Rawr

I see that I've recently come under fire for my decision to use my real name (or is it?) as my username (or, perhaps marginally more appropriate, the indecision/apathy that led to my current situation of not using an alias).

Well let's work together to come up with some possible reasons that might adequately describe my boring-ness. My, as Dupree might say, Erik-ness.

Possibility 1: Erik is one or more of the following: unimaginative, sleepy, a chronic short-bus traveler, feels great insecurities about being judged on minutia, or just plain Sad News Bears.

Possibility 2: "Erik" is merely an alias itself, perhaps inspired by one Erik the Red, Erik Rasmussen, Erik per Sullivan, Pelle-Erik Lindbergh, or Erik Estrada.

Possibility 3: Perhaps, on a different level, "Erik" could be viewed as more creative, as it doesn't give the reader any pushes towards a light in which said author would like to be seen, but rather gives the reader the opportunity to form an entirely fresh and unbiased image/idea of the author, thus exponentially increasing the number of possibilities for this image.

"[...] but hey it makes you think of something."

Is this necessarily ideal? I'd posit that it depends on your personal preference/intention.

Possibility 4: "Erik" is merely a phonetically pronounceable acronym. Perhaps it stands for "Enigmatic, Righteous, Intelligent Kin," or "Egg-Rave Inside Kilns," or perhaps even something so simple as "Elephant Rivet iPod Kitten."

WILDCARD : Perhaps Erik is afraid of balloons. This possibility is labeled "WILDCARD" because this possibility is not a mutually exclusive option. It may be paired with any of the above possibilities, or thrown out altogether.

In summation, Mr. Tank, despite my inability to defeat you regularly without camping in some type of 3-walled base with unlimited ammunition supply, I do think that you may have jumped the gun a little quickly, when such a wide array of possibilities exist.

Closing remark: Waterhat.

-Erik Rasmussen iPod Kainolophobic

Sad User Name Sauce

Hello opinion sauce! I can't tell you how long I've been waiting for this blog to finally get started. . . . Well I probably could but I'm lazy.

I've thought long and hard about what to make as my all important opening post. Should it be political, scientific, theological or about how much I dislike the yankees and all teams from pennsylvania? Instead I decided, as you can tell from the title, to be informational. Kinda like a public service announcement for others considering joining this blog. I want to talk about the all important user name.

Lets just take a minute and look at the user names for our contributors and the emotions and images those names bring about.

Mamabear: To me this name talks about a strong, beautiful and intelligent woman with strong ambitions and an iron will.  It doesn't at all make me think about a new mom at home whom I often catch taking cookies out of a jar that looks like Winnie the Pooh's honey pot.

The Tank: This name brings about visions of a strong man with arms heavily corded with muscles who could chew iron and spit out railroad spikes. Sure he would have no teeth left and would probably die a painful death from heavy metal poisoning but what a man!!!

Shhmikey: . . . . . . . . . . Honestly this just makes me hungry for any number of items you can get at a sheetz, but hey it makes you think of something.

Then finally we come to Erik. Sure it's spelled a different way then most with that name, but in the end it is simply that . . . .  a name. One would think with all the endless possibilities out there, not to mention the creative mind of the person who's name this is, that they would have been able to come up with something. Something like FlyersSuck85 or VickLove69, but no . . . . . . .it's simply Erik.

So to all you out there who may one day be one of the privileged few to be allowed to post here please take a few minutes to come up with a name. Because here you can be whoever you want not just another Erik.

The Tank

Public Hateportation

Public transportation in the Washington, DC area is necessary, I'll be the first to admit it. Could you imagine everyone driving into work? Utter chaos. Do I think as many people should take public transportation as possible? Absolutely.

Everyone except for me, that is.

Nothing makes me question whether or not I really want to go into the city as whether or not I have to take public transportation in order to get there. I don't consider myself a snob, holier than thou, or too good to take public transportation. I just can't stand 99% of the people who ride it. And I severely question the safety and security of, well, metro.

I would give you stories of where I have been wronged or seen others wronged, but they mimic the stories of every decent person who rides metro: people not letting a pregnant woman sit, someone playing their iPod 75,000 decibels higher than it should be, someone encroaching entirely too much on your personal bubble (and let's be serious, on public transportation your bubble is pretty deflated), and someone telling some woman to lose weight so more people can fit on the train.

What would make me feel differently? More security. Air fresheners. The ripping out of the carpet. Enforcement of the rules (no food, no drink, no loud music, etc.). Perhaps having "quiet" cars where reading and listening to headphones are about all that occurs. Working air conditioners. Giving everyone who rides public transportation a lesson in manners. You see what I mean. I really could go on and on.

Do I need to loosen up? Probably. Okay, definitely. But does everyone else need a lesson in courteous-ness? I think so.

So, until all the above changes are made, I'll be the woman in the back of the train with an impatient look on her face, and scowling at every rude person who is breaking a rule or just plain annoying me. Along with the rest of the decent people who ride the train.

.... And every time I realize I have to ride metro, I get hives just thinking about it. And I pack the hand sanitizer.

Signed with Hatred Sauce. Spicy Hatred Sauce.

Welcome Sauce!

Everyone has an opinion or two - some like to express their thoughts. Opinions can be based on true facts or on observation. The greatest thing about an opinion is that it can never be wrong - you might just have another opinion (sauce)!

I had an interesting idea to get a few of my friends together to write a blog about anything. I value their opinions and believe they have a lot that can be shared with world. With multiple writers it is my hope that this blog will be filled with some interesting topics that continue to flow each week.

The blog name 'My Opinion Sauce' that I came up with was based on a saying one of the bloggers here on this blog had. All feelings he had were ended with 'sauce' for example he would be 'bitter sauce' or 'happy sauce'. I took that concept of having different feeling 'sauces' and applied it to opinions. Everyone in the world has their own opinion sauce!

So welcome to this blog and keep up with it as each of us grab our own sauces and start writing! I'm excited to see what will come flowing through this blog!