"Please unsubscribe me..."

A mailing list at the university was recently created and added a large number of faculty, staff, and others to it automatically. An announcement went out to all of these subscribers (who didn't know the list was going to be created) giving information on the list (and why they were added) and details about subscribing/unsubscribing/etc. Of course, many of them did not want to be subscribed. Rather than following the clear instructions on how to unsubscribe, they started sending e-mails to the list.

(Some actually sent e-mails to the list ASKING TO BE SUBSCRIBED!!)

Here's a snapshot (from Google Mail, rendered with an ASCII art theme) of the hilarity that ensued... (where names have been obscured to protect the guilty... I mean... innocent)

Notice how some of those messages are threads that are 10 messages deep. Also notice that this isn't a pruned inbox. This is a snapshot of an inbox that has been destroyed by this mailing list.

Bees and dumb Michigan people...

NPR : Mich. Home Becomes Beehive

Morning Edition, July 5, 2007 - In Michigan, Sarah Spitler and her husband noticed a few honey bees going in and out of a hole in their house. Given the bee shortage they decided to leave the hive alone. Now with tens of thousands of bees in the walls and an odor in their home, the Spitlers have called the exterminator. But here's the problem, once the bees are dead their waxy comb will melt and gallons of honey will leak from the walls.

Balsamic Brain Waves and Primate Grooming

It's hard not to eavesdrop
when sitting at a crowded coffee shop.
Unavoidably, you notice all the sounds,
of people making their discussion rounds.
Amazing is the trash you hear
as vocal hominadae primates groom the ear.

"Avoid Panera's tomatoes," says one.
"For diets, balsamic vineagar is no fun!"
Questionable is this advice,
for balsamic vinegar to one's health is quite nice.
Nevertheless, her nodding partner in this chat
continues to sip from her soda pop scat.

"I have been listening to this study groove
which, to my alpha waves, are said to improve,"
says another, who stands quite tall,
and shows that he knows nothing about medicine at all;
earlier, he described the work for his PhD
which seems to involve sociology.

It just goes to show
that regardless of what a man or woman does know,
words are chosen not to be appropriate
but rather as a way to procrastinate.
After all, instead of writing this poetic observation,
I should be getting ready for my thesis examination.