Ben
@unquabain.com
Medium humanoid creature, lawful/liberal
Speed: 30 ft.
Languages: Common, Latin, Go, Ruby, Rust, Python, French
🚫👑
He makes music and digital art sometimes. He used to be @querulus.
Speed: 30 ft.
Languages: Common, Latin, Go, Ruby, Rust, Python, French
🚫👑
He makes music and digital art sometimes. He used to be @querulus.
Pinned
Ben
@unquabain.com
· Nov 8
If you find yourself in a socially awkward situation, but are unable to explode into a cloud of bats and fly away, you can make jazz hands and yell “BATS!”, then run away. That will have nearly the same effect.
Drawn by me with no fartificial inderpigence.
Drawn by me with no fartificial inderpigence.
“It can’t be uninvented” and your uncle can’t re-attach your nose that he pulled off between his index and middle fingers.
"it can't be uninvented! it's here to stay!" it literally can be uninvented, none of that nonsense is happening on your computer, it's all happening in a massive and massively unprofitable data center somewhere. You can't run that locally. The moment someone pulls the plug, it's gone.
October 5, 2025 at 10:53 PM
“It can’t be uninvented” and your uncle can’t re-attach your nose that he pulled off between his index and middle fingers.
What I love to do when I sit down to enjoy my coffee is to think about aromatic taints.
October 1, 2025 at 7:42 PM
What I love to do when I sit down to enjoy my coffee is to think about aromatic taints.
Hanging out on BlueSky for a bit, because I posted a picture of a quiet creek in my Southeast Portland neighborhood over on Threads, and made some people very angry.
September 27, 2025 at 8:49 PM
Hanging out on BlueSky for a bit, because I posted a picture of a quiet creek in my Southeast Portland neighborhood over on Threads, and made some people very angry.
I loved this They Might Be Giants album!
I get that the news cycle is packed right now, but I just heard from a colleague at the Smithsonian that this is fully a GIANT SQUID BEING EATEN BY A SPERM WHALE and it’s possibly the first ever confirmed video according to a friend at NOAA
10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)
10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)
September 25, 2025 at 2:45 AM
I loved this They Might Be Giants album!
TIL French fusil (rifle) and Italian fusilli (spiraled—or rifled—pasta) have no etymology in common.
Fusil comes from Latin focus (fireplace, fire) (think of the fuse of an old musket burning down), while fusilli is from Latin fundere (to our out) (think of a spindle twirling as it spools out).
Fusil comes from Latin focus (fireplace, fire) (think of the fuse of an old musket burning down), while fusilli is from Latin fundere (to our out) (think of a spindle twirling as it spools out).
September 15, 2025 at 2:20 PM
TIL French fusil (rifle) and Italian fusilli (spiraled—or rifled—pasta) have no etymology in common.
Fusil comes from Latin focus (fireplace, fire) (think of the fuse of an old musket burning down), while fusilli is from Latin fundere (to our out) (think of a spindle twirling as it spools out).
Fusil comes from Latin focus (fireplace, fire) (think of the fuse of an old musket burning down), while fusilli is from Latin fundere (to our out) (think of a spindle twirling as it spools out).
The thing about textured ceilings is that this is the last thing I see before I fall asleep every night.
September 13, 2025 at 7:52 PM
The thing about textured ceilings is that this is the last thing I see before I fall asleep every night.
Does anyone else hear their fridge ice maker making noise and their first thought is that there must be a squirrel or pigeon stuck in there? Is that just me?
September 13, 2025 at 12:17 AM
Does anyone else hear their fridge ice maker making noise and their first thought is that there must be a squirrel or pigeon stuck in there? Is that just me?
A show about the guy who makes the broccoli sides at Applebee’s, and the theme is a cover of Duncan Sheik’s 1996 hit, but it’s “I Am Barely Steaming”.
September 12, 2025 at 3:02 PM
A show about the guy who makes the broccoli sides at Applebee’s, and the theme is a cover of Duncan Sheik’s 1996 hit, but it’s “I Am Barely Steaming”.
23 And Me told me I metabolize caffeine slowly. I think what really wakes me up is that whenever I hear my Keurig start to pour, I suddenly can’t remember if I put my cup in it.
September 3, 2025 at 3:16 PM
23 And Me told me I metabolize caffeine slowly. I think what really wakes me up is that whenever I hear my Keurig start to pour, I suddenly can’t remember if I put my cup in it.
Using adjectives substantively to describe people: fine in “The Young and the Restless”, “The Bold and the Beautiful”, “The Quick and the Dead”. Absolutely feels like chewing tin foil in “females”, “illegals” and “creatives”.
Any theories about why?
Any theories about why?
September 2, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Using adjectives substantively to describe people: fine in “The Young and the Restless”, “The Bold and the Beautiful”, “The Quick and the Dead”. Absolutely feels like chewing tin foil in “females”, “illegals” and “creatives”.
Any theories about why?
Any theories about why?
One thing I learned from movies is that, when fascists are thrown from high places, they make the Wilhelm Scream.
I don’t know if this is true, but I feel that it should be thoroughly researched.
I don’t know if this is true, but I feel that it should be thoroughly researched.
August 29, 2025 at 12:54 AM
One thing I learned from movies is that, when fascists are thrown from high places, they make the Wilhelm Scream.
I don’t know if this is true, but I feel that it should be thoroughly researched.
I don’t know if this is true, but I feel that it should be thoroughly researched.
Poser le lapin sur le canapé.
August 26, 2025 at 12:29 AM
Poser le lapin sur le canapé.
The number of high-IQ people still crowing about their high IQ should be all the proof you need that IQ is not a measure of intelligence.
August 25, 2025 at 2:22 PM
The number of high-IQ people still crowing about their high IQ should be all the proof you need that IQ is not a measure of intelligence.
Is Contemporary American Civics Gothic a literary genre?
August 25, 2025 at 1:56 AM
Is Contemporary American Civics Gothic a literary genre?
Has anyone mentioned to Cheeto Benito—you know, like, in passing or whatever—that his televised funeral would probably get the most ratings of any TV event since ever?
August 25, 2025 at 12:14 AM
Has anyone mentioned to Cheeto Benito—you know, like, in passing or whatever—that his televised funeral would probably get the most ratings of any TV event since ever?
French doesn’t seem to have a word for “weed”. Instead, you say « mauvaise herbe », or “wrong herb”. I initially didn’t like this, because it’s verbose. I’m coming around to it, though, as it highlights the editorial nature of a “weed”. That is: it is you, and not the plant, that makes it a weed.
August 24, 2025 at 10:01 PM
French doesn’t seem to have a word for “weed”. Instead, you say « mauvaise herbe », or “wrong herb”. I initially didn’t like this, because it’s verbose. I’m coming around to it, though, as it highlights the editorial nature of a “weed”. That is: it is you, and not the plant, that makes it a weed.
If I were more focused, I’d write a fanfic where Han Solo escapes from bounty hunters Spike Spiegel and Jet Black.
August 24, 2025 at 7:28 PM
If I were more focused, I’d write a fanfic where Han Solo escapes from bounty hunters Spike Spiegel and Jet Black.
“Charlene” sounds like an adjective meaning “having Charles-like qualities”.
August 24, 2025 at 6:28 PM
“Charlene” sounds like an adjective meaning “having Charles-like qualities”.
I haven’t used DuoLingo in about a month, and I don’t miss it. I used to look forward to the stories, but now all the content is AI slop that’s just not entertaining.
Instead, I got a Spanish translation of Winnie-the-Pooh. That is much more motivating, because it’s charming, original, and human.
Instead, I got a Spanish translation of Winnie-the-Pooh. That is much more motivating, because it’s charming, original, and human.
August 18, 2025 at 7:54 PM
I haven’t used DuoLingo in about a month, and I don’t miss it. I used to look forward to the stories, but now all the content is AI slop that’s just not entertaining.
Instead, I got a Spanish translation of Winnie-the-Pooh. That is much more motivating, because it’s charming, original, and human.
Instead, I got a Spanish translation of Winnie-the-Pooh. That is much more motivating, because it’s charming, original, and human.
“Minority Report” did such an awful job predicting the future. “Go to Radio Shack?” Lol wut? What’s a “radio?”
On the other hand: how does Max von Sydow in “Minority Report” look exactly like Max von Sydow in age makeup in “The Exorcist”?
On the other hand: how does Max von Sydow in “Minority Report” look exactly like Max von Sydow in age makeup in “The Exorcist”?
August 17, 2025 at 4:01 AM
“Minority Report” did such an awful job predicting the future. “Go to Radio Shack?” Lol wut? What’s a “radio?”
On the other hand: how does Max von Sydow in “Minority Report” look exactly like Max von Sydow in age makeup in “The Exorcist”?
On the other hand: how does Max von Sydow in “Minority Report” look exactly like Max von Sydow in age makeup in “The Exorcist”?
Quercus, chêne, roble; why are words for oak so varied in Western European languages?
August 16, 2025 at 7:09 PM
Quercus, chêne, roble; why are words for oak so varied in Western European languages?
A lovely little pleasure is when you create a new folder in the Apple Notes app, and you get that message that says “No Notes”.
The flip-side is that you know that, whatever you do, it can only go downhill from there.
The flip-side is that you know that, whatever you do, it can only go downhill from there.
August 9, 2025 at 5:54 PM
A lovely little pleasure is when you create a new folder in the Apple Notes app, and you get that message that says “No Notes”.
The flip-side is that you know that, whatever you do, it can only go downhill from there.
The flip-side is that you know that, whatever you do, it can only go downhill from there.
Ever since he could talk, it’s really bothered my son when I get song lyrics wrong. I can’t help myself, though. I’m currently going around the house, doing chores, singing in a falsetto voice:
Steve’s Lava Chicken, yeah you tripped and you fell!
Ooh, Mamacita, now you’re startin’ to smell!
Steve’s Lava Chicken, yeah you tripped and you fell!
Ooh, Mamacita, now you’re startin’ to smell!
August 9, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Ever since he could talk, it’s really bothered my son when I get song lyrics wrong. I can’t help myself, though. I’m currently going around the house, doing chores, singing in a falsetto voice:
Steve’s Lava Chicken, yeah you tripped and you fell!
Ooh, Mamacita, now you’re startin’ to smell!
Steve’s Lava Chicken, yeah you tripped and you fell!
Ooh, Mamacita, now you’re startin’ to smell!
Now, I love “The Princess Bride”—of course I do, I’m not a psychopath—but do we think Mark Knopfler actually had any lyrics prepared before they pressed [record] on “Storybook Love”?
August 8, 2025 at 4:43 AM
Now, I love “The Princess Bride”—of course I do, I’m not a psychopath—but do we think Mark Knopfler actually had any lyrics prepared before they pressed [record] on “Storybook Love”?
I’m a conservative, American man, and I hate how THING-THAT-HAS-NOT-CHANGED has become so counter-THING-I-JUST-MADE-UP in recent years! We really need to take this country back to a completely imaginary time.
August 3, 2025 at 10:13 PM
I’m a conservative, American man, and I hate how THING-THAT-HAS-NOT-CHANGED has become so counter-THING-I-JUST-MADE-UP in recent years! We really need to take this country back to a completely imaginary time.