I do love the Despair, Inc. Demotivators posters, but these Hunter S. Thompson Motivational Posters just made me laugh out loud.

My favorite one is “Professionalism” and its quote  “When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.” I used that as a sig line for a while wayyyy back when. Maybe it’s time to resurrect it for a few appropriate forums?

When exactly did the most commonly used meaning of “FTW” become “for the win”?

Since I am old, and have also been a member of the motorcycling and biker communities (I say both motorcycling and biker because to me, while those communities definitely overlap, they are not the same) for quite a while now, the original meaning of “FTW” – “f**k the world” – is still the one that first pops into my head. I don’t know if it actually originated amongst outlaw bikers, or if it was just most frequently used by them during my impressionable years.

I may have been living under a rock, but I really didn’t notice this until a few weeks ago. I was reading an online forum that I don’t normally frequent, and came across several usages of “FTW” that made no sense at all when the original breakdown of the acronym was plugged in. I went in search of an explanation and that is when I found that “FTW” doesn’t mean “FTW” any more to a fair number of people, mostly those who are way younger than I am.

Language evolves over time, and I guess acronyms do, too. I’m not saying this is good or bad, but it sure was confusing to me at first. I do have to admit a bit of relief at learning the alternate meaning. Some of the forum posts which had me confused were on political topics and it was a bit disconcerting to see what I first read as “[insert political candidate name] f**ck the world!”

Aside from that, to some it apparently means “f**k the what” as in “WTF” backwards, but that is just dumb. I will digress for a moment though. I have lived in two places where the “th” sound is not acknowledged (Honolulu – as in “Da Kine Talk” and Chicago – as in “Da Bearss” and “Da Bullss”). At my workplace, we actually use “WDF” to flag things that need further clarification. A “WDF” Post-It on an expense report item, for example, would not be a welcome sight. Oh, yes: “WDF” as in “what da f**k” in case it wasn’t glaringly obvious. Like I said, no “th” here.

Today’s miscellaneous thoughts, none of which really go together:

• Considering the number of TV segments and newspaper or magazine articles I’ve seen on how to deal with strange dogs, I will never understand why some idiots still choose to respond to a dog that is obviously unhappy with their proximity to our property line by stopping and staring at him rather than moving on in their original intended direction. Note to idiots: I am way more dangerous than he is. Don’t make me feel like I have to protect my property and my dog from you.
• I took some time to amuse myself by reading some of the blogs and forums discussing Sons of Anarchy. Even though the creator of the show has talked about his intended Shakespearean parallels, I still have to say this to some folks: way to overanalyze! I also have something to say to some of those pseudointellectuals who claim they actually ride: try not to spout too much of the same stuff you are writing online if you ever do encounter any real bikers. I am also reminded of an older pet peeve of mine, which is female motorcyclists overanalyzing why they ride and talking about freedom and empowerment and all that. I haven’t ridden lately, but when I did, it was not to be free or empowered. It was because it was fun, as it should be for any woman or man who chooses to ride a motorcycle. If it’s not fun for you, why even bother, empowerment or no?
• I have to shop for a new VPS provider for both work and hobby websites. We probably don’t truly need a VPS but it’s worked well for us (“us” being my business, myself, my husband, and some friends and clubs). Except for that one provider has gotten progressively more expensive without adding more features or better customer service (although customer service has remained decent), and another is suffering the after effects of a merger which managed to totally wipe out the formerly decent customer service and introduce a number of technical issues when servers were physically moved. I really hate the web host shopping process as there seems to be a prevalent theme of hosts being great for a year and then going slowly downhill.
• I’m finally considering moving to a smart phone of some sort. I’ve been using a PDA plus a not-so-smart phone for the last two years (cell service contract, don’t ya know) but the pricing and just as importantly, the size, of the smart phones are now much more attractive than they were before. I checked out the BlackBerry Storm on Friday. I like it, very whiz-bang and all, but I still like the iPhone better. I don’t really want to switch cell providers but for the first time in a while, I’m thinking about it.
• I just finished reading Twilight and I actually enjoyed it pretty well. I thought it would be too “young” for me but it did manage to hold my interest. Nice love story, actually. I doubt I’ll see the movie until it hits DVD/cable though, and I don’t know that I’ll read the sequels either. I like vampire stories, books and movies in general. I’m sure it won’t be a surprise that my favorite vampire image is Lestat: “I was roaming again, crashing through the night on my Harley-Davidson motorcycle with the Bach Goldberg variations turned up to full volume.” Obviously!
• Saw Stir of Echoes today while flipping through the channels. That is probably my favorite filmed-in-Chicago movie. Very good and quite underrated, as is Kevin Bacon’s role in it.

That is enough miscellany for today, I think. See you tomorrow!