We're Not The O'Connors

Stupid little things that others may find insignificant make me very happy. For example, I really like it when companies take the time to put a personalised touch on any mailing that they may send out. I've been this way since high school. When I was getting letters from colleges if they started "Dear Thomas" then they would be put into the considered pile. If they said "Dear Tom" they would move to the top of that pile (this was the only reason Colorado State was ever considered, even if it was only a moment). If I opened a form letter that began "Dear Potential Student" well you could forget me ever wanting to go there. I was very picky and full of myself at 17. It also works with advertisers. I was never a big fan of personalized jerseys until I received a catalog from the NBA with my hypothetical Celtics jersey on the back and saw that my name would not have to stretch up and around the numbers. Now I own that jersey in both home and away colors.

I mention this because it works the other way, in that I get annoyed when you could add a personalized touch, but choose not to. Yesterday I got an email from a company that would send you a small sculpture of an Irish pub door and they would put any name you wanted over that door. The name over the door they sent me was O'Connor. Now, you've already taken the time to construct this very code-heavy email, you mean to tell me that you couldn't insert the code that would stick my last name over the door? I understand that Rakauskas isn't very Irish-sounding, but if you give me the visual of what it could look like that very well could be what sways me. As it stands right now, forget it, I don't even want your stupid door.

-Alec Baldwin is coming out and saying that he's lost interest in acting and doesn't see himself continuing to do it much longer. Now, this is not the first time Baldwin has made a threat no one believes he will carry out; just like he said he would move to Canada if Bush won re-election in 2004. Look at that - he's still here (honestly, how he has managed to dodge the Sean Penn-level of annoyance is one of life's mysteries). Anyway, this proclamation does leave me with one central thought: how terrible must his new movie be? Honestly, the timing of his announcement makes it seems as if working on this film filled him with such dissatisfaction that he felt he had to take a step back and think about where his career is, only to decided that he would rather give up a successful acting career instead of continuing on this path. It's Complicated must be a steaming pile of crap.