 5:51 PM on August 19 [4 favorites]
posted by mubba at 5:51 PM on August 19 [4 favorites]
I have Virgo Power - I know what people will say before they say it. Not so much the content, I hear the exact phrase in my head and then they say that phrase.
posted by Emmy Rae at 7:00 PM on August 19 [3 favorites]
posted by Emmy Rae at 7:00 PM on August 19 [3 favorites]
When I was in HS there was a girl I wanted to ask out. I finally worked up the courage to call her, and as I was reaching for the phone it rang. Who should it be but her, calling (ostensibly*) to ask me about the rules of euchre (we had played a lot of it when on a recent school trip together). I was kind of freaked out by the serendipity with the phone, but I asked her anyway and we ended up dating for about a year.
* I say ostensibly, because it's entirely possible she was using the rules of euchre thing as a reason to call me. Nonetheless the timing was eerie.
posted by axiom at 9:38 PM on August 19 [4 favorites]
* I say ostensibly, because it's entirely possible she was using the rules of euchre thing as a reason to call me. Nonetheless the timing was eerie.
posted by axiom at 9:38 PM on August 19 [4 favorites]
I've had a couple of weird experiences and a lot of different times when I "just knew" something. Not necessarily something I wanted to be true, just a reliable gut feeling. On occasions when I've messed with things like tarot cards I've had some extremely accurate readings or I've had things happen like the same card coming up over and over and over regardless of how much shuffling was happening (like, when I was doing single card pulls for others).
An incident: A girl I knew when I was a teenager was murdered by her boyfriend in the mid-2000s; she is "Jade" in this essay by a mutual friend. We hadn't been close, but we were in the same social circle and I was still really saddened by her death. The night she was killed or the night after, but before I found out (I no longer lived in the area and found out on social media in the Livejournal/Myspace days), I had a dream that I ran into her and chatted with her in the parking lot of a movie theater. We'd hugged, talked about how we wished we could have been better friends, and she apologized about how she had to leave, but she didn't have much time to spend, she had to go. I found out about her death the next day.
posted by verbminx at 10:55 PM on August 19 [8 favorites]
An incident: A girl I knew when I was a teenager was murdered by her boyfriend in the mid-2000s; she is "Jade" in this essay by a mutual friend. We hadn't been close, but we were in the same social circle and I was still really saddened by her death. The night she was killed or the night after, but before I found out (I no longer lived in the area and found out on social media in the Livejournal/Myspace days), I had a dream that I ran into her and chatted with her in the parking lot of a movie theater. We'd hugged, talked about how we wished we could have been better friends, and she apologized about how she had to leave, but she didn't have much time to spend, she had to go. I found out about her death the next day.
posted by verbminx at 10:55 PM on August 19 [8 favorites]
I have had two phone interviews this week already and both are progressing to in-person. Another phone interview tomorrow. This has been a nice ego repair after the one I thought I had nailed rejected me last week and I spent Sunday entirely in bed feeling glum.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:35 AM on August 20 [10 favorites]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:35 AM on August 20 [10 favorites]
if you could dress as any hurricane this season, what category would you be?
posted by clavdivs at 2:19 PM on August 20 [1 favorite]
posted by clavdivs at 2:19 PM on August 20 [1 favorite]
a subtropical depression
posted by Greg_Ace at 2:56 PM on August 20 [4 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 2:56 PM on August 20 [4 favorites]
I feel seen, Greg_Ace.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 4:27 PM on August 20 [2 favorites]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 4:27 PM on August 20 [2 favorites]
When I was in high school I had a group of best friends, including Mike and Sophia. Sophia and I had a big blowout and stopped speaking, but we both stayed close with Mike - she was his roommate for years.
A decade later, Mike died in a sudden accident. About a week after his death he came to me in a dream and said "you have to get in touch with Sophia. She doesn't know I'm gone."
I ended up tracking her down and indeed, she didn't know about his death. We attended Mike's funeral together and have stayed in touch ever since.
posted by Threeve at 11:22 PM on August 20 [4 favorites]
A decade later, Mike died in a sudden accident. About a week after his death he came to me in a dream and said "you have to get in touch with Sophia. She doesn't know I'm gone."
I ended up tracking her down and indeed, she didn't know about his death. We attended Mike's funeral together and have stayed in touch ever since.
posted by Threeve at 11:22 PM on August 20 [4 favorites]
I played the message on speaker, and it was her business partner who didn’t identify herself but said in a sepulcheral tone "we have been terrorized" and hung up.
I REALLY don’t like disembodied voices and especially not ones that say shit like this in a dream. No thank you, very much.
posted by Dokterrock at 11:52 PM on August 20 [1 favorite]
I REALLY don’t like disembodied voices and especially not ones that say shit like this in a dream. No thank you, very much.
posted by Dokterrock at 11:52 PM on August 20 [1 favorite]
In early 2008 I had a dream that I was the starting point guard in the nba all-star game and Barack Obama was not only my coach (who gave me the most inspirational half-time speech of all time), he also sang national anthem, which was Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together” instead of The Star Spangled Banner. A couple of years later he actually did sing a portion of that song at some event I can no longer recall.
Another time, I dreamt I was watching the not-yet-released Batman film THE DARK KNIGHT RISES, and in the dream movie, the Joker had detonated a bomb inside Big Ben, to which Michael Caine’s Alfred opined “Some men just want to burn the world’s watch”. Not gonna top that one I don’t think.
posted by Dokterrock at 12:08 AM on August 21 [6 favorites]
Another time, I dreamt I was watching the not-yet-released Batman film THE DARK KNIGHT RISES, and in the dream movie, the Joker had detonated a bomb inside Big Ben, to which Michael Caine’s Alfred opined “Some men just want to burn the world’s watch”. Not gonna top that one I don’t think.
posted by Dokterrock at 12:08 AM on August 21 [6 favorites]
I just posted paduasoy's "six films about cats, with no cat death" list. You can see the films via the hashtag #CatFilms.
Donate $25 to MeFi and I'll post six films on a custom theme of your choice, too!
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:34 AM on August 21 [2 favorites]
Donate $25 to MeFi and I'll post six films on a custom theme of your choice, too!
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:34 AM on August 21 [2 favorites]
The last two days have felt like a week and I came dangerously close to yelling at a product owner this morning. Dude is upset and I get that, but dude came dangerously close to bullying my teammates and my patience for that behavior is gone.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 12:18 PM on August 22 [2 favorites]
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 12:18 PM on August 22 [2 favorites]
A lengthily-planned extended weekend beach house get-together of nine people has, for multiple reasons, unfortunately collapsed over the last week or so - too late to get the money back, and 3 nights in a house on the Oregon coast is serious coin. But I've got nothing else going on this weekend and I've already scheduled time off Friday and Monday...and hey, a weekend at the coast is a weekend at the coast!
I feel kind of guilty about taking advantage of others' adversity; but the house would sit empty otherwise, which seems like an even bigger waste. So I'll be there by myself for the most part, which is kind of weird, but I can't deny the appeal of a relaxing weekend listening to the surf and reading a book or two on the porch. The prospect of fresh seafood is an additional enticement.
Some of the folks involved might Take a day trip out to the coast on Sunday, which would be lovely (and according to the forecast the weather that day couldn't be more perfect). Otherwise I'll try to take some good pictures to share, so the weekend won't be a complete waste.
Life can throw some bizarre curveballs sometimes...
posted by Greg_Ace at 6:47 PM on August 22 [8 favorites]
I feel kind of guilty about taking advantage of others' adversity; but the house would sit empty otherwise, which seems like an even bigger waste. So I'll be there by myself for the most part, which is kind of weird, but I can't deny the appeal of a relaxing weekend listening to the surf and reading a book or two on the porch. The prospect of fresh seafood is an additional enticement.
Some of the folks involved might Take a day trip out to the coast on Sunday, which would be lovely (and according to the forecast the weather that day couldn't be more perfect). Otherwise I'll try to take some good pictures to share, so the weekend won't be a complete waste.
Life can throw some bizarre curveballs sometimes...
posted by Greg_Ace at 6:47 PM on August 22 [8 favorites]
I've spent precisely 5 days in my life on the Oregon coast, and I would never pass down an opportunity to so again. So don't feel bad, Greg_Ace. Where abouts on the coast will you be?
posted by mollweide at 7:08 PM on August 22 [2 favorites]
posted by mollweide at 7:08 PM on August 22 [2 favorites]
Rockaway Beach, which is a part of the coast I haven't spent enough time exploring despite living in Oregon for 16 years...I'm doing my best to rectify that.
Oregon's coast is absolutely spectacular, and nobody should hesitate to experience it if given the chance!
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:39 PM on August 22 [4 favorites]
Oregon's coast is absolutely spectacular, and nobody should hesitate to experience it if given the chance!
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:39 PM on August 22 [4 favorites]
Barack Obama was not only my coach (who gave me the most inspirational half-time speech of all time), he also sang national anthem, which was Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together” instead of The Star Spangled Banner. A couple of years later he actually did sing a portion of that song at some event I can no longer recall.
I think it was a fundraiser at the Apollo Theater.
Had an unusually vivid dream myself last night/early this morning; I was in the file room at my new job, and a trash can in the room caught flame suddenly. I dreamed I ran straight out, pulled the fire alarm and dialed 911, and everyone in the building was evacuated and taken on a bus to another location at Coney Island. But I dreamed I'd left my bag with my wallet, house keys, building ID, etc. behind in the office, and was starting to ask people how and when I could get back to the office to retrieve it when my alarm went off this morning.
It was so vivid that I actually spent a good five minutes lying in bed trying to figure out how I could get into the office without my ID before I realized "oh hang on, that was a dream, my bag is sitting across the room over there."
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:40 AM on August 23 [1 favorite]
I think it was a fundraiser at the Apollo Theater.
Had an unusually vivid dream myself last night/early this morning; I was in the file room at my new job, and a trash can in the room caught flame suddenly. I dreamed I ran straight out, pulled the fire alarm and dialed 911, and everyone in the building was evacuated and taken on a bus to another location at Coney Island. But I dreamed I'd left my bag with my wallet, house keys, building ID, etc. behind in the office, and was starting to ask people how and when I could get back to the office to retrieve it when my alarm went off this morning.
It was so vivid that I actually spent a good five minutes lying in bed trying to figure out how I could get into the office without my ID before I realized "oh hang on, that was a dream, my bag is sitting across the room over there."
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:40 AM on August 23 [1 favorite]
We primarily stayed in Yachats, across the street from the ocean, but spent a night further north before making our way down there. It was definitely one of our best trips ever.
posted by mollweide at 8:46 AM on August 23
posted by mollweide at 8:46 AM on August 23
Pro-tip: don't take fish oil on an empty stomach. The fish burps are rather unpleasant.
posted by downtohisturtles at 9:26 AM on August 23
posted by downtohisturtles at 9:26 AM on August 23
I had another in-person interview today. On the one hand, it seemed to go well. On the other, no way to know until you get word you're moving to the next step. The one I really want I interview for on Monday.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 1:16 PM on August 23 [4 favorites]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 1:16 PM on August 23 [4 favorites]
Welp, the weather is here, I wish you were beautiful! Got a whole house to myself, a great sea breeze, an ocean to look at, a lovely scotch to sip on, and fresh shrimp for tonight's dinner (cheesy grits 'n' shrimp). I also got a tuna loin and potatoes for tomorrow's dinner, and smoked pulled pork which I hope to share with some folks who plan to come out for the day Sunday.
posted by Greg_Ace at 6:06 PM on August 23 [3 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 6:06 PM on August 23 [3 favorites]
We spent some time in an AirBnB type deal, south of Canon Beach, about three or four "blocks" up the hill off the beach. And the weather was there as well. But, they did have a decent covered deck, that faced the ocean. And had a large electric heating element beaming down on it. So you could sit there, watching the wind and rain and incredible Pacific Ocean waves crashing in, enjoying your beverage of choice, and still be dry and warm. It was pretty sweet.
posted by Windopaene at 10:35 AM on August 24 [2 favorites]
posted by Windopaene at 10:35 AM on August 24 [2 favorites]
There's worse ways to spend a weekend.
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:24 AM on August 24 [1 favorite]
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:24 AM on August 24 [1 favorite]
An old ~1/2 sized steam train slowly trundles a few sightseeing cars along the tracks in front of this house every hour during the day. But even though it's small and not moving fast, the whole house trembles each time it goes past. :)
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:10 PM on August 24 [2 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:10 PM on August 24 [2 favorites]
Telephone company fighting a losing war with the salty coastal climate
posted by Greg_Ace at 3:18 PM on August 24
posted by Greg_Ace at 3:18 PM on August 24
My new job is beyond incredible. It's serious culture shock.
posted by kathrynm at 8:10 AM on August 25 [7 favorites]
posted by kathrynm at 8:10 AM on August 25 [7 favorites]
Thank you to all who have posted about Mute-a-Filter on various threads, and to Emanual Feld for creating the Firefox add-on. I just installed it, it's working like a charm, and I am glad to have made the switch instead of continued grousing.
posted by cupcakeninja at 8:41 AM on August 25
posted by cupcakeninja at 8:41 AM on August 25
Know the feeling, kathrynm! Isn't it GREAT?!
posted by jenfullmoon at 1:40 PM on August 25 [2 favorites]
posted by jenfullmoon at 1:40 PM on August 25 [2 favorites]
So I made that second savory donut vision a reality tonight. This time it's a garlic, tarragon, and chervil donut with a creamy minced sautéed mushroom (oyster, portobello, cremini) filling piped in, with marinara, lemon ricotta sauce, and hollandaise for dipping our donuts. I'm still smiling.
posted by Stanczyk at 5:09 PM on August 25 [1 favorite]
posted by Stanczyk at 5:09 PM on August 25 [1 favorite]
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posted by terretu at 12:20 AM on August 19 [9 favorites]