Archive for November, 2008

I hate your kids

Thursday, November 20th, 2008

Last night, on Clearly, You're Retarded, we had an interesting show focused around children. The main focus of the discussion was where should kids be allowed to go and where should they be prohibited?

My personal opinion is best described as follows:

1. Most kids are annoying and/or obnoxious
2. Kids should learn how to behave and proper manners from their parents and relatives
3. In order to avoid annoying the rest of us, kids should have limited exposure to the outside world until they've learned those proper manners and reached age 10 or 11.

If I could make the rules, here's what I would say:

Movies:

Kids can go to G movies and some PG movies, but if the movie starts after 8 PM, no kids are allowed. I don't care if it's a G-rated movie, if I want to go see the newest Pixar film, I don't want a bunch of kids ruining the film for me.

Restaurants:

Kids should be restricted to fast food restaurants and family-style restaurants (e.g., ones where the servers have flair). Stick to Chuck E. Cheese and McDonald's, and leave the real restaurants to the adults. Maybe once in a while, as a reward for a birthday or something, a child can go out to a nice restaurant, but only if he or she is well-behaved, and only if it's one kid at a time.

Public places:

Parks and beaches are fun places for kids to be, so I'm okay with them being there, because you expect it to be loud and noisy there.

Airplanes:

Kids shouldn't be allowed to fly until they're 9 or 10 at a very minimum. If you want to take your kids somewhere, drive. Then they can just annoy you in the car, not me.

Museums:

Kids are only allowed if they're on a field trip. Otherwise, leave it to the adults.

Musicals, opera, symphonies:

No kids allowed. Fucking period.

What are your thoughts?


In other Avita-news, don't forget to go here to give me your address if I don't already have it so I can make sure to add you to my holiday card list!

If you're new to the horrors of Avitable.com, don't miss out. Subscribe to my RSS feed!

Who wants a Christmas card?

Wednesday, November 19th, 2008

It's that time of year, fuckers. I'm preparing my list of names and addresses for holiday cards.

Last year we sent out this one:

In 2006 we sent out this one:

And the year before, we sent out this newsletter:

Front side (PDF)
Back side (PDF)

If you got one or all of these, chances are I already have you in my address book, and you'll be getting a new card or letter this year. However, if you've moved or just want to make sure that you're included, just follow these simple instructions to make sure you're on this year's mailing list. Please follow the instructions exactly as it makes it much easier for me:

Email me. My email address is my first name at my last name dot com. My name is Adam Avitable.

The subject line of the email must be "Christmas Cards 2008".

In the email please put your name and address in this format:

First Name Last Name
Street Address
Address Line 2 (if any)
City, State Zip
Country (if not USA)

That way, when I put it in a spreadsheet, it's much easier to parse the data.

This year's card may be offensive. It may be horrifying. It may be horribly boring. It may be late. I have no idea because I haven't even thought about it yet!


In other Avita-news:

Tonight is a brand new installment of "Clearly, You're Retarded"!

Should kids be allowed out of the house before they're 18? What places are acceptable to bring small children? When should parents just leave their brats at home? Since my preference is that kids should just stay locked in a closet until they're old enough to drive, we have a lot to talk about!

Britt and I are going to discuss when parents should leave their kids home from 9 PM to 10 PM EST on Talkshoe. You can listen live online at Talkshoe.com, or download the Talkshoe application and you can chat and even call in!

Calling all Indian and Middle Eastern stereotypes

Tuesday, November 18th, 2008

Sunday night, Amy and I went to dinner, along with Miss Britt, Mister Britt, and the Brittlings, to the lovely home of Faiqa and her husband Tariq (and their daughter).

As you can imagine, dining at the household of a Pakistani woman married to an Indian man, it was a very typical meal. Rather than try to describe it, because I know I wouldn't do it justice, I thought I'd just illustrate a snapshot of the evening. Click to embiggen:

I love the gays

Monday, November 17th, 2008

On Saturday I attended the Orlando Join the Impact rally, which was a peaceful protest in support of equality for gay Americans. These protests happened nationwide on Saturday and attracted throngs of people to every city where they were held.

This was my first protest, and I learned a few things.

1. There are no set rules for protest etiquette. I mean, you'd think if you're going to be standing there for a few hours, they'd have milk and cookies or pass around hors d'eouvres, right? But no. And when I asked anyone if they knew where the protest concierge was so I could check my umbrella, people looked at me like I was crazy! Nobody would validate my parking, either, and there wasn't a single concession stand to be seen. I looked for an hour!

2. The gay protesters' signs were not any better than any other signs. I totally thought that with all of that creativity, fierceness, and general artistic ability that seem to appear in a higher majority of gays than straights that each poster would be a work of art. But no. Most of them looked like this one:

3. Standing with James with Emma's empty baby stroller between us while Britt, Emma and Devin walked around and took pictures looked more like we were a gay couple who were making a statement with an empty stroller than we were two straight men who were just standing by an empty stroller.

4. It's harder to write protest chants than you think. Some of the failed ones I came up with included "No, YOU'RE Gay!", "Eve fucked Adam in the ass and he liked it", "Gay men should be able to give each other pearl necklaces for a wedding anniversary just like any couple" and "Heart is where the homo is." I guess I just couldn't get the cadence right.

5. If you drop a pen, do NOT bend over to pick it up.

Over all, it was a great experience, and it was amazing to see so many people gathered together for the cause. I cannot understand how anyone could vote to take away someone else's rights and make them a second-class citizen, and I just wish there was more I could do to help the gay community become equal in the eyes of the close-minded who hide behind Bibles to try to justify their hatemongering.

Sunday Stealing

Sunday, November 16th, 2008

There's a whole website dedicated to stealing memes from other people's sites and posting them. This one is apparently called The Woman's Work 45 Meme, and I thought it might be fun to do, since I'm not a working woman and all:

1. Do you like blue cheese salad dressing?
As long as I don't think about it too long. It's a pretty disgusting concept.

2. Favorite late night snack?
I don't snack.

3. Do you own a gun?
No, I'm anti-gun.

4. What’s your favorite drink at Starbucks or other specialty coffee shop?
I don't drink coffee, but sometimes I'll see if they'll steam me some eggnog.

5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments?
No, but I haven't had my first prostate exam yet.

6. What do you think of hot dogs?
They're delicious with ketchup and mayonnaise.

7. Favorite Christmas song?
Christmas at Ground Zero, by Weird Al

8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning?
Diet Coke.

9. Can you do push-ups?
I can do push-up.

10. What’s your favorite piece of jewelry?
My college ring.

11. Favorite hobby?
Comic books.

12. Do you have A.D.D.?
No, I have whatever the horribly anal retentive opposite of that is.

13. What’s one trait that you hate about yourself?
I'm just a little too sexy.

14. The last disease you contracted?
I haven't really been sick in years, but it was some type of basic cold.

15. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment.
A. What does this have to do with working women? B. How can I simultaneously think of three different things? C. I have to pee.

16. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink?
Diet Coke, Diet Coke, and Diet Coke

17. Current worry right now?
I'm really hating the idea of leaving town for Christmas. At least I'll have internet.

18. Current hate right now?
Oh, I hate lots of things.

19. Favorite place to be?
In my office.

20. How did you ring in the New Year?
I think I might have been asleep.

21. Like to travel?
Only under exactingly specific circumstances over which I have complete control.

23. Do you own slippers?
No. I only own one pair of shoes.

24. What color shirt are you wearing?
It's kind of a pasty white with lots of hair and two nipples.

25. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets?
Not really – too slippery.

26. Can you whistle?
Like a retarded child.

27. Favorite singer/band?
Avril Lavigne

28. Could you ever make it 39 days on the show Survivor?
Only if I took it literally and killed everyone else.

29. What songs do you sing in the shower?
The Divinyl's.

30. Favorite girl’s names?
Summer, Kaylee, Willow, and Pussy Galore

31. Favorite boy’s name?
Adam. Or Thor.

32. What’s in your pocket right now?
Unless I'm hiding something in an orifice, there's no definition of pockets that can apply to my current outfit.

33. Last thing that made you laugh?
The new NBC show Kath and Kim.

34. Like your job?
It's fun, even with the crazy bitchy employees.

36. Do you love where you live?
Yes, although I look forward to making more changes in the future.

37. How many TVs do you have in your house?
Three.

38. Who is your loudest friend?
That's no contest.

39. Do you drive the speed limit or speed?
I see the speed limit as a minimum.

40. Does someone have a crush on you?
Lots of people do. I'm pretty fucking awesome.

41. What is your favorite book?
Stephen King's Dark Tower series.

42. What is your favorite candy?
Chic-o-stick.

43. Favorite Sports Team?
I think following sports is a waste of time and everyone is stupider having done it.

44. What were you doing 12 AM last night?
Posting a picture of my ass on the internet.

45. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up today?
How did I give myself a wedgie in the middle of the night?

Now you can see my balls live!

Saturday, November 15th, 2008

If you're a super genius Internet savvy rockstar blogger like me, you probably use Gmail for your email. It's definitely the coolest free email program out there, leaps and bounds above Yahoo! and Hotmail and Me and other options. From the ease of searching to the easy to use Gtalk to the ever increasing disk quota, Gmail is the hip place to be. Fo sho'.

And now it's gotten even better! The Google chat now has voice and video capabilities! This is very cool because you don't have to use an external instant messenger program to talk to all of your favorite people – you can do it from within the comfort blanket of your browser.

How do you do it? Well, once you log into Gmail, you'll see a nice little link that tells you all you need to know.

After you follow the easy-to-understand instructions, your name will show up with a cooler icon next to it in the Gtalk window!

Then, anytime you want to talk to your favorite blogger, Avitable, you can just click on my name, click "Video or more" and then "Start Video Chat", and if I'm around, you'll get to gaze on this!

Or, if you're less lucky, this:

Deal Breakers

Friday, November 14th, 2008

Craig over at Puntabulous wrote an interesting post about his dating deal breakers, and I thought I'd steal his idea continue the conversation about it over here.

Now, I haven't had to do any dating for over 10 years, but if Amy came home tonight and told me that she accidentally ran into Sean Connery and they were running away to Scotland to get married, I would spend about six months rocking back and forth on the floor in the fetal position, and then eventually I'd probably try to date again. You know, twenty or thirty years later.

Anyways, if I were to date, what characteristics of the person or the personal ad would be automatic deal breakers?

Does your ad have any misspellings or poor grammar usage?
It's like an error on a resume. If you aren't even going to put enough effort into your ad to make sure that it's error-free, you're either lazy or stupid, and I have no interest in either. Likewise, if your ad contains any abbreviations like "u" for "you", "wut" for "what", or you include "lol" or "omg" anywhere in your ad, you're a fucking retard.

Do you have a college degree?
I have plenty of friends without college degrees who are successful people, but if I was going to date someone, they'd have to have a Bachelor's at the minimum. Graduate education would be ideal, although a MA or MBA really is a worthless degree. An MD, JD, or PhD would be even better.

How many tattoos do you have?
One that's discreetly placed is no big deal. Two is starting to push it. More than two and I slowly lose interest. I'm not sure why, but I just have a problem with tats.

How many kids do you have?
One that's between 3-10 would be okay, although if they're a spoiled little shithead, I think I'll pass. More than one, and I just don't think I'd get the attention I deserve. Plus, I generally don't like kids, so that just increases the chances that I'll hate yours.

Do you watch television?
If you're one of those people who tries to tell me that television has no value, I'm not interested. Just like any other media, there are good parts and bad parts to television. It's like reading a well-crafted novel vs. a Harlequin Romance. If you like the good parts of television – the smart shows, the well-written shows, the clever shows, and recognize the bad parts – the reality television, the stupid game shows, the cliched sitcoms and dramas – then I might be interested. Tell me you love American Idol, though, and it's over. A corollary to this one is whether or not you like to go to the movies. If you don't, I'm definitely not interested.

Do you have a driver's license?
I wouldn't have even thought about this until Craig brought it up, but it's true. A lack of a driver's license means someone who would be dependent on me to drive them around, and I have no interest in that. Besides, in today's society, it's kind of weird not to have a driver's license at all.

Do you have a sense of humor?
No sense of humor, no sense of sarcasm, no sense of irony – those are immediate deal breakers. I don't know anyone who would consider those to be winning characteristics, though.

Can you support yourself?
Would you have to put off a date because you can't quite afford gas in your car until payday? Would tickets to a comedy show be something you'd have to think about before agreeing because of the cost? Sorry, but I need someone who is financially stable and able to pay their bills without having to count the pennies in the couch.

Do you drink alcohol?
Drinking alcohol is a must. I don't trust people who don't drink. That might sound a bit hypocritical, since I don't drink, but generally speaking, that's a good rule to live by.

Is your favorite book the Bible or your hero Jesus?
If yes, you've just demonstrated that you have no real education, no exposure to the real world, no real life experience, and you are as naive and stupid as they come.

Do you have bad breath?
If I met someone for the first time, and she had bad breath, I'd turn around and leave. Get some fucking lessons in proper hygiene.

Are you ugly?
Is this shallow? Yes. I can't help it. I'd be okay with someone who's heavy or thin or tall or short or blonde or redheaded or brunette or with glasses or with limbs missing, but if you're hideous looking, I can't progress any further.

Are you computer illiterate?
Being able to use email, checking it more frequently than once a month, understanding how the internet works, and having a comprehension of how stupid chain emails are – these are all essential characteristics.

Do you have really long fingernails?
If you can't dial a phone properly because your nails are too long, piss off.

Do you smell like smoke?
I don't mind smokers, but if your hair and clothes constantly smell like smoke and if you smoke in your home, I'll probably vomit. And I hate vomiting more than anything in the world.

Do you like animals?
Thinking animals are better than kids is a huge plus. But even if you don't think that, viewing animals as a part of the family is essential. If you're just not an animal person, you're not an Avitable person either.

Do you enjoy going out to dinner?
Going out to a restaurant for a nice meal and seeing it as a fun experience is very important to me. If you see it as an obligation or would rather go out to McDonald's instead of a nice sit-down restaurant, we are not going to have any fun.

Do you have enormous boobs?
I like smallish breasts and couldn't date someone with huge knockers.

I think that might be my whole list, although I'm sure I'll come up with a few more later. This leads me to two conclusions:

1. If I am ever single, I'm totally and royally fucked.
2. I bet most of you wish you had read this before picking my negative traits on the Nohari window yesterday. Nothing shows off your negative traits like being a Judgy McJudgerson about your ideal partner!

So, what are/what would be your dating deal breakers?

Seeing myself through your eyes.

Thursday, November 13th, 2008

A few days ago, Neil from Citizen of the Month had a post asking how his readers perceived him. I had no problem giving him my honest opinion, even if it didn't mince words. The next day, Britt and I talked about the importance of someone else's opinion of you. Britt knows her own worth and would prefer never to know someone's opinion of her, while I would rather know what everyone is thinking at all times. We're a bit diametrically opposed on that issue.

I've been thinking about that, and decided to bring out the good old Johari and Nohari windows. If you don't know what they are, it's pretty simple. In the Johari window, I've chosen the five or six positive attributes of myself that I think are the strongest. In the Nohari window, it's the negative attributes I've chosen.

All you have to do is go to each one, select my attributes that you think are the strongest, put your name and save them, and it shows how closely my opinion of myself mirrors yours.

Don't worry about hurting my feelings – this is an exercise in honesty. It won't hurt me in the slightest to see your true, honest feelings.

Ready? Here you go:

Positive Attributes: Go fill out my Johari Window (opens in a new window)

Negative Attributes: Go fill out my Nohari window (opens in a new window)

How do you feel? Would you prefer to know what people think of you, or do you prefer being ignorant of that?


In birthday news, Missouri's hottest blogger turns 48. Or 23. Or something. Anyways, go wish Amanda a happy birthday!

The moment none of you have been waiting for

Wednesday, November 12th, 2008

During the Halloween party, we had one room that was turned into a photo studio and took professional photos of almost every guest (except for the few who never meandered into the studio) in their costumes. I thought since most party photos are so dark, the quality would suck, so everyone might enjoy a nice, high quality photo of themselves at The Neverwas Fair.

I had this whole plan to upload the photos to Flickr and then move them over to Qoop, which allows you to buy prints. I was going to sell prints to everyone and everybody would be happy. The problem is that Qoop sucks. It's one of the worst sites out there and very poorly managed. Fuck you, Qoop.

The new plan is much simpler. Here is the Flickr set with all of the photos. For each photo, you can click the "All Sizes" button at the top to view the high resolution versions, and then you can download the high resolution versions to your computer and you can even print the photos through Flickr to be picked up at your local Target. If you do print these photos, make sure to print them as 5X7, not 4X6!

Here are just a few of the photos out of the almost 160 that were taken:

NeverwasFair

NeverwasFair

NeverwasFair

NeverwasFair

NeverwasFair

NeverwasFair

NeverwasFair

NeverwasFair


In other Avita-news:

Tonight is a brand new installment of "Clearly, You're Retarded"!

Am I addicted to the Internet? Is Britt? Is that a bad thing? Are most of your friends in your computer?

Britt and I are going to talk about Internet Addiction from 9 PM to 10 PM EST on Talkshoe. You can listen live online at Talkshoe.com, or download the Talkshoe application and you can chat and even call in!

I hurt my back

Tuesday, November 11th, 2008

First of all, let me make sure that I clarify yesterday's post. Yes, I spoke with Redneck Mommy on the phone. No, she did not have sex on the phone with me. No, I don't know what she sounds like when she's having sex. Yes, that entire conversation was completely fabricated. We actually had a great conversation for an hour or two and talked about everything under the sun except sex! We discussed blogging and her kids and living in Canadia and my constant need to expose my nuts.

Speaking of which, head on over to Sheila's blog to read about her missing shoes and how I helped her find them.

Finally, I hurt my back tonight. I was sitting in my throne room, on my throne, reading the newest Spenser book, when I sneezed at the exact same time I pooped. I don't think a person's body is meant to do that, and now it hurts to walk, to sit, to stand, to do anything. And here I always thought I'd hurt my back trying to suck my own dick.