Thanks, No

Wow, this will be a used resource from now on.

Some backstory:

When I first began using the internet and computers, there was no such thing as spam (and yes, I did walk uphill both ways carrying those TCP/IP packets, thank you very much). There was no such thing as phishing or link scams or even ebay.

But it crept in. Commercialism is, if anything, a very astute and tenacious parasite.

So onward and upward I went, emailing people with horrible grammar and even using the spelling “kewl” (yes, I am ashamed). I emailed people every interesting, funny, and gross thing I could find.

I was a child. Now I am an adult. You know the whole bible-esque spiel about leaving those childish things behind, don’t you?

So as the years went on I began to despise my childish ways. I stopped sending those ‘hilarious’ videos or the most recent photoshop of some political figure transposed on a horses’ ass. I know it was cute, but funny was another thing entirely. I began using proper grammar. It actually pains me to see people using all caps, writing in incomplete sentences, and most of all using ‘leet speak’ such as 4 instead of “for” and so on.

My mother still uses the word “nite” which drives me batshit insane. But you take the bad with the good, right?

In terms of how I used to deal with the problem of unwarranted ‘cute’ mail (or mail that has 1,000 other addresses on it just waiting for a spam shark to chomp it up) I would simply email the sender and ask that they not send me stuff like that.

In yet another example of our passive-agressive nature as a nation and a culture, we now have a website which will do the asking for us. It says all we need to say about the process (“We don’t hate you.”) and it communicates the objective.

But that layer of removal just strikes me as empowering and saddening. I can now “safely” let down those who still send around those types of messages yet I lose that ‘personal connection’ of telling them myself. Which, of course, runs its own risks.

Until then, thanks for not spamming my gmail box. It ‘tis appreciated.

Extra Extra – American Idol Geekiness

I don’t know if you know, but I’m a huge American Idol geek. I haven’t missed a show in, well, since it began. Sure I’ve missed a results show now and then, but the big show? I’m there with bells on. And always have been.

Tonight the stage opens for Katherine and Taylor to try and take home the prize. Let’s just get my bias out of the way: I’ve been a Taylor Hicks fan from the moment I saw the guy. He just exudes charisma. I have no doubt he’ll win the title.

However, tonight is the ‘original song’ show, so we’ll get to see what the songwriters have in store for him. He’s a songwriter as well, so hopefully he got some creative feedback in there for it. Let’s just hope it isn’t too horrid.

As for Katherine, well, she’s just cute and sexy. Which is great for TV, but these qualities do not a superstar make. I’m sure she’ll do just fine for 2nd place, but as for the winner, well, was there ever any doubt?

You tested your mettle
On doe skin and petals