McSweeney's Lists

McSweeney's Internet Tendency is one of my favorite things to check out on the web every now and then for a little oddball humor. It's a perfect site to visit in times like these, when I'm busy, busy, busy with work and family and side projects and various distractions. McSweeney's is a tiny distraction that doesn't take a lot of my time. I don't really know anything about the site or the people who publish the lists, and I'm trying to keep it that way, because some things are better left unknown, and I want this distraction to remain tiny. I do like the lists very much. Two of my favorites are E-mail Addresses It Would Be Really Annoying to Give Out Over the Phone by Michael Ward and the recent The names of the president and the presidential cabinet according to the etymological backgrounds of their first and last names, and of their middle names when available by Jorgen G. Cleeman.

Here are a couple of my favorites from the list of annoying e-mail addresses to give out over the phone:

• MikeAtYahooDotCom@hotmail.com
• One1TheFirstJustTheNumberTheSecondSpelledOut@hotmail.com

Aren't they funny? You can read the others at the McSweeney's website.

And here are a couple of my favorite names of presidential cabinet members according to etymological backgrounds:

• The Bathhouse Builder Who Has Been Heard by God, Secretary of Energy
• The Pious and Humble Man From the Beloved Gate That Lies in the Land of Many Yokes, Secretary of Health and Human Services
• The Pious and Humble Man Who Is Descended From the Devil, Secretary of Homeland Security

I didn't make these up. Jorgen Cleeman might have, but I didn't. With a name like Jorgen, though, he must be trustworthy. If you want to know the real names of these cabineteers, you'll have to go to whitehouse.gov and find out for yourself, but I'll tell you up front that their real names aren't as interesting as their etymological backgrounds.

Like I said, a tiny distraction. No harm done. Now everybody get back to work!