THE CONTENTS OF MY MAILBOX

Is there anything more mundane to blog about? Well, at the risk of imitating the (wildly popular) dullest blog in the world, here's what I got this afternoon:

A postcard with a slightly trashy but still pretty hot thirty-something chick on the front. On the back: "I'll be waiting to see you! There's more to see!" And: "Your special bonus video is here with me."

SO I called the number, talked to a nice-sounding young woman who wanted to verify my name, age and address. Apparently I'd made some purchase recently -- possibly the Maxim subscription (yes, Maxim -- it came discounted with ESPN if all the pretty ladies wasn't a good enough reason) that still hasn't arrived -- that precipitated this sending. Am I over 20? Yes. Do I have a credit card? No. To get this four-hour adult video, plus subscriptions to Hustler and other magazines I have never heard of but don't sound quite my speed, will I pay just $4.95? Uh... no. "Okay, thanks." Click.

A letter of thanks from a DC-area think tank.

THIS one's easy: Last weekend I gave a brief lecture at a publications school for college students, one I myself had attended a few years ago as an undergraduate magazine editor. I mostly shared anecdotes about stirring up trouble around campus under the guise of "earned media" -- i.e. free publicity. Apparently I did a good job, though the only question asked of me was by a UW student about what's up with Oregon basketball next year. (No more Lukes, but at least a Malik for a couple years. Even if we do have to stand the scrutiny extending from flying him in and out of Eugene on a private jet, we mid-level schools have to do things like that. Thanks, Phil!)

An IKEA catalog, addressed to "Current Occupant."

I'VE never been to an IKEA, though I hear creepy things about their stores -- apparently you walk in line through the store, past every product, sort of like the "It's A Small World" ride at Disneyland, but without all the singing and dancing. (Of course -- IKEA is well-known for discouraging anthropomorphism.) But hey -- $5 wire wastebaskets! $59 lacquered banana-leaf rocking chairs! $129 corduroy swivel armchairs (with footstool)! Plenty of funny Swedish words with umlauts and less familiar diacritics! I do need furniture -- my television and stereo are still sitting on the boxes I moved in here with. I'll keep this one around.

So I guess it was a good mail day, and this turned nothing out like the aforementioned "dullest blog". (Actually, I'd nominate this as the real dullest blog.) Tomorrow there will probably be a few bills for me to throw in my desk drawer and forget about until my Internet mysteriously stops working next week.

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posted by WWB at 5:28 PM |