6.26.2007

Bathroom talk

When I was a young girl, I spent a day at an archeological dig, not uncovering a dinosaur grave, but, rather, a privy on the site of Monticello, home of President Thomas Jefferson.

Digging out the bathroom of a founding father didn’t seem exciting to a 12-year old like me, but to the archeologists it might as well have been a gold mine. This was because excavating outhouses usually yields interesting and promising artifacts. An archeologist explained that, just as it is sometimes true today, people of old use to carry all sorts of things into outhouses and inadvertently leave them behind for posterity’s sake. With the benefit of hundreds, sometimes thousands of years, discarded junk becomes prized artifacts--the sort that give historians new perspective on an ancient culture or at least make them think, “What the hell?!?"

I never forgot that day at Monticello, and ever since I have often wondered what interesting tidbits we leave behind in our own outhouses for the benefit of future generations.

But during a recent luncheon, Jamy from Grateful Dating offered me a satisfying answer.

Blogs.

The impact of blogging on society has been debated in the media for years now. But Jamy feels that, so long as blogs are archived, the material will be scoured by future historians, providing insight into what people from all over the globe did on a daily basis, as well as how they thought and felt about almost anything imaginable. A pretty amazing thought, huh?

All of this makes me think about what I write today. But, for future historians who might be reading these words long after I’m gone, I’d like to offer my insights on a few important matters.


  • If Vice President Cheney never turns his papers over to the National Archives, let me assure you he really was a "Dick."

  • Real men do, on occasion, eat quiche.

  • There was never such a thing as a “live recording.”

  • No woman looks good in overalls.


Care to make your mark in my virtual privy and add some of your thoughts to this list for the benefit of future generations to come?

7 comments:

utenzi said...

You hit paydirt with the "Dick" Cheney observation, Diane.

I'd like to add, for the benefit of future researchers, that pink is forever. Long live the pink! ;-)

kenju said...

I agree with your list, but I'll have to think a while for others.

Tiffany Fairbanks said...

LMAO! Just the other day I went to the grocery store (to buy condoms) and this older lady was wearing overalls that were 2 inches above her ankles. They were so unflattering that I wondered to myself if she ever has sex anymore. Maybe that is vulgar but sex was the topic of the visit and I just don't see how a man would look at her and think, Wow, those overalls sure make her look sexy. I'm just glad that someone feels the same about it.

egan said...

I ate quiche tonight. I wonder about the historian angle on blogs and how they will see them. Interesting thought.

running42k said...

Even if Cheney turns over his papers, he is still a dick.

Jamy said...

Aww, I think overalls can be cute...but I did once see a woman in Hoboken wearing a sateen pair that I thought were hideous. The bf I was with, though, thought they were cute.

Thanks for the nod. :)

Loves2Dance said...

OK, here's my truth for the record, which only applies to some women and and many very gay men..."Putting on your favorite pair of sexy shoes really does cure a bad mood (if paired with the right outfit of course)."