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I’m looking for an online Japanese tutor for weekly sessions improving my comprehension and speaking. I’ve done a couple of units of Pimsleur Japanese and can hold a simple conversation. Which online tutoring service (or other online options) should I choose?
posted by Atrahasis at 4:09 PM - 5 answers

Many years ago I came across a small verse in an English translation of Beowulf. For whatever reason it has stuck with me, but despite searching a lot of translations since then I have been unable to locate it again. [more inside]
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 7:30 AM - 5 answers

You are woman, you get on your motorcycle and ride. Tell me everything .. How do you feel? Where are you going (physically and emotionally)?
posted by falsedmitri at 6:51 AM - 4 answers

I met a hispanic gentleman from the old word named, phonetically, DEE-dee-ay. What can you tell me about this name? [more inside]
posted by falsedmitri at 6:37 AM - 8 answers

A US-American friend here in Europe is having difficulty discovering books that suit her adorable little kid. So many books here are in UK English, and her baby needs cookies. A lot of quite specific details inside if you are up to the challenge! [more inside]
posted by Iteki at 3:13 AM - 21 answers

Around the time of my birth, relatives of my mother's lived in Pittsburgh. A maternal uncle was born in Squirrel Hill. They referred to the city, when speaking, as "pgh pa" (pronounced pug paw, roughly). I'm trying to determine if this was genuine Pittsburghese. [more inside]
posted by pullayup at 5:03 PM - 10 answers

For my husband's birthday I'd like to gift him time to write while we're visiting my parents on Vancouver Island. As opposed to just booking him a remote hotel away from us and the kids I'd like to find him an actual writer's retreat. But what exactly happens at a writer's retreat that's different than staying at a hotel? [more inside]
posted by gillianr at 10:24 AM - 3 answers

I found a number of letters from my grandmother to her brother who had moved away, encouraging him to "send money for his society" home to his mom. What does it mean? [more inside]
posted by knownassociate at 10:46 AM - 5 answers

I'm looking for a short story written in the last year or so, about a team of story generators (?) writing a YA novel in the latest iteration of AI, and is now so good would replace the last department with actual human writers. There was some weird sex or relationships. This was published in a literary magazine. Please help! [more inside]
posted by moiraine at 9:52 AM - 3 answers

In this text from 1966, Robert Smithson quotes Roland Barthes as saying the “undifferentiated mass of organic sensation.” But I can’t find the origin of the quote. A skewed translation? or possibly just made up by Smithson? Any ideas where it might come from appreciated.
posted by 0bvious at 12:38 PM - 3 answers

Growing up in '80s Southern California, we often used the word "punchy" used to mean not just silly but specifically silly due to sleepiness. My friend from another part of the state also grew up using it this way. But it seems like this is not universal. Did anyone else have the punchy = sleepy usage, and if so, where in the USA? And where could this usage have come from?
posted by johngoren at 9:02 AM - 36 answers

I'm writing a story that takes place nearabout 1900-1920. A female character visits an alchemist and refers to the start of her monthly period a few years before. [more inside]
posted by noelpratt2nd at 9:48 AM - 18 answers

I'm looking for local words or phrases that I can use in relation to a family trip to Quebec province. A plus if it's kid-related (should be kid-friendly), but it doesn't have to be. [more inside]
posted by vunder at 2:42 PM - 10 answers

My eleven-year-old niece who wants to be a writer would like a typewriter for her birthday. What should I get? [more inside]
posted by caoimhe at 2:20 PM - 20 answers

I'm trying to help a friend find a book about a time traveling woman. Details (and possibly spoilers) inside the fold! [more inside]
posted by mmmbacon at 7:23 AM - 5 answers

For a section on journalism, I would like to have my 12th grade English students read compelling, well-written portraits of communities. Ideally, they would combine on-the-ground reporting and factual background. They could be neighborhoods, religious communities, communities of interest, what have you. [more inside]
posted by argybarg at 12:29 PM - 12 answers

I know there are many sites where, for a fee, you can ask a lawyer a specific question. Are they any good? If so, what are they? [more inside]
posted by knownassociate at 2:21 PM - 5 answers

I read a novel set in contemporary Brooklyn some years ago that was I think in the "women's fiction" genre (though I hate that term!) in which towards the end of the book, the wife, who is a sympathetic character, sets up her abusive husband to die by a stroke acquired as a result of diving without properly decompressing. I am hoping someone can help me remember the title of the book. [more inside]
posted by virve at 5:34 PM - 2 answers

There’s a classic sci-fi short story—though it may have been written as late as the 70s—about a woman testing her domestic black hole for, I think, waste disposal? The story itself, a cautionary tale I think, was written by a woman. I can’t remember the name of the story or its author, though I found them online a few years back. Search engines are proving useless.
posted by scamper at 12:56 PM - 10 answers

I'm taking a Spanish class and we're using Barron's Learn Spanish the Fast and Fun Way. Question inside, for ease of formatting. [more inside]
posted by The corpse in the library at 9:33 AM - 6 answers