TJ Answers Your Burning Questions, Part 1
May 4th, 2009 | by TJ |So, Phil signed me up for about 480 magazine subscriptions. They’re all over the place. I pull out coupons and recipes that I intend to use, but mostly, once you’ve read through it once, a magazine is pretty much done.
Something almost all magazines feature is an advice column of some kind or another, and every time I read one, I am struck by the fact that holy CRAP, I could do so much better than these people do. So, from now on, I have decided that whenever I come across an abject failure to dispense proper advice, I will come here and tell you how it should have been answered.
For my inaugural question, I found this gem in Women’s Health magazine:
My boyfriend and I have been together for about four years, and I’m ready to get married. Should I give him an ultimatum?
The answer given by the magazine writer was something along the lines of “Well… why don’t you just talk it out instead?” and was pretty much a paragraph of explaining why an ultimatum probably isn’t the best idea.
I could have saved them about two inches of magazine space with my answer.
Ahem.
WHAT ARE YOU, NEW? You’ve been with a guy for four years, and I assume because of that you’ve actually MET MEN throughout your life. IN WHAT WORLD DO YOU THINK AN ULTIMATUM IS A GOOD IDEA?
And you’d probably be a shrew of a wife, anyway!
Right. So, that’s my first attempt at correctly answering advice column letters.
In other news, since people got such a kick out of Phil and I both on BlogTV the other night, and since I seem to get a question on every single entry these days asking just what it is I do all day, I’ve decided to try a new experiment. Up at the top, you’ll see a new link to a live stream. It’s set up in the office to run constantly. Interesting? No, not really. An excellent time killer and procrastination tool? Definitely. It will mostly be always on, unless I need to throw something at Phil or something.
And as for BlogTV itself, we’ve promised to come back and do it again next Sunday evening, at about the same time (6pm Arizona time) for those who missed it, and to try to remember to record it for those who can’t make it.
By z-man on May 4, 2009
Funny every time I check the live stream all I see is an empty chair.
hmmmmmm….
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By TJ on May 4, 2009
I was getting some ice cream!
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By Brian on May 4, 2009
I’d love for you to answer the health questions, such as the classic, “Dear So-and-So,
I have this really weird burning sensation when I pee. Is that really bad?
Sincerely,
Posing Interesting Sensations as Suspicious”
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By Kevin on May 4, 2009
I seem to be having to same “issue” as z-man.
hm…
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By TJ on May 4, 2009
Ok, today hardly counts because I had a headache and fell asleep. I got up just in time to check to make sure Phil didn’t get undressed in front of the camera by mistake.
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By Adrian on May 4, 2009
Everyone knows that know actually writes into personal advice columns. The author just makes them up. The one you quote is a classic, who would write like that? Seriously?
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By Bernie on May 4, 2009
Dear Teej,
My girlfriend and I have decided to buy a waffle iron, I love waffles.
We are at an impasse on whether to buy one that makes round waffles or square waffles. I won’t tell you which I perfer so as to influence your advice.
Please help us.
Syrupy in N’Awlins
Syurpy in
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By lenebean on May 5, 2009
FYI — “Arizona time” doesn’t compute with most people. This time of year AZ is on the same time was the west coast (Pacific) but in the winter it’s on Mountain time (like CO).
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By Gauntlet on May 5, 2009
@lenebean
Arizona is one of those places that doesn’t truck with Daylight Savings?!
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By lenebean on May 6, 2009
@Gauntlet
Correct. It’s quite mystical. No, mystifying. Growing up in AZ is a bit of a confusing experience in that regard.
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