# I pit the lack of mini-rants on the first page! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 13, 2008, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-lack-of-mini-rants-on-the-first-page/472498 "2008-11-13T05:54:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![burundi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3ec8ea/32.png) [@burundi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burundi)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-lack-of-mini-rants-on-the-first-page/472498/181 "2008-12-04T13:11:43Z")
> [@SpazCat](#): > > Then again, we do have a Yelling Preacher who stands in the middle of campus twice a week and screams about how we’re all going to hell because we’re all clearly FORNicators for going to a coeducational university. Reverend Birdsong, by any chance? I remember him from my days at NC State when he would call all the female students wearing pants sluts and whores. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-lack-of-mini-rants-on-the-first-page/472498/182 "2008-12-04T16:51:01Z")
Stop saying a series (books or TV) has “jumped the shark” just because you’re bored with it, or you don’t like the direction it’s taking. That’s not what “jumping the shark” means. Actually, stop saying “jumped the shark”. Period. ---
**Author:** ![Dante](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dante/32/9673_2.png) [@Dante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dante)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-lack-of-mini-rants-on-the-first-page/472498/183 "2008-12-04T17:56:53Z")
> [@SpazCat](#): > > Then again, we do have a Yelling Preacher who stands in the middle of campus twice a week and screams about how we’re all going to hell because we’re all clearly FORNicators for going to a coeducational university. Would have had me dead to rights there. I fornicated like a mad bastard while I was at university. ---
**Author:** ![Algher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Algher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algher)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-lack-of-mini-rants-on-the-first-page/472498/184 "2008-12-04T18:08:38Z")
> [@SpazCat](#): > > … we’re all going to hell because we’re all clearly FORNicators for going to a coeducational university. I miss being a fornicator at a coeducational university. It was fun. Wife: take a fucking nap. You are tired. You have had a period of conferences where you do not sleep well. You then get tired. When you are tired you get bitchy. Really bitchy. I am a nice guy, I ignore it. Then you turn the guns on our kids. I get defensive about our kids, no matter who is attacking. GET SOME FUCKING SLEEP BITCH. I do love you, but you were an absolute C\*\*\* this morning. Middle School Son: Quit lying to me about where you are on your homework. I changed your WOW password, and I am about to learn how to lock down the cable remote too. You have been warned. SIL: I am sorry your marraige sucks. I am going to drive many hours to spend Christmas with you. If you go raving bitch at my family (including my wife who will be tired and worthless for the holidays), it will only convince me to spend even LESS time at your house during the holidays. I WILL drink your husband’s good wine and scotch to make the time better, and I will continue to cook the Christmas feast. Buy the good roast, not the cheap shit too. You make enough money. Boss: Decide on a fucking strategy already. I am wearing 3 hats at this company, and you are making impossible for me to focus on one area to be successful. If the market was any better, I would jump ship in a second. ---
**Author:** ![Chanteuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de053/32.png) [@Chanteuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chanteuse)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-lack-of-mini-rants-on-the-first-page/472498/185 "2008-12-04T18:15:51Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > Stop saying a series (books or TV) has “jumped the shark” just because you’re bored with it, or you don’t like the direction it’s taking. That’s not what “jumping the shark” means. > > Actually, stop saying “jumped the shark”. Period. Honestly. That old cliche has _SO_ jum… Ahem, uh, yeah, what I meant is, that phrase is getting really tiresome! _d & r_ ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-lack-of-mini-rants-on-the-first-page/472498/186 "2008-12-04T18:54:40Z")
> [@Algher](#): > > Then you turn the guns on our kids. I get defensive about our kids, no matter who is attacking. Hellz yes, that is one that really burns my biscuit. Dear Hubby, leave the kids out of it, I don’t care who at work pissed you off, it wasn’t our kids. Today I get an invitation to Hubby’s office Xmas party, which will be next week. In another town (30 minute drive). On a weeknight. Where, I’m sure, the hostess will serve GRITS as she has done for the past several years. I tried to tell Hubby I wasn’t going but he looked so crestfallen that I said OK. Grrrr. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-lack-of-mini-rants-on-the-first-page/472498/187 "2008-12-04T22:57:31Z")
Our staff Christmas party this year (well, Jim’s party, that we both go to) isn’t so bad, except for having cocktails starting at 5:30 at a downtown hotel. Almost no one at the company works downtown, so we will all be facing rush hour traffic to get downtown and try to find parking while everyone else in Calgary is trying to leave downtown. I think we might just show up in time for dinner and save our blood pressure. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-lack-of-mini-rants-on-the-first-page/472498/188 "2008-12-04T23:23:59Z")
> [@NinetyWt](#): > > Today I get an invitation to Hubby’s office Xmas party, which will be next week. In another town (30 minute drive). On a weeknight. Where, I’m sure, the hostess will serve GRITS as she has done for the past several years. I tried to tell Hubby I wasn’t going but he looked so crestfallen that I said OK. Grrrr. Wait…what’s wrong with grits? ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-lack-of-mini-rants-on-the-first-page/472498/189 "2008-12-04T23:30:45Z")
> [@Asimovian](#): > > Wait…what’s wrong with grits? They’re good enough for the President’s Christmas party: [For First Lady, White House Nostalgia](http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/04/us/04yule.html) > [@](#): > > In an informal talk far more wide ranging than at previous holiday sessions — one year Mrs. Bush answered only two questions — she went well beyond why the red, white and blue theme was chosen for this year’s Christmas (patriotism), the elaborate menus that call for 300 pounds of cheesy grits and 22,000 cookies and how, in keeping with the economy, she and the president would carefully spend their Christmas money on a house in Dallas in January. She spoke nostalgically about what she would miss most. I think **NinetyWt** may be one of those elitists we’ve been hearing so much about. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-lack-of-mini-rants-on-the-first-page/472498/190 "2008-12-04T23:37:38Z")
> [@burundi](#): > > Reverend Birdsong, by any chance? I remember him from my days at NC State when he would call all the female students wearing pants sluts and whores. I haven’t seen Birdbrain in years. I think he got kicked off of campus for being too aggressive to students. This is a different guy. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-lack-of-mini-rants-on-the-first-page/472498/191 "2008-12-05T01:08:13Z")
> [@Asimovian](#): > > Wait…what’s wrong with grits? I love grits. I just wanted to say that. Mmm. Cheesey grits. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-lack-of-mini-rants-on-the-first-page/472498/192 "2008-12-05T03:58:23Z")
I’ve got a coworker trying to sell me on the concept of cheesy grits. I don’t understand cheese with grits. At all. But apparently she’s going to make me try it. ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-lack-of-mini-rants-on-the-first-page/472498/193 "2008-12-05T04:17:30Z")
> [@Asimovian](#): > > I’ve got a coworker trying to sell me on the concept of cheesy grits. I don’t understand cheese with grits. At all. But apparently she’s going to make me try it. If they’re made properly, You.Will.Love.Them. Especially with shrimp and garlic! ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-lack-of-mini-rants-on-the-first-page/472498/194 "2008-12-05T04:19:22Z")
> [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](#): > > If they’re made properly, You.Will.Love.Them. Especially with shrimp and garlic! Oh God, people…seriously! I grew up with a black grandmother from the south! Grits contain butter and salt and pepper! Why are you throwing all this other shit into it?! Grits is grits!!! ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-lack-of-mini-rants-on-the-first-page/472498/195 "2008-12-05T04:25:34Z")
Oh, and back on my own mini-rant for a moment. I’m going to DC this weekend. I’ve been very much looking forward to getting away from LA and LA weather for a few days. When I first started looking at the long-range forecast for DC for the time I’d be there, it looked like it was going to snow and be in the 30s for two of the four days I’d be there! (hooray!) Then I looked the next day, and there was no snow, only maybe a little rain, and one of the days in the 50s (boo!) Then there was maybe one day of snow, one day of rain, and temps in the 30s and 40s. (hooray?) Then all the snow was cancelled and temps would be steadily increasing after I arrived. (boo) There have been days where the forecast has changed multiple times in the same day. Currently, the Weather Channel tells me there _might_ be a snow flurry on the day I arrive (which means it’ll probably happen before my flight lands) and then maybe a little rain the day I leave, followed by snow after I leave. :mad: * * * OK, SERIOUSLY!!! I got distracted and walked away for 20 minutes before I posted this. I come back and look at [weather.com](http://weather.com) again to double-check my facts, and now ALL the f’in snow predictions are gone again! Grrr!!! The hell, DC?!?! The hell!! ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-lack-of-mini-rants-on-the-first-page/472498/196 "2008-12-05T04:30:11Z")
> [@Asimovian](#): > > Oh God, people…seriously! I grew up with a black grandmother from the south! Grits contain butter and salt and pepper! Why are you throwing all this other shit into it?! Grits is grits!!! Yeah, nobody from the South has ever heard of shrimp and grits… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-lack-of-mini-rants-on-the-first-page/472498/197 "2008-12-05T04:40:47Z")
> [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](#): > > If they’re made properly, You.Will.Love.Them. Especially with shrimp and garlic! This is another one of those food jokes people from the south delight in: Okra, and collard greens are others. “If they’re made properly…” Bah. It’s just a scam to fool more gullible people. More seriously, I’m sure that someone could make those foods edible, but after two tries with two different people assuring me ‘they’re better here,’ I’m done. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-lack-of-mini-rants-on-the-first-page/472498/198 "2008-12-05T04:42:54Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > I think **NinetyWt** may be one of those elitists we’ve been hearing so much about. Elitist?! Hahahaaaaaaahaahaaha!! Oh lawzy, you made me laugh and laugh. Hee hee. _wipes tear from eye_. Thanks, I needed that. Of course there’s nothing wrong with grits. Even poorly made grits. But do you _have_ to serve them EVERY YEAR at the Christmas Party ?! What’s wrong with cheese & crackers? [QUOTE=Asimovian] Why are you throwing all this other shit into it?! Grits is grits!!! [/QUOTE] And now you see why I don’t care for these gussied-up-cut-into-squares things she calls grits. ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-lack-of-mini-rants-on-the-first-page/472498/199 "2008-12-05T21:18:41Z")
This doesn’t deserve a whole thread on its own, so I’ll say it here where it can be buried in a pretty much unrelated thread. When people make threads along the lines of “what’s your favorite…?” or “who is the greatest (blank) of all time?” stop fucking replying with “I can’t believe there are X replies and nobody has mentioned Y yet!” Nothing on this board, including Der Trihs’ angry persistence to be as vile as possible, is more annoying. Seriously, look at every single thread with “what’s your favorite” or “who/what is the best” -like titles. On the first page someone says that retarded fucking line, every damned time. Quit it! ---
**Author:** ![cwthree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de0a6/32.png) [@cwthree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cwthree)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-lack-of-mini-rants-on-the-first-page/472498/200 "2008-12-05T23:44:56Z")
> [@Asimovian](#): > > I don’t understand cheese with grits. Mmmmm. Cheese. Enough good cheese makes _anything_ good, even grits. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-lack-of-mini-rants-on-the-first-page/472498.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-lack-of-mini-rants-on-the-first-page/472498.md?page=11)