More things that must go

Yes, I know it is the holiday season and a time to be charitable, but there are several more things I just have to add to my "things that must go" list. Here goes:

1. Rabid couponers who must post photos of their finds on Facebook whenever they go shopping. There's a reason they call it "extreme couponing." I don't need to see pictures of the rolls of toilet paper you bought or the boxes of macaroni and cheese and hear that you got everything for just $7.59. That's great that you have time on your hands to clip coupons and scan weekly ads for even better deals -- but I really don't care, and I don't want to hear about it.

2. The obligatory Christmas poems with incorrect rhythm. Unless it is freestyle, (read: doesn't have a set pattern and doesn't need to rhyme) a poem needs to have the same rhythm on every line. This is why Shakespeare was and is the master of poetry: his sonnets stuck to a RIGID iambic pentameter and flowed beautifully off the tongue; they were meant to be read aloud. There are way too many Christmas poems (and other holiday poems, for that matter) that just throw sentences together and rhyme the end of the second and fourth lines of the quatrains and call it good. OK, sorry. Please excuse all of the poetry terms there. It just REALLY bugs me when I read a poem out loud and the rhythm is way off.

Actually, that's it for now. Obviously, I read one too many bad Christmas poems this week. :)

Things that must go

This is my "blowing off steam" picture.

I listen to a radio station in the morning for a few minutes on the way to work that has a weekly "Things that Must Go" feature. One week, the radio hosts list a few of the things that bother them, and the next week, it's up to listeners to send in their complaints.

This week, I've decided to create my own things that must go list. Don't worry; this is not going to be a weekly or even monthly thing. It's just my little vent-for-a-minute-about-things-that-annoy-me-and-then-go-back-to-life post. Note: Take this all with a grain of salt. As Andrew can tell you, things that bother me don't always bug anyone else -- but it's still fun to occasionally get them off your chest. :)

Couples who combine their Facebook profiles into one. OK. I understand when you get married that you want to "become one," but this does NOT mean that you can no longer have your own Facebook profile or -- heaven forbid -- your own email address. Every time I see a "Fred N' Ginger Rogers" or "TomandKatie Holmes-Cruise," I die a little inside. Really? You don't have the time to manage your own Facebook profile and keep in touch with your own friends, so you merge your spouse's profile with yours and then make it impossible for someone to know who, in fact, they are actually getting when they write on your wall? Here's a suggestion. Keep your own profile and your own individual posts and friends so that people can contact YOU and not "andDave." And please leave the "'n" to '90s musical groups like Salt-n-Pepa.

Give-us-money mail from universities. I am proud to tell people that I attended BYU-Idaho, and if I am ever wealthy, I would definitely like to be one of those philanthropists who donates money to scholarship funds or pledges enough for a new building named after them (doesn't the Wilcox auditorium have a nice ring to it?) But until that time comes, if it ever does, I do NOT need letter after letter from the university asking that I contribute and get my husband to contribute and ask our EMPLOYERS if they will match our contributions and submit my personal information so they can update their alumni database. This must go.

The omission of Gilmore Girls from ABC Family. Yes, I own four seasons of the show already, but this does not mean that you can just remove one of the greatest sitcoms of all time from your lineup and replace it with hours of That 70's Show, Pretty Little Liars and -- the worst of them all -- America's Funniest Home Videos. On the other hand, you have made it much easier for me to start weaning myself off cable TV, so maybe this isn't such a bad thing. But really? I'm sure I'm not the only one missing my Rory and Lorelai fix every weekday night.

OK, three things are enough for this list. I do feel better -- and I encourage you all to write your own things that must go if you're like me and just want to gripe about the silly things that bother you. It can be incredibly cathartic.