Rejected PostSecrets

By now, pretty much everyone is familiar with PostSecret, the blog made up of anonymous postcards with awful, sometimes sad, sometimes horrific secrets written on them. What you may not know is that PostSecret doesn't use all of the secrets sent to them. In fact, there are some categories that automatically get dropped in the discard pile. In a stunning exposé, I am presenting here 3 types of secrets that never manage to make it onto the PS blog or into one of the books.




Category 1: Adolescent Male Humor








Category 2: Cultural Reference




















Category 3: Meta

Trivial Tuesday

The 1904 St. Louis World's Fair had a lasting impact on food and culture in the United States. Among the foods that were either first introduced or were widely popularized as a result of the event are the ice cream cone, hamburgers, hot dogs, peanut butter and which soft drink that is still sold today?

Yeah, But You Are Aware That There's An Invention Called Television and on This Invention They Show Shows, Right?

I have no problem with people who do or don't watch TV. It's a personal choice and I can understand both view points. What I do not understand, however, is why people who do not watch television feel the need to announce it in the most condescending way possible. Take this exchange that happened at my work recently, during a meeting:

Person 1: Oh, I think I saw that on the news last night. Was that the same thing you were talking about?

Person 2: Well, I don't watch television, so I don't know.^*

Was "I don't know" or "I didn't see" not a good enough answer? Saying that served no purpose other than attempting to sound superior. In addition, answers like that almost always cause everyone else around them to start denying or trying to justify their own TV habits. Continuing the conversation above:

Person 1: Oh, yeah, I don't usually watch it either but it was on, and I happened to hear.

If the way you say things makes people feel like they need to really stretch the truth or make some sort of attempt to justify themselves, chances are no one really wants to continue conversing with you.

I don't understand why people do this. If someone tries to tell you a story about jogging, you don't brush them off by saying that you don't jog in a way the suggests that anyone who does may as well throw himself off a cliff, because he's pretty much useless anyway.

Look, if you don't watch TV, that's perfectly acceptable, and it's your option, but unless you're taking that time you would spend watching TV and using it to cure cancer or ensure that everyone in the world has both food and shelter, don't expect me to give you a medal for that choice. For that matter, curing the world of hunger, homelessness and cancer may grant you a pass on many things, but it doesn't allow you to be a pompous jerk.

^*I actually like person 2, but this exchange bothered me. . . and no, I was not person 1.

A Post About Nothing

I'm still running on empty here, so here are a bunch of things that have nothing to do with each other and aren't long enough to be a full post.

I started playing the game Guild Wars recently (about a month ago), and it's very fun and addictive. Once again, I can blame members of my family for getting me addicted to a game. It's a MMORPG much like WoW and Everquest, but without a monthly fee. In addition, the game uses instancing for many explorable areas, so I don't have to worry about you coming along and stealing the respawn I've been waiting for (or the other way around).

I'm very glad that most of the shows I enjoy watching are back, but I can't help feeling a little disappointed that Lost isn't starting yet. Every week, I get to the middle of the week and am completely worn out and think, "Oh but at least it's time for Lost...Oh, right. February."

Have any of you watched Kitchen Nightmares? I'm not a huge Gordon Ramsey fan, mostly because I'm not a big fan of verbal abuse, but this show is fairly interesting. Also, the people he verbally abuses in this show deserve it most of the time. At the end, things usually turn out well and people have a much nicer restaurant and thank him for what he did. There was one a couple weeks ago that still disturbs me, because of how bad the food was and how bad the pest problems at the restaurant were. *shudder* I saw an episode of the British version of his show on BBC America and was surprised that he seemed to be a completely different guy. No yelling and screaming, just talking firmly. I can't help wondering if this is him being two different characters on the two different shows (neither being necessarily who he is in real life) or if over time, his patience has worn thin enough that he just has to scream at people.

As an Alabama fan (which I have been for most of my life), watching games with John Parker Wilson at quarterback makes me long for the days of Brodie Croyle. It's not that JPW isn't talented, but at some point you have to stop making stupid mistakes and looking like it's your first game as a starter.

On the subject of college football, this article by Ivan Maisel was an excellent read and really showed how much of an impact being a fan can have on someone, even much later in life when they have no real connection to that team.

The other day, I put one of the quick dissolve Listerine strips in my mouth, only it didn't dissolve right away. It just sat there for a second, and then when I moved my tongue it decided to attach itself to the roof of my mouth. For the thirty seconds or so it took for it to dissolve, I looked like a dog with peanut butter stuck on the roof of its mouth. Cinnamon flavored peanut butter.

Speaking of dogs...As if we didn't have enough going on, our dogs decided to try to run around and play inside today. Chewie tried to get Booker to chase him, and when Booker took the bait, Chewie ran and launched himself up onto the couch to turn around and go running the other direction. Unfortunately, the couch in our living room sits under the window, so Chewie's backside smashed into the window, which is now in a million pieces (fortunately, the storm window was up at the time, so it was not broken and could be put down so there isn't a gaping hole allowing the outside to be inside). He's fine (his fur is so thick there was no way glass could get to him), but I'm not so sure about me.


That's all I've got. I'm obscenely busy at work, so I have no left over motivation or mental capacity. I'll try to keep writing something here, but if it's like this post, I'm not sure I see much point.

Trivial Tuesday

One of the new television shows starting this fall is Chuck, starring Zachary Levi. Before starring in Chuck, Levi starred in what sitcom from 2002 to 2006?

Nothing? Anyone? Anyone? It was Less Than Perfect.