Perplexed!!!!!!! That is exactly the right word. It has no negative connotations like “bewildered” or “stupid” does, so it’s ok for them to self-describe as “perplexed” in a way because it is not self-denigrating like “stupid” is.
(Mulling/marvelling ATM how wikipedia talkpages, mastodon, o1, or HN are all inadequate for the kind of conversations we all hope for, something about the tension between sublimating koinonia & prowess-seeking)
a) FPD read the Glass Bead Game, and instead of fixating on the game itself as I have done, noticed how the conversations tended toward an ideal (also, IIRC, recommended in the NE): https://franklin.dyer.me/post/123
b) etymologically, companions eat bread together, and symposia involve drinking. Maybe a problem with digital fora is that although we may have moved on from grooming and nitpicking, we still require at least a minial amount of analogue ingestion and imbibing for conviviality? (in the dating context, see https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=910852 )
EDIT: Re: "barely bottled in-game insanity", either someone needs to tell Stross that Series Landys don't have ignition buttons, or I need to accept the foreshadowing and realise that detail was an early in-story clue of power of eldritch horrors* to transmute and pervert even the most solid basis of innate rural goodness.
* in the world of the Laundry; in our world it was Tata who added the buttons
Aah, I thought you were hinting at malfeasance by TM. Lumpers girl, is hardly mentioned by Farina without dubbies also indicated; secretarial skills hinted at at least once.
Malfeasance? TM evidently believes that in this century a Landy is fated to be a Chelsea tractor; from YT videos (which only show inanimate gear, not sheep or goats or anything practical) it appears they expect that one ought to rinse whatever one is transporting off before stowing it in the boot — completely backwards.
There is a very boomer joke, probably at least fifty years old by now, which involves a (male, of course) boss who interviews 3 (female, of course) secretarial candidates, and maybe there's some WPM involved, but he also gives them each a pile of cash as part of the interview.
One goes to the track, one invests in the overnight market, etc.
Btw, i wasnt suggesting that you pair HN with EtOH like tptacek does — loading up on a few yt rhymes should achieve the same effect for you? Conviviality without killing any brain cells..
Blonde is americain? The tattooed guy, alpine accent?
The singers rotate pretty frequently, but the core of their line up has stayed reasonably constant since they were much younger: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuMUOiaHPA4
Did you get to/understand the bra story from the Radio Melody interview?
(AML was sticking to high german for the interview; for a better example of his dialect listen to the intro to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSwQ1icECNg , handily subtitled in what we call "writing german")
[I can't tell but suspect the tractor there, despite being in Deere livery, is a Steyr as well]
Incidentally, Radio Melody also interviewed Gölä*, which gives me an excuse to point you at the yodel-crossover version of "Indian": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLTLlGCknUw
* this is the local word for, not shit in general, but specifically the slurry with which fields are fertilised. Durrenmatt also uses it in "The Visit" (1956), but names his town Güllen — dialect being oral and not written, orthography often has a few local conventions but otherwise, as english orthography once was, is up to personal taste.
If Herodotus is to be believed, ancient persians might've read their HN replies twice, either sober then drunk, or drunk then sober, before hitting the "reply" button.
Aah pls pardon the calumny! (I enjoyed the few times when you were somewhat explicit about taking a choice cut of the truth, presumably encouraged by diluted ethanol)
secret tip: if I'm posting between 6PM and 10PM on Friday or Saturday, (a) make fun of me for posting on Friday or Saturday night, and (b) i've probably had something high-proof to drink. I only drink on weekends, which is awesome and everyone should try it.
perplexed?