This is interesting: the etymology of "call a spade a spade."
(Don't read the comments.)
(Is it still etymology if you're talking about the origin of a phrase rather than a word?)
Love isn't brains, children, it's blood, blood screaming inside you to work its will.
Spike ,'Sleeper'
Natter 72: We Were Unprepared for This
Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.
Dana - Sep 23, 2013 10:54:29 am PDT #6342 of 30000
I'm terrifically busy with my ennui.
§ ita § - Sep 23, 2013 11:03:33 am PDT #6343 of 30000
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
I love this:
The early usages of the word "spade" did not refer to either race or skin color.
The racists aren't using it to refer to one or the other of those things. Pretty much both every single time.
shrift - Sep 23, 2013 11:08:45 am PDT #6344 of 30000
"You can't put a price on the joy of not giving a shit." -Zenkitty
If nothing else, today I am wearing skinny corduroys from Anthropologie that were so comically tight when I first got them that I dubbed them goal pants, and I submitted a reservation request for a volcano tour on Big Island.
Theodosia - Sep 23, 2013 11:41:41 am PDT #6345 of 30000
'we all walk this earth feeling we are frauds. The trick is to be grateful and hope the caper doesn't end any time soon"
Given the bizarre lease situation, I'd be tempted to let myself get "evicted" and not pay for the next three months. Note that I am not a legal-type person. At least you could point out that letting you off the hook would keep them from having to file legal documents and go without rent income for an extended period. Whereas, if they let you out when you want, they'll get the apartment back sooner and be able to fix it and fill it up sooner.
Depends on how big a management company they have, if they have a lawyer-person on staff/retainer. But MA tenant law makes it hard to easily evict.
Dana - Sep 23, 2013 11:48:04 am PDT #6346 of 30000
I'm terrifically busy with my ennui.
Jesse, can you try to emotionally blackmail them with your situation?
Jesse - Sep 23, 2013 11:48:45 am PDT #6347 of 30000
Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be.
Dana! I never think of that kind of thing! We'll see if he writes back saying "no" to my request to reduce the amount.
le nubian - Sep 23, 2013 11:51:24 am PDT #6348 of 30000
"And to be clear, I am the hell. And the high water."
I like Dana's suggestion. Theo's as a backup.
Fred Pete - Sep 23, 2013 11:56:47 am PDT #6349 of 30000
Ann, that's a ferret.
Yikes, msbelle! I can only hope that you at least get a good story out of this.
DavidS - Sep 23, 2013 12:00:54 pm PDT #6350 of 30000
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
Jesse, I wonder if you could find somebody on Craigslist that would want to stay there for a less than full year. Especially in Boston with all the hospitals you're always going to be doctors coming in for residencies and shit like that for part of a year.
Theodosia - Sep 23, 2013 12:17:32 pm PDT #6351 of 30000
'we all walk this earth feeling we are frauds. The trick is to be grateful and hope the caper doesn't end any time soon"
Heh -- you could probably sign up for Air BnB and make money on it, what with it being right in Harvard Square.