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My dying wish is for an owl/camel hybrid, which I call camowl.

Markers that look like syringes, and old salad dressing.

The only way I'm going to get out of this not-writing rut is by calling the shot and forcing my hand, so, I solemnly swear to post a new article by Tuesday night. It's going to be about the cruise, and chances are good that the article will be a big old mess. Unlike the Disney review, where every picture was worth a thousand words, here I'm finding that the pictures aren't worth more than seven words. Seriously, I've got pictures of neon blue martinis, and of people lining up for a taco buffet, and of poker chips on an ugly bedspread...and that's pretty much it. I'm going to have to scan my boarding pass just to prove that I really went on a cruise.

I also have another article that I started writing over a month ago and got about 65% finished. In the spirit of penance, maybe I'll gut whatever's outdated and finish that too. Not willing to bold tag any deadline promises on that one, though. Come to think of it, there's another article that's similarly half-finished and has been sitting that way for almost five months now. Maybe I'll do that too. Or maybe I'll spend the week painting wicker baskets with checkerboard themes. Life is full of surprises -- like free magic markers that look like syringes.


It was nearly impossible to resist buying Re-Animator on DVD, because aside from it being a pretty great movie featuring a scene where a disembodied head tries to rape a chick, the DVD also comes with a free, limited edition, exclusive, never-before-seen highlighter shaped like a syringe. It's been a while since I'd seen the movie in full, and it really holds up as one of the most must-see trash horror flicks of the '80s. You'll rarely find subject matter so disturbing and stupid approached with such passion. Re-Animator has a reputation, but it's not so immense that everyone' has seen it. If you're one of the skippers, stop it. See it once. Preferably if the opportunity comes with the side dish of a complimentary novelty highlighter. Can't wait to comb Moby Dick for the e-word.

Got this one at Best Buy, along with The Golden Girls Season 4. Carrying those two DVDs up to the checkout woman at least helped annihilate what might've otherwise been some underlying sexual tension between vendor and client.

In other news, I've slowly been planning a revamp to my office, because it is a fucking disaster area, and because now that I've gone freelance, more time is going to be spent at home. I can't bring myself to throw anything out, but at the same time, I'm picking up various things and can't help but wonder why I "need" to own them. Does anyone really "need" three incomplete "Bigfoot" board games from Milton Bradley? Maybe, but can you say the same for a bottle of salad dressing from 1987? Just you try it.


Yup, it's Kraft's "Creamy Cucumber" reduced calorie dressing, sealed, with an expiration date of 3/4/1987. (Which means it's most likely from 1986, but let's be conservative.) Incredibly, the gunk inside doesn't look at all soured, to the point where I'd be willing to tempt fate and smell the goods if there was a good enough reason to unplug the bottle. Personally, I find the fact that I've probably got the oldest sealed bottle of salad dressing on the planet far too attractive to unscrew the top on a mere macabre fascination with what the contents might smell like.

I know X-E has some younger readers, and if you're one of them, consider this: This bottle of salad dressing is older than you! Wow. Brainfreeze.

In any event, "Creamy Cucumber" dressing, especially a "lite" version of it, is pretty close to the most disgusting thing I can think of. I hate cucumbers. If I had a nickel for every tiny cucumber frisbee I've pulled from a salad bowl, I'd be king of the nickel people.

Sopranos finale spoiler: Everybody dies except Rosalie Aprile, who spends the final twelve minutes of the episode singing "Tainted Love" with an intentionally bad Irish accent. Word on the street is that this sets up the spinoff show, The Sopranros, which is a pretty clever title if you give it a chance.

Posted by Matt on 06/10/2007. E-mail me!



Discussion Thread: 130 comments

Am I the only one here besides Matt that is older than the dressing (birthdate October 25, 1984)? I also don’t like cucumbers, but I don’t really know when that started.
I am also be the only one who is not much interested in the Sopranos finale; I don’t have cable, so I’ve never seen a single episode, and I don’t really have the inclination to seek them out.

Chestnuts roasted by Thomas @ 06/10/2007 8:57 PM


Matt, is that cat hair on the bottle of dressing or is it so old the glass is molding?

By the way, try to watch this and not laugh. I lasted all the way to ‘with my golf friends.’ Seriously. No laughing.

Chestnuts roasted by Bill @ 06/10/2007 9:18 PM


Nevermind. Didn’t work I guess.

Chestnuts roasted by Bill @ 06/10/2007 9:20 PM


That salad dressing is too gross! I’m only slightly older than it by a few months.

For the writing rut: have you tried reading other people’s articles about pop culture stuff lately? A friend of mine says she does that when she’s in a rut and it really helps get her motivated (no matter what she’s writing about). I think I speak for everyone when I say we miss your articles!

Chestnuts roasted by Ladytink_534 @ 06/10/2007 9:55 PM


Don’t worry Thomas, I was 2 months shy of 6 when Creamy Cucumber decided to expire.
You know, I’ve only ever seen 1 complete episode of the Sopranos and it was also the Pine Barrens episode. Of course my dad used to work in the Piney’s so we laughed our asses off at all the inaccuracies.
Can’t wait for the new articles Matt. I’ve been needing good reading material while I slack at work!

Chestnuts roasted by Ann @ 06/10/2007 10:00 PM


Jesus I feel old. I was 10 when it expired. :(

K- Congrats! :D How many hours did you log?

Chestnuts roasted by Ryane @ 06/10/2007 10:08 PM


I don’t know about any of you, but I’m seriously disappointed with the Sopranos finale…

Happy SUNDAY NT.

Chestnuts roasted by Mary Mary @ 06/10/2007 10:14 PM


Thank you, Ann. As to the Pine Barrens, I know virtually nothing about them; I am from California, and have been no further east than eight miles east of Blackburn, Missouri. It was my grandparents’ farm and there was nothing but corn and soy fields for miles in every direction.

Chestnuts roasted by Thomas @ 06/10/2007 10:14 PM


Matt- You are living my dream, being able to freelance write from home for a living. Wow. I have just recently started to get serious about my writing (this involves working at a bookstore in the day, reading as much as possible for free, and writing as much as I can at when not at said bookstore.) I gave up “real” jobs so I could have more time to write. Keep living the dream, man.

Chestnuts roasted by Muppet Baby @ 06/10/2007 10:19 PM


50 dollars for the dressing.

Chestnuts roasted by Jarzilla @ 06/10/2007 10:21 PM


213. I’m not done with everything, but I had to get it off my plate. It was bugging me. I’ll go back to it later, like I did with X.

ON TO BUSINESS!!

***Sopranos Spoilers Sopranos Spoilers Sopranos Spoilers***

I know I’m the guy who has been bitching for about 2.5 seasons, I know I am. Squee is right, I am THAT guy. But tonight just seemed to leave the right amount open, and get done what needed to be done.

LOVED AJ realizing that ‘hey, the world ain’t okay, but it’s aiight”
LOVED Phil getting his punk-ass skull runover. Even if I didn’t get to see it.
LOVED The tension and “no payoff” of the last scene.
LOVED The “black out” and dead silence.

***Sopranos Spoilers Sopranos Spoilers Sopranos Spoilers***

Chestnuts roasted by K- @ 06/10/2007 10:21 PM


I know I’m gonna look like an idiot for asking this, and once I know the answer, I’m sure I’ll realize what an idiot I am, but… “the e-word?” What e-word? Am I missing something? (I feel confident that I am missing something, but I still want to know what, exactly.)

Anyway, I look forward to articles. The salad dressing looks a little scary to me, and don’t worry, boring pictures are pretty much the perfect thing to convince me you were on a cruise. Everyone who goes on a cruise brings back boring pictures. No matter how exciting the photographed events were at the time, the pictures may as well be of a wake.

Chestnuts roasted by etho @ 06/10/2007 10:36 PM


Would I be willing to eat a salad dressing approximately as old as I am? No.

Would an article about someone else eating it be considered genius? Yes.

Chestnuts roasted by Lethargi @ 06/10/2007 10:42 PM


I loved the final episode, did not love the “Wait…what happened?” at the end.

Chestnuts roasted by Jeff Mack @ 06/10/2007 10:47 PM


I bought that of the Re-Animator DVD, some weeks ago. Although I’ve never the movie before, I didn’t regret buying it. I’ll swear that I’ll never use the marker. It will stay in his plastic wrap and if someone dares using it, I’ll rip his head off.

Cucumber dressing seems gross. It’s reminding me when I found a Pogo’s corndog mix in my mom’s food safe. I think it was older than me; I was 5 when I found it. I guess my mom threw it away when she made a big cleaning of the food safe, a couple of years ago.

Chestnuts roasted by Lily @ 06/10/2007 10:50 PM


“Wessssssssst!” :)

Sorry for the double post but it is X-E related so I doubt Matt would mind.
I’ve accidentally broken through the social conciousness (sorta) ! At least Matt was citied as a source. Click my name.

On more relevant topics:
1.Good to have you back, Matt.
2. Never had HBO thus never seen any SOPRANOS episodes. :(
3. Wow. I guess there are a lot of youngins on here. I was 7 when it expired.
4. Love the ReAnimator but thumbsdown on The BRide of ReAnimator.
5. Can you tell school’s out and this teacher has got nothing but time on his hands??? (until next month’s arrival anyway).

Chestnuts roasted by The Manimal @ 06/10/2007 10:51 PM


School isn’t out til Tuesday, and I have to work tomorrow.

They lied to me. It may be a half day, but OH IT’S FIELD DAY TOO!!!!

Kneggy don’t play that.

Chestnuts roasted by K- @ 06/10/2007 11:05 PM


***Sopranos Spoilers Sopranos Spoilers***

Loved the ending and hope I’m not in the minority. This is one case where I’d prefer things left to the imagination — either of the two possible extremes would’ve seemed almost flat. (And the happier of the two extremes would’ve been totally flat.)

Especially loved Pauly’s ongoing thing with the cat. The transition from broom-as-cat-demolisher into everyday-sweeping had me rolling.

I am SATISFIED!

***End Sopranos Spoilers***

Chestnuts roasted by Matt @ 06/10/2007 11:13 PM


***Sopranos Spoilers Sopranos Spoilers***

I sooo forgot about the broom!!! ROFL.
I hope people appreciate them fucking with us at the end. It only seemed fair. Jeff Mack didn’t, but what are ya gonna do?

A+ on fucking with us.

***Sopranos Spoilers Sopranos Spoilers***

Chestnuts roasted by K- @ 06/10/2007 11:33 PM


I’m watching this program on the History channel about how the world is going to end. I love these dooms day prophecy shows. Does that make me a bad person?

Chestnuts roasted by Bill @ 06/11/2007 12:26 AM


South Park Was Freaking Hysterical Tonight.

Chestnuts roasted by 91Testarossa @ 06/11/2007 12:36 AM


Woo-hoo! I’m eight years older than than bottle of salad dressing. I once chewed a piece of bubble gum from 1978. It tasted like dusty cardboard, and it disintegrated in my mouth. I thought I would share that with you all. Anyway, good to have you back Matt!

Chestnuts roasted by Donata05 @ 06/11/2007 12:40 AM


So, I’ve seen every season of The Sopranos but this one. No HBO for me. I know I could have downloaded it ep. by ep., but I have a thing about getting shows any other way but by season. I’ve been waiting for the Soprano’s and The Shield with much anticiapation.

Matt- I wouldn’t worry about the October and December writing thing. I only learned about X-E two years ago. First thing I did was to read the Halloween and X-mas archives. Even if I hadn’t had an interest in everything else X-E, I’d still look forward to those holiday seasons here. I’ll take blog posts over articles any day, if it means that I have two months of the year to anticipate.

Chestnuts roasted by MissJess @ 06/11/2007 12:54 AM


Squee, we need your take, helloooo!!! :D

Chestnuts roasted by K- @ 06/11/2007 1:27 AM


Well, I like cucumbers… one of the few veggies I’ll eat, actually.

And I’m not sure it’s worth it, man. All the creamy cucumber dressing I’ve seen is white. I think you might be putting your life at risk here.

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

Chestnuts roasted by LBD "Nytetrayn" @ 06/11/2007 1:48 AM


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