Adam J. Choit

What can I say, I’m pretty much a Words with Friends junkie.  I suppose that’s better than being, well, a regular junkie.  But nevertheless, it’s probably an addiction I could do without.  My story is, when I play random users, I tend to have a pretty good record.  But when playing against people I know, I often struggle more.  Oh well.  Not that this is always the case of course, but since I began playing Words with Friends, I generally tend to beat the same people over and over again, and also typically lose to the same people over and over again.

When trailing in a game, it goes without saying how discouraging this can be for some of us (me).  But I rarely give up on a game (mentally), and even less frequently click “resign” in the middle of a duel.  After all, I’ve been involved in some games that have had some dramatic comebacks, and have been on both the winning and losing sides of games such as these.  When trailing, you really just gotta be patient, continue to play your game, and not take the 17 point word risking giving up an 80 point one.

But I hate it when the other person reaches the next digit in the hundreds before me — even in a game that’s relatively close and still within reach.  It’s like, I’d almost rather be down 347-308, than be down 330-292…even though being down 330-292 would put me closer to my opponent than the other score.  I’d just rather be in the 300′s, like my opponent.  It “looks better.”

“Ooh look at me.  I’m in the 300′s and you’re not yet.  Bet you’d like to know how this feels.” —- That’s what I hear in my opponent’s head when they reach the next digit in the hundreds column before me.

But yes, I’m not insane, and will always in actuality prefer to be down 38 points as opposed to 39.

But whether you’re down 38, 39, 50, or 100 points, I encourage you all not to give up.  Stay focused, play your game, and keep at it.

..now only if I was as determined in other, more important areas of my life….

I’m pretty sure that in order to be considered cool, you have to “discover” stuff before other people do.  I’m usually the last to know about something — or just don’t care about whatever it is in the first place.  So being, or becoming cool probably isn’t on the horizon for me anytime soon.

But in general, a lot of humans love to become all dramatic on each other, when one of us hasn’t heard a particular song, or started watching some new tv show yet.  We (the discoverers) take so much pride in this.  We sometimes talk and act like we are the ones actually in the band or something.  I do think it’s admirable to be a fan from the beginning, but I think we can all probably take it down a notch.

Its like, we’ll see someone post a meme on Facebook, and react all— “Will you look at what this fool has posted..I have seen this already.  Like five months ago.  And no one posts those anymore. You loser..How dare you post something I’ve already seen..You are the most unhip person, ever…You should kill yourself.”

Idk, I assume we’ve all encouraged a suicide at one point or another while scrolling through our newsfeed on Facebook. Or maybe it’s just me.  Who knows.

Recently I heard a story from a friend of mine (a girl) who went out on a first date with a guy she had met on a dating site.  Based on what I was told, the guy was definitely a bit strange.

For example, one thing she told me stuck out in my mind from her recap of the date.  She told me that during the date, he mentioned the photos she shares on the website.  “You’re much better looking than in your photos,” he said.  That sounds like a harmless compliment, but he went on.  “I don’t know if you’re profile reflects that…You don’t have any glamour shots.”

Why would he be overly concerned about the quality of her photo gallery on the dating site?  Is he worried about her being able to get future dates?  This makes no sense to me.  After all, wouldn’t it be to his benefit to have found a girl who’s more desirable in person, than in photos posted online?  Does he want to increase his competition?

Some people have good gaydar, and some people have other unique senses and skills.

So, do you know anyone who can look at pics online without having met the person, and be able to definitively proclaim that the person looks much better in person?  –  because that skill might just come in handy in today’s modern world.

To follow up on yesterday, here’s another example of an “I’d-sure-think-about-doing-that, but-never-act-upon-it” type of thought.

One of the more popular kind of photos that you see posted on Facebook is a photograph that features a group of 5+ girls in a row, in their outfits — and either out, or ready to go out for the evening.  Because I leave in reality, let me articulate what every heterosexual male thinks when they come across this type of photo with a group of girls in it.  Guys go from left to right, look at each girl, and say to themselves, “Yes.  No. Yes. Maybe. No. No. Yes.”

Now just if only one guy out there (someone probably has I assume) would actually post that as a comment — the whole “Yes. No. Yes. Maybe. No. No. Yes.”  Admittedly, I would never do so, in fear of being labeled an inappropriate judgmental sexist pig.  But if it’s true that we guys already have these thoughts in our head, umm, what does that make all of us?  I guess it’s ok to be an innapropriate sexist pig, as long as you’re only that in your head.

In many cases, I bet girls do the same exact thing.  Surely many wimmens must look at our bro-ish dude pics with us and our friends in them, and think to themselves, “I’d do him, not him, him, not him, him maybe, him for sure.” And the same goes for the gays too, and everyone really when they’re looking at these types of group photos.

Anyway, if I ever see someone post a comment like this on Facebook, I wouldn’t outwardly endorse it (in fact I might condemn it), but at the same time I’d probably laugh and say “wow” in my head.  And if you weren’t a “no” in the photo itself, you might just chuckle in your head as well — and doing so probably wouldn’t make you the worst person in the world.

It’s not always the worst thing in the world to have thoughts/ideas that could be deemed as inappropriate.   In other words, it’s one thing to have devious thoughts, but it’s another thing to share, or even act upon them.  Fortunately, this blog is perhaps the ideal forum in which I can express my “I’d-sure-think-about-doing-that, but-never-act-upon-it” type of thoughts.

I would bet that the average Facebook user has at least a few hundred friends.  This means he or she probably frequently gets invites to events via Facebook.  (I like to often point out somewhat jokingly that without Facebook, I’d never get invited to anything).  Anyway, once in while you’ll see a status like “What’s good tonight?” or “What’s everyone up to tonight?” or “What’s everyone up to for July 4th?”

Once in a while I’m kinda tempted to post something like those statuses mentioned above.  Then I’ll find myself reconsidering, because I usually realize I’ve already been invited to an event by a Facebook friend.  I mean, if that person should read my status, surely they’d think, “Wtf.  Why is this person acting like they have no options, and is looking for something to do?  Is my party not good enough for him?”

Overwhelmingly, most people skip out on events not because it’s a personal thing with the person who invited them.  Even if I were get a Facebook-invite to a circle jerk event that’s taking place two hours from where I live, I still wouldn’t publically announce in a status that I’m looking for something else to do that night.  What can I say.  I guess I’m just too nice, even to the hypothetical circle jerk organizers.

Another “You probably shouldn’t post this on Facebook” post coming soon.

This whole thing kind of confuses me.  Whether it’s Facebook, Twitter, or whatever — very often people will create posts on the Internet in which they will self-censor themselves.  Specifically on Facebook, I’m sure you’ve seen people post stuff like, “What a f#*kin’ sh*tty day today was.”

Ok, first of all, everyone knows which words you are using — “fuckin” and “shitty.”  So if everyone already knows what you’re saying, why not just say it?  I think perhaps when obscenities are typed out in their natural state, they read more harshly to people.  Isn’t that the point of using curse words in the first place though? — to be bold, to make statements stronger, etc.  I mean, if your fuckin’ shitty day wasn’t really that fuckin’ shitty, then don’t say it was.

If you don’t feel comfortable cursing, and doing so is “just not you,” just stick to words like “friggin” or “frickin” or “effin.”  If you really did have a fuckin’ shitty day, and feel the need to tell people, I say don’t censor yourself.  Who or what exactly is being protected by using symbols in place of letters?

If you’re attempting to protect kids that might be able view such foul language (on Facebook), you should:

a) Change privacy settings to limit who can see curse words you post or b) just not use them

Otherwise, you’re really just insulting the intelligence of kids by attempting to censor yourself — as if they aren’t smart enough to decipher what you’re saying.  As much as I don’t like it, I can at least understand the thought process in terms of why newspapers (I think they still exist) or network television might blur or bleep obscenities —- but your 11 year old cousin will not be scarred for life if you post on Facebook that you had a “fuckin’ shitty day”

But if you do post that you had a “f#*kin’ sh*tty day,” your cousin will probably just think you are a p*ssy — errr, I mean pussy.

So I saw this TV commercial the other day for DirecTV.  Perhaps you’ve seen this one as well:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poK5xL7hDEA

Wow.  How obnoxious is this?  Is that really an issue of concern for the average TV viewer these days?  Is it necessary that we be able to pause our TV, then move to another room in our house, and then continue our program there?

Listen, I understand the progression of television viewing.  We’ve gone from one black & white TV set per household, to color TV’s, to multiple color TV’s per household, to HD TV’s, to HD TV’s with DVR, etc, etc.  Technology advances, I get it.  But when does it end?

I don’t blame people in third world countries for getting pissed off at America if they happened to catch this commercial.

But then again, they probably don’t have access to any TV to even watch it on at all.

I have to admit, I’m pretty much an addict at this point.  No, it’s not drugs or alcohol (I don’t think), and no it’s not gambling.

Yup, I’m addicted to Words with Friends, the mobile phone word game.  It’s basically Scrabble, but with a few minor differences.  Most notably, the double and triple letter/word score boxes appear in different places on the board than they do on a standard Scrabble board.

Also, as compared to Scrabble, there is no challenging the other player’s words on the board, and the game will just tell you if a word you attempt isn’t acceptable.  In addition, WWF games tend to last hours, days, and sometimes even weeks — since players can pretty much take as much time as they want before making a move.

With Words with Friends, one can play up to 20 games at a time.  Now despite my addiction, I’m proud to say I don’t think I’ve ever had more than 12 games going at any given time.  Although I’ve never reached the 20 game maximum, perhaps my addiction is highlighted in the fact that overwhelmingly, I’m usually waiting for my opponents to make their moves, and not the other way around.

Perhaps this just means I’m on top of things —- or maybe I’m just on top of my Words with Friends games, and not other, more important things in my life.

I really don’t know what this says about these two groups of people, but nevertheless, there are two kinds of people in life — those waiting for others to make their moves in Words with Friends, and those who’ve yet to make their moves.

These days pretty much everyone has their cell phone attached at the hip.  Take a look — at the bar, at the coffee shop, at the supermarket — At least one person around (if not many people) will be doing something with their cell phone.  Our phones are our livelihoods, and our connection to the world.  Especially now with iPhones and other smart phones, this technology can pretty much do just about anything.  Anything!

Keeping in mind that everyone has their phones on them at all times, it’s funny how we as humans like to make excuses and rationalizations as far as why someone doesn’t text them back.   These kinds of issues are more associated with dating, but can apply to other situations as well.

All day long all we see is people fiddling with their phones, then when you’re waiting for that girl (or guy) you like to text back, we start to wonder…….

“Hmmm, maybe she didn’t my text.  Sometimes people don’t get texts” (Just keep telling yourself that)

“Maybe her phone died” (Sure, she hasn’t had access to a charger for over 36 hours now)

“Maybe she’s just been busy lately” (Everyone is busy.  Do you really think that’s the reason someone hasn’t responded to you?)

“Maybe she had an emergency” (Unlikely, and besides, most people are “checking-in” at hospitals and posting pics on FB from the emergency room anyway these days.  Of course, texting you back is not a possibility due to the injury)

“Perhaps one of her relatives died and she’s dealing with that” (Hot girls must sure have a lot of dying relatives)

For me, I tend to protect my ego just by telling myself that every time a person doesn’t text back ASAP, it must mean they’re in the movies with their phone off….but even that rationalization only buys you a few extra hours.

The other day I was chatting online with my friend Steve, and like 98% of our conversations, this wasn’t one of the serious nature in the least bit.

Hey started typing in capital letters by mistake, but went with it:

Steve:  I’M ONLY USING CAPS — I’M YELLIN EVERYTHING.

This is when I had to explain to him that using caps (this all applies to texting too) does not necessarily equal yelling.

Using exclamation points means yelling:

“This is yelling!”

Using capital letters just means that either you’re trying to be really clear about something, or possibly sarcastic.

“batteries are in the TOP DRAWER.”

or

“YES.  I HONESTLY THINK SARAH PALIN IS A BRIGHT WOMAN.”

Now, you can also use exclamation points with capital letters as well sometimes.

“THIS IS YELLING!”

That was yelling, and these are the rules.