ABay

I keep making stupid mistakes at work. It's in relation to a role I didn't really want but that's not an excuse for repeatedly screwing up. I also know I should be working harder, paying closer attention, finding a project, engaging professionally in some way like my colleagues who seem very busy and interested in what they're doing, but just showing up and doing the bare minimum is a huge effort. I'm just over a year away from my earliest opportunity to retire and am practicing in place, I guess.

Yes...I'm guessing that Bonfire Night/Guy Fawke's on Nov 5 is responsible for s'mores on a Halloween show in the UK, where in the US bonfires and camp fires and s'mores are a summer thing. Echoing others, the marshmallow part was ludicrously out of scale. Also, you toast them before you mush them between the graham crackers and chocolate. Personally, I like to set them on fire so the get black and bubble on the outside and completely gooey, almost liquid, on the inside.

That's my theory on why the pigeons targeted my asshole neighbor's house. I mean, they bombed my car, too, but that's because pigeons are themselves assholes. I had to take down my feeders over the summer, partly because I was sick of his bitching but mostly because I saw a rat a couple of times. I also removed the feed I was keeping outside in a steel garbage can (I don't have a garage and keeping it in the house is what led to the ongoing pantry moth issue, so the closed can seemed like a good alternative). Haven't seen a rat since. Now I want to put at least 2 feeders back up--one open, one caged--because I miss the birds and it's getting on to winter. But I'm going to stick to black oil sunflower seeds (sorry, blue jays) and will keep the bag in my car. Maybe using the huskless ones will deter the pigeons, too, since there won't be such a mess on the ground.

I also said Lefarge and now I'm wondering if I thought L instead of D because of Geordie even though I got the Farge part right.

"Fresh" bread daily. I remember seeing this at a store and thinking "you are perhaps not sending the message you think you are sending. Worse, maybe you are."

The trope about every hotel room in Paris has a view of the Eiffel Tower? Lies! All lies!

I liked Aaron Stempel best. I've been offline and out of the country for a week and had no idea Angela Lansbury had died until about 15 minutes ago. I loved her in all the things everyone has already mentioned but especially as Mame, Mrs. Lovett, and Mrs. Iselin from the Manchurian Candidate. If you only know her from Murder, She Wrote or Beauty and the Beast, you have to see the Manchurian Candidate. If you can, check out Ghosts (UK) series 3 where Fanny's love of MSW is integral to the plot of an episode.

❤️ the Arrogant Worms

France questions for the assembled: If you've been to Mont St. Michel, what is the least bad place to eat? I would welcome suggestions for food in Paris. It's so overwhelming. I'm likely to go to a market and get picnicky food so if you know a good market, especially one open on Wednesday and Friday, I'd appreciate hearing about it. If you used public transport--what pass am I supposed to get?! I'm hoping to use buses so I can see the city instead of riding under it.

The use of only as in "one of the only people who..." drives me crazy but is inescapable. It's few "one of the few people who..." Only doesn't make sense.

🤢

There really is no American pizza because it differs by region.I live in New Haven CT and the best thing about New England other than gorgeous fall foliage is that thin crust pizza is the default. A sizable proportion of the CT population is Italian American, mostly from the Naples area. Only chain restaurants have thick crust. I've lived in the midwest and Great Lakes area and always had to special request thin crust and often couldn't get it. I thought Sicilian referred to the way the crust was cut, not the thickness of the dough? I love pineapple on pizza, no ham or other meat, just the crust, sauce, cheese, and pineapple. I will die on this hill. The thought of deep dish/Chicago style pizza makes me gag. To quote...can't remember...that's a casserole, not a pizza.

Dark Matter.

I also thought LeCarre and then realized F=Fleming, Ian Fleming. James Bond was an author; Fleming named the character after him because he liked the name. Thanks to the ridiculously campy and ahistoric Borgias, in which Jeremy Irons left no scenery unchewed, I knew Alexander VI's family name.

Uruguay and Paraguay were the only countries I could think of that end in the same four letters...but I didn't think I was right.

The first time I heard Garibaldis referred to as a cookie was on Babylon 5, where on of the characters was named Garibaldi..after the man not the cookie. Or so they said. The second time was on the wonderful Life on Mars. When the camera closed in on Carole crying, I was mad at Noel & Matt not doing what Mel & Sue would've done to get the cameras off the poor woman.

THAT'S who she was reminding me of! Thanks, @ombre.

Sponge candy Turtles Chocolate covered oreos M&Ms Milky way

Buffalo Games has good jigsaws and they come in boxes that fit on shelves. At the height...or depth...of my lockdown jigsaw mania, those were the brand I bought the most of.

George & Lennie via Loony Toons It repeats at least once but you only need to watch it once. I say this to my cat but don't squeeze so hard.

Maintenance Phase all about why Shallow Hal is a piece of shit with some discussion of fat suits. It says unlocked so you might not need to have a Patreon account. Whether or not you're on not on Patreon but are interested in issues of fatness and representation, junk diet science, or just enjoy hearing shoddy research debunked, you might enjoy Maintenance Phase. It's an eye- and mind- opener.

I find it difficult to feel outrage over people swooning over Loki or other physically attractive (or even unattractive), intellectually nimble, verbally acute bad guys because they are fictional characters perpetrating fictional evil deeds against other fictional characters.

I prefer to binge or at least watch several episodes in a row so Netflix's new policy will have some impact, but not much because I typically unsub and then resub when an entire series is available. I'll just wait a little longer.

BBC live news not being on YT. I can watch the website on my laptop but Roku TV doesn't have it among streaming channels (unless I missed it) and it doesn't show up on YT. Sky News live does, though.

Cilantro is awful but at least it's small and easy to pick off or disappears in other flavors. Arugula, on the other hand, tastes like car exhaust and often takes up half the salad.