We’ll call it #532 even though I bet I’ve compiled such a list more times than that. But that sounds like a good number. Besides which, 5 is the sum of 3+2. So okay.
- Christmas albums with “new” songs on them. Seriously, people. The world likes about 35 standard hymns and seasonal songs. Sing a bunch of those and you can’t go wrong. But every Tom, Dick and Clay who puts out a Christmas album has to add a new or original song. Usually it’s about how we should keep the Christmas spirit alive all year long. But whereas the classics evoke warm feelings of the season and memories of happy holidays past, the new song always just sounds like nagging. Third rate hackish nagging.
- People whose cities make no sense. I’ve been playing a lot of city games lately, and I’m so tired of seeing people who put no roads or zones in their cities and just have a bunch of buildings mashed together. What is the point of a city game if not to create a livable city? Seriously. Tell me. Why do you play that and not some Tangram puzzle that just involves fitting shapes together?
- People who won’t use Google. It’s a freakin’ household word. It’s not hard to find. If there is something you don’t know LOOK IT UP. Is there some “look it up” bone that is broken in some people? I’ve seen so many folks on Facebook and blog comments take the everlovin’ time to type out the equivalent of “I don’t understand what you’re talking about” when they could have just looked it up, educated themselves and avoided flaunting their ignorance –all in the same amount of time. Granted, I’ve got a huge Bone for looking things up, so maybe I just don’t understand that fundamental lack of curiousity in other people. But still.
- Jacket Blurbs about how this book is the next Harry Potter or Game Of Thrones. Because it NEVER is. Never. Not once. I read all the time. And I promise you that these things you taunt me with are not delivering in the manner you promised.
- The free Christian books on Kindle that don’t tell you they’re Christian books. They used to say the publisher or have “Faith Fiction”/”Inspirational Fiction” clearly marked. Now you have to go digging to make sure that what you’re about to read is not going to proselytise. Christians already know the message and non-Christians don’t want to be blindsided with it. So you’re doing no one any favours. Although let me say that I’m getting to be a practiced hand at discerning. If a woman has to flee her troubles by moving back home only to fall in love with the handsome town doctor, chances are she also rediscovers Jesus. (How many times can you write that same story, ladies?!?!)
1. Worse yet, people who try to make classic Christmas songs “their own.” It’s fine to add just a hint of your style to a classic Christmas song, but once you start modifying the freaking melody, you’re going WAYYY too far.
3. Probably because I share your compulsion to look everything up constantly, but I tend to know alot of relatively useless, obscure information, so TheBoyfriend™ will often ask me some strange question while he’s sitting at an internet connected computer and I’m not. I always say “Really? you’re gonna ask me when you have the collective knowledge of the internet one google search away?”
Have you seen “let me google that for you?” I’m always tempted to answer with it when encountering #3.