Craigslist is a sociologist’s gold mine…

As I’d posted on Sunday, I found a brownie - half of one, really. I posted my find, complete with an image on craigslist in the lost and found bulletin board, and basically forgot about it. I was being entirely self-indulgent, and self-humoring, and suspected it would go unnoticed for the most part, perhaps occasionally cracking a smile on the unsuspecting, stone-faced surfer…. I fully suspected that the title alone would have been enough to clarify anyone perusing the lost and found that the posting was likely to be satire. The posting is here if you haven’t seen it, or if you just prefer to be lazy, the content of the posting is as follows:

FOUND: One half of a brownie (DTC area) 

I was at work this morning and noticed a brownie was left on the foosball table, and realized immediately that it wasn’t my brownie, as I arrived to work today brownie-less. If this brownie belongs to you, please let me know and I’ll set it aside the next time I get to work for you to pick up from our receptionist. It’s half a brownie, and as far as I can tell without actually eating it, is chocolate.

To my surprise, I actually got a couple of responses…

About half a day after posting it, I received an email response simply stating “You are an idiot.” I can accept that someone might be compelled to anonymously leave the equivalent of a flaming bag of poo on my doorstep/inbox, but this person apparently stewed on my brownie positng, got really mad, and responded a second time, and in a rather acidic fashion. Again, this faceless, unnamed individual clumsily attempted to eviscerate me to the point that my very existence was questioned. Remember: This is as a direct result of a posting about a brownie. A brownie.

I’ve posted their response in its entirety, minus their email address:

You know there are people out there who are looking for a pet or have found a pet who are trying to do the right thing.  How stupid you are to take up space with this crap.  You must have no one that loves you at all. It  is not funny.  You are the reason things like craigs list do not work the way they should. You are an IDIOT! I will report you until they remove your post.  Real People have feelings you jerk. SHUT UP AN MYOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

SOMEBODY needs a self-help book…

Apparently, craigslist isn’t worried about this naysayer, because as of this afternoon, the posting is still there. I guess this “anger ninja” is in the minority.

Another person replied yesterday. This second persons’ response seemed a little more even-tempered.  In fact, “MB” sounds like my kinda people:

Your “Found Brownie” evoked an enlightening chuckle. When owner is found not all is in vain. A quick zap in the microwave will warm and soften it and it should be as good as the first half.  Milk might help too.  May you enjoy more interesting discoveries.  MB from Denver

Lesson for the day: Don’t take yourself - or anyone else for that matter - too seriously.

PEACE.    

I was on my way out the door after my Sunday shift when I passed by the foosball table and spied a lone brownie.

I suppose there isn’t anything all that weird about a baked good sitting somewhere random in the office, but it struck me as odd for a few reasons:

In our building, one can be rest assured that if food is left lying around (deliberately or otherwise) it will be consumed with fervor not unlike a swarm of locusts attacking a field of corn. Likewise - given the factor previously mentioned - folks tend to keep their food under armed guard….

Granted, it happens to be the weekend, and nobody is in the building to swarm…I decided that this brownie might be in trouble, so in an attempt to reunite owner and baked good, I posted my discovery on craigslist. The posting is here if you think this brownie might be yours.

Here is a picture of it so you can compare it to your missing snack. I hope this eases any emotional distress being felt at the notion of this orphaned brownie:

Carry on, wayward brownie… 

I grew up in Golden, in the shadow of the mighty Coors Brewery. I can’t tell you how many items emblazoned with the Coors brand I encountered in my childhood. One only had to walk into Foss Drug store and check out the array of promotional items available to the garden-variety tourist, or proud hometown resident.

My wife Lisa recently took up knitting (she’s already made me a scarf) and her new hobby dredged up a memory from early childhood, and something that qualifies as potentially the high-water mark of 1970’s Golden: The knitted beer can hat.

Maybe these will jog your memory too… 

Even as a kid of 5 or so, I recognized that these things were an anomaly. What I am trying to reconcile today is that I actually want one, not necessarily to wear, but to have as a memento. Perhaps it could be a part of a full ensemble from the era, which also include the hunter-orange down vest, clutter boots and “elephant bell” jeans. 

The stick was recently inducted into the Toy Hall of Fame.

I didn’t even know there was a toy hall of fame, let alone that an ordinary stick would end up in it. Well, there is, and it’s in The  Strong National Museum of Play.

Chris Bensch is the rather excited fellow in the picture below, holding the stick. He is the museum Curator of Collections. His enthusiasm is understood, when you consider that his job is to collect toys and put them in a museum. What kid wouldn’t want that job??? It reminds me of the movie Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium…

This induction business reminded me of some of my favorite things to play with as a young lad… The trusty rock - for skipping, fer example…..

Other favorites from my childhood that were ordinary objects turned into toys that I nominate for entry into the toy h.o.f……

-The cardboard box, which became the spaceship, race car, secret hideout, and when flattened - the perfect grass sled!!

-lawn furniture - especially the folding lawn chair… When placed on their side, and used in conjunction with other side-situated lawn chairs, one had a house of sorts…

-the cigarette lighter in my dad’s County Squire station wagon. great amusement pushing it in and watching it pop out while waiting for the folks to finish up their shopping…

-A table vice: For holding Estes model rocket engines so they could be hacksawed in half, their contents dumped into an ashtray and…

…Never mind. I did some DUMB things as a kid. Amazing I ever made it outta childhood.  

Now this is just darn funny….

Woot! 

…Well, of some Jack-o-Lanterns anyway.

 We had a pumpkin carving party Friday night with some of the neighborhood families and their kids. The pumpkins were a product of our gardening efforts, the revelry was a group effort. While the kids enjoyed homemade mini pizzas, the grownups were well plied with my home brews. Pizza, beer and sharp, pointy objects resulted in no trips to the ER, and some really wonderful results, as are displayed in the following pictures:

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!  

…so I’ll be taking the night off and enjoying a number of over-the-counter, and other folk remedies to shake this thing.

Note: Celestial Seasonings “True Blueberry” Tea  rocks: Take 2 tea bags + a generous squeeze from the honey bear + a splash of milk = a Purple Haze.

Yum.

It’s fun to be anonymous: You can say and do whatever you like without fear of consequence. Such is the appeal of any form of communication outside of a face-to-face interaction.

Take comments on a blog:The blogging world is a strange place sometimes. Just like many aspects of technology, blogging (the Internet in general) affords folks a sort of cloaking device. With this invisibility mechanism in place, folks often say and do whatever they feel like doing. Anyone who has bothered to read the comments posted beneath a politically-charged online article can see the vitriol that often accompanies said postings.

I was updating some posts and checking comments today, and a comment struck me as a little odd. In the comments section of my first post on the blog, you will see \’)/* ekibastos. Yes, strange, to say the least. With great curiosity and expectation, I googled this (seemingly) gibberish, to find that if you maintain a blog, this \’)/* ekibastos person has hit a lot of blogs and message boards online for a while now, but always with the \’)/* ekibastos post, and nothing more. I seem to be in a large contingency of folks who post articles online that have been visited by this entity/person/mystery organism. Strangely, I don’t feel special as a result…

Andy Warhol talked about 15 minutes of fame. Assuming ekibastos is in fact a person, I wonder - because there is always a trail of binary code out there in cyberspace from all of our respective Internet pithering - if this is ekibastos’ attempt at immortality? Is this the modern equivalent of the carved bust, or a Great Pyramid?

Anyone?

Ekibastos?

Bueller??

Happy birthday John - we miss you. 

See ya there! 

I’m no fashionista. I wear socks with sandals some of the time, and I think every man, woman and child should have a black turtleneck in their wardrobe, so take any insights I provide here with that in mind.

Fashion Czar Pierre Cardin showcased his fall 2008 through spring 2009 clothing lines recently and I had to comment on one garment in particular… No, I’m not a dedicated follower of fashion (thank you Ray Davies), I just happened to be caught in a moment of morbid fascination with this coat-thing, which frankly isn’t very fashion-forward at all, unless you intend to make your models and potential customers look like a bottom-feeding flatfish:

I personally think that if a garment makes you look like a fish, DO NOT - under any circumstances - wear it, UNLESS it’s Halloween!

(*Note that the fish and the model have nearly identical expressions…)

I’ll bet the coat probably retails for as much as a small condo in LoDo. Sheesh…