Re: Guest Post - Friends

1

"You've Got a Friend in Pennsylvania. Maybe more of an acquaintance and the relationship may or may not be symmetrically reciprocated."

All that wouldn't fit on the license plate.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 08- 8-16 6:48 AM
horizontal rule
2

Are they going to let you down? Will they ever be around? Or will they turn their back on you?

I'm not falling for this rickroll.


Posted by: Ginger Yellow | Link to this comment | 08- 8-16 6:52 AM
horizontal rule
3

I have no enemies, but am intensely disliked by my friends.


Posted by: Opinionated George Bernard Shaw | Link to this comment | 08- 8-16 7:04 AM
horizontal rule
4

At a guess people like me, who have about 10 people they regard as friends IRL probably have about 10 friends +/-. People who think they have 100 friends most likely have little idea whether most of those people actually like them, and indeed whether they actually like most of those people. But they do probably have about 10 friends for certain.


Posted by: chris y | Link to this comment | 08- 8-16 7:11 AM
horizontal rule
5

Recent research indicates that only about half of perceived friendships are mutual.
Humans don't know how to communicate; film at 9.


Posted by: Mossy Character | Link to this comment | 08- 8-16 7:14 AM
horizontal rule
6

As I was saying the other day, I've now been around here long enough that everywhere I go I see friends, acquaintances, and people whose names I can't remember but who I've known too long to ask them their name. I've now stopped flipping the bird to everybody who honks at me because I'm afraid it will be somebody saying "hello" instead of "move it."


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 08- 8-16 7:20 AM
horizontal rule
7

2: Is that really a rickroll? It was either that or "so no one told you life was gonna be this way. Your job's a joke, you're broke, your love life's DOA..."


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 08- 8-16 7:22 AM
horizontal rule
8

I suppose I could have gone with "Blame it all on my roots, I showed up in boots..."


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 08- 8-16 7:22 AM
horizontal rule
9

You prayed to the Lord above
Oh please send you a friend
You prayed to the Lord above
Oh please send you a friend
Your empty pockets tell yuh
That you ain't a-got no friend

I found out I didn't have any friends the hard way.


Posted by: Hollis Brown | Link to this comment | 08- 8-16 7:23 AM
horizontal rule
10

... and ruined your black tie affair.

Stupid earworm.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 08- 8-16 7:23 AM
horizontal rule
11

So, if only your closest four or so intimate are real friends, what's the name of the larger circle of people that sociable people have who will, e.g., reliably show up at their parties? I mean, those are friends too, right, just a different sort?


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 08- 8-16 7:25 AM
horizontal rule
12

Friends. How many of us have them?:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vxni-FM-UVA


Posted by: lemmy caution | Link to this comment | 08- 8-16 7:26 AM
horizontal rule
13

11: "so-called friends"


Posted by: peep | Link to this comment | 08- 8-16 7:26 AM
horizontal rule
14

I think show-up-at-parties is the right level for the label "friends" and that the 4-person level should be besties/confidantes/close friends.


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 08- 8-16 7:29 AM
horizontal rule
15

I think show-up-at-parties is the right level for the label "friends" and that the 4-person level should be besties/confidantes/close friends enemies.


Posted by: Mossy Character | Link to this comment | 08- 8-16 7:34 AM
horizontal rule
16

e.g., reliably show up at their parties?

Freeloaders?


Posted by: chris y | Link to this comment | 08- 8-16 7:38 AM
horizontal rule
17

Keep your friends close, your friends' cheese dip even closer.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 08- 8-16 7:47 AM
horizontal rule
18

Does anybody still make those giant balls of cheese that are crusted with nuts? I was always afraid to try them back when they were all around. Now that my palate has matured and I think I'm ready, you never see them.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 08- 8-16 8:03 AM
horizontal rule
19

18: I believe that those were never intended for eating. They were made to be thrown.


Posted by: AcademicLurker | Link to this comment | 08- 8-16 8:06 AM
horizontal rule
20

Anyone else thinking of this old Moogy Klingman/Buzzy Linhart number?


Posted by: Barry Freed | Link to this comment | 08- 8-16 8:18 AM
horizontal rule
21

18: My aunt, at holidays. They're really good! A hearty cracker, like a Triscuit, goes well with the stronger cheeses.


Posted by: Mooseking | Link to this comment | 08- 8-16 8:24 AM
horizontal rule
22

Hey friends: I have 5 minutes to pick a new coffee maker at target. What should I get??


Posted by: Heebie | Link to this comment | 08- 8-16 8:38 AM
horizontal rule
23

Aeropress


Posted by: Ginger Yellow | Link to this comment | 08- 8-16 8:41 AM
horizontal rule
24

Three big bags of Swedish Fish and the cheapest drip coffee machine.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 08- 8-16 8:41 AM
horizontal rule
25

18: I've definitely had some brought to my house in the past 2 or 3 years. It's one of the more annoying things about my social life.

I don't have too much problem with hosting people for a gathering of some kind, but I'm perfectly capable providing the snacks myself. I don't want to commit to providing enough drinks for everyone, that gets expensive, but you can trust me to spend $20 on chips and dip and cheese and crackers and 20 minutes putting it on trays and in bowls. That way I'd get the right amount for the people we've invited with just a little extra to be safe, and I'd know that the leftovers are things I like and can conveniently snack on. (FTR, dietary restrictions aren't relevant, and I don't think I've ever personally supplied one of those cheese nut balls, but we usually do pretty well.)

But no, someone always brings enough food to feed the whole gathering themselves and leave me with the leftovers and I'm having pita chips and olive dip for the next week, no matter how much I encourage people to take leftovers with them when they leave. Clearly I'm an asshole.


Posted by: Cyrus | Link to this comment | 08- 8-16 8:42 AM
horizontal rule
26

22: Don't get the Mr Coffee 12-cup. It leaks.


Posted by: | Link to this comment | 08- 8-16 8:44 AM
horizontal rule
27

22. A packet of filter papers. You've got an old milk jug and a funnel at home.


Posted by: chris y | Link to this comment | 08- 8-16 8:45 AM
horizontal rule
28

I've been using the same Mr. Coffee at work for five years or so. I've not had any problems.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 08- 8-16 8:46 AM
horizontal rule
29

18: I like those. Not hard to make -- I don't do it myself, but I've seen it done. Grated hard cheese (cheddar, whatever), some butter, maybe some other flavoring (wine makes it pink), cream it until it's spreadable, and then roll it in the nuts.


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 08- 8-16 8:46 AM
horizontal rule
30

26 was me.


Posted by: Just Plain Jane | Link to this comment | 08- 8-16 8:47 AM
horizontal rule
31

Maybe that will be my fall cooking project.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 08- 8-16 8:48 AM
horizontal rule
32

"cooking"?


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 08- 8-16 8:48 AM
horizontal rule
33

Target carries mr coffee, black + decker, kitchen aid, hamilton beach, and ninja. None of them look quite like ours.


Posted by: Heebie | Link to this comment | 08- 8-16 8:49 AM
horizontal rule
34

I went with kitchen aid. Done.


Posted by: Heebie | Link to this comment | 08- 8-16 8:49 AM
horizontal rule
35

28: I wonder if we're talking about the same model? I got mine at Target for about 30-35 dollars about a year ago, and have regretted it ever since.


Posted by: Just Plain Jane | Link to this comment | 08- 8-16 8:50 AM
horizontal rule
36

29: do not attempt to make this with "spreadable" cream cheese. It will end in tears.


Posted by: Soup biscuit | Link to this comment | 08- 8-16 8:50 AM
horizontal rule
37

34 : Sorry, we were no help at all. Are we still friends?


Posted by: peep | Link to this comment | 08- 8-16 8:52 AM
horizontal rule
38

A life ends in tears, unless you have no friends to mourn you.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 08- 8-16 8:53 AM
horizontal rule
39

Cheese is a metaphor for life like that.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 08- 8-16 8:54 AM
horizontal rule
40

I feel a Black and Decker coffee machine would be rather déclassé. This is how I know I'm not a hipster.


Posted by: Mossy Character | Link to this comment | 08- 8-16 8:56 AM
horizontal rule
41

I don't know, but the Cuisinart cordless drill kind of sucks.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 08- 8-16 9:03 AM
horizontal rule
42

Martha Stewart cheese log.


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 08- 8-16 9:11 AM
horizontal rule
43

The 'log' sounds easier to eat from than the ball. I guess that's why Martha Stewart is a billionaire and I'm not.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 08- 8-16 9:14 AM
horizontal rule
44

Depending on your sculptural skills, it could be a bust of Beethoven if you wanted.


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 08- 8-16 9:19 AM
horizontal rule
45

He's barely an A-cup. I need more cheese than that.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 08- 8-16 9:21 AM
horizontal rule
46

40
I feel a Black and Decker coffee machine would be rather déclassé. This is how I know I'm not a hipster.

I'd be worried it would suddenly start sanding the countertop or something.


Posted by: Ginger Yellow | Link to this comment | 08- 8-16 9:52 AM
horizontal rule
47

Friends. How many of us have them?

I definitely have friends!


Posted by: nosflow | Link to this comment | 08- 8-16 10:00 AM
horizontal rule
48

Now I got a friend who spends his life
Stabbing my picture with a bowie knife
Dreams of strangling me with a scarf
When my name comes up he pretends to barf
I've got a million friends!


Posted by: The Very Popular Bob Dylan | Link to this comment | 08- 8-16 10:56 AM
horizontal rule
49

They were all my friends, and they died!


Posted by: Opinionated Jim Carroll | Link to this comment | 08- 8-16 11:19 AM
horizontal rule
50

Pretty sure I got our big Cusinart at Target on sale. Works well, built in grinder we don't use cause it gets the grounds moist and is a bear to clean. Also have two Kuerig machines, and I use a funnel and filter and microwaved water (til bubbles just form on sides!), cause Kuerig makes coffee too weak.


Posted by: bob mcmanus | Link to this comment | 08- 8-16 11:23 AM
horizontal rule
51

In the presence of a true friend, Dr. Banks said, the smart or modulating aspect of the vagus nerve is what makes us feel at ease rather than on guard as when we are with a stranger or someone judgmental. It's what enables us to feel O.K. about exposing the soft underbelly of our psyche and helps us stay engaged and present in times of conflict.
My true friend is alcohol.


Posted by: Eggplant | Link to this comment | 08- 8-16 11:47 AM
horizontal rule
52

So it's worth identifying who among the many people you encounter in your life are truly friends. Who makes time for you? Whose company enlivens, enriches and maybe even humbles you? Whom would you miss? Who would miss you? While there is no easy or agreed upon definition, what friendships have in common is that they shape us and create other dimensions through which to see the world. This can be for better or worse depending on whom we choose as friends. As the saying goes, "Show me your friends and I will show you who you are."
Geez, setting the bar a little high? Someone recently said to me that true friends are those who put up with your shit.


Posted by: Eggplant | Link to this comment | 08- 8-16 11:50 AM
horizontal rule
53

Now I'm out of prison, I got me a friend at last
He don't steal or cheat or drink or lie
His name's codeine, he's the nicest thing I've seen
Together we're gonna wait around and die


Posted by: Cheery Townes Van Zandt | Link to this comment | 08- 8-16 11:53 AM
horizontal rule
54

The girl I broke up with recently came over to help me move this weekend, and as predicted from my perspective it was almost exactly like when we'd hang out and gab as a couple only better because there wasn't the same pressure or baggage. So I definitely have both a friend and a lesbian merit badge for ex friendship, I think.


Posted by: Thorn | Link to this comment | 08- 8-16 11:56 AM
horizontal rule
55

If she helps you bury Lee you'll know if she's a best friend or just a friend.


Posted by: Mossy Character | Link to this comment | 08- 8-16 12:04 PM
horizontal rule
56

Note that I did not comment on the hired-killer thread and I continue not to make any statements on the topic. But I would benefit financially from Lee's death and so having a body available would make more sense. (And while Punchy wasn't right for me as a girlfriend, she was absolutely wonderful at rolling with dealing with the intrusive narcissism and I'll always be grateful for that.)


Posted by: Thorn | Link to this comment | 08- 8-16 12:17 PM
horizontal rule
57

50: One Cuisinart and two Keurigs? You must have a lot of counter space!


Posted by: Just Plain Jane | Link to this comment | 08- 8-16 3:35 PM
horizontal rule
58

They have big houses in Texas.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 08- 8-16 10:58 PM
horizontal rule
59

56 Crisscross.


Posted by: Opinionated Bruno Anthony | Link to this comment | 08- 8-16 11:19 PM
horizontal rule
60

Wait, when was the hired-killer thread?


Posted by: ajay | Link to this comment | 08- 9-16 1:27 AM
horizontal rule
61

Ten days ago.


Posted by: Thorn | Link to this comment | 08- 9-16 3:03 AM
horizontal rule