Timothy McSweeney's Header Image

You feel poor. We feel poor. Let's feel poor together. This week only, almost everything is half-price in our online store. Escape the holiday rush and cross every name off your list in one cheap swoop.

- - - -

EXISTENTIAL PLEAS
AND RESIGNATIONS
MAD LIBS.

BY ED MURRAY

- - - -

Dear _____ (preferred deity of choice),

I realized something very _____ (adjective) today as I was washing my _____ (animal), and that something is this: You are a/an _____ (adverb) cruel _____ (personal expletive pronoun).

Last night, after drinking seven shots of _____ (least favorite hard liquor) and snorting enough _____ (cocaine) to make _____ (politician) blush, it became clear: It really is them, and not me.

I am the one who is completely _____ (helpless state of being) when it comes to the _____ (favorite color) personal relationships in my life, and yet, I share my innermost _____ (type of candy) with no one else on this _____ (adjective) planet ... because they are all _____ (insulting adjective) _____ (extinct animals). I _____ (hate) them all, and I hope they meet a _____ (adjective) demise, choking on a platter of their own _____ (Applebee's appetizer).

This _____ (adjective) catharsis made me feel _____ (smiley emotion) and strangely alone, simultaneously. How can I connect with these _____ (herd animals) I am surrounded by on a daily basis? I am just so sick of _____ (synonym for "crying") in the _____ (part of your house) every day ... Maybe it would help if I shoved a fistful of _____ (vegetables) into my _____ (bodily orifice). It makes my heart _____ (verb) when I see the defeat in my parents' _____ (body parts), and it becomes _____ (adverb) clear that they love the _____ (type of car) more than _____ (sibling's name) ... Maybe I should stab my _____ (genitalia) with a _____ (sharp object).

Today I have decided to buy a _____ (noun), which will serve as a _____ (metaphor), and as a _____ (timeless adjective) symbol for the _____ (expletive)-faced servitude I am bound to in this life ... no more in control than the most _____ (adjective)-minded of _____ (farm animals). I am trying desperately to _____ ("st_p") myself from (active violent act) all of my co-workers ... except _____ (person in the room). I've always wanted to _____ (forceful sexual act) him/her/it. I didn't ask to be _____ (born).

If reincarnation does exist, please leave me out of it.

Thank you, you _____ (adjective expletive) _____ (racist slur).

With all of my _____ (extremely volatile and oftentimes frightening emotion),
_____ (dead philosopher) "_____" (favorite Rolling Stones song) _____ (name of favorite bathhouse), Jr.

- - - -

OTHER McSWEENEY'S FEATURES:

- - - -

Existential Pleas and Resignations Mad Libs By Ed Murray
Dateline: To Catch a Predator: Humbert Humbert By Jeff Barnosky
We're Having a Contest, With Prizes
The Manoni Brothers Have Sent You an e-Threat! By M. Sweeney Lawless
Spam Finally Taps Into Male Desires By Eric Silver

- - - -

MAIN PAGE   |   ARCHIVES

 

Memories of Amanda Davis

 


Red dot denotes content that is new today.

Black dot denotes newish content.

McSWEENEY'S STORE

SUBSCRIBE TO:
McSWEENEY'S
THE BELIEVER
WHOLPHIN

FUTURE McSWEENEY'S BOOKS

THE AMANDA DAVIS HIGHWIRE FICTION AWARD

INVITE A McSWEENEY'S AUTHOR TO SPEAK IN YOUR TOWN OR COLLEGE

THE BEST AMERICAN NONREQUIRED READING

McSWEENEY'S MONTHLY MAILING LIST

McSWEENEY'S-RELATED EVENTS AND VARIOUS TOUR DATES

ORDER INQUIRIES AND ADDRESS CHANGES

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:
FOR BOOKS
FOR THE QUARTERLY
FOR THE WEBSITE
FOR WHOLPHIN

McSWEENEY'S INTERNSHIPS

CONTACT US

- - - -

LETTERS TO McSWEENEY'S

LISTS

McSWEENEY'S PREDICTS

McSWEENEY'S RECOMMENDS

NEW WHOLPHIN FILM

DAN LIEBERT, VERBAL CARTOONIST

JOKES BY BRIAN BEATTY

REVIEWS OF NEW FOOD

DISPATCHES FROM MANILA

DISPATCHES FROM MOSCOW

SO YOU WANT TO BE PRESIDENT?

DISPATCHES FROM THE ANACOSTIA

THE WINNER'S CIRCLE WITH ERIC FEEZELL

BEN GREENMAN'S FAKE CELEBRITY MUSICALS

DISPATCHES FROM A HUMANITARIAN JOURNALIST

DEB OLIN UNFERTH'S SICK OF THE REVOLUTION

DISPATCHES FROM IRAQ

SHORT IMAGINED MONOLOGUES

PHILIP GRAHAM SPENDS A YEAR IN LISBON

STAINED TEETH: A COLUMN ABOUT WINE

DISPATCHES FROM THE NAPOLEONIC WARS AT THE MET

KEVIN DOLGIN TELLS YOU ABOUT PLACES YOU SHOULD GO IN EUROPE

SONGS OF ENEMIES AND DESERTS: LIVING WITH THE SUDAN LIBERATION ARMY

LAWRENCE WESCHLER'S EVERYTHING THAT RISES: A BOOK OF CONVERGENCES

THE CONVERGENCES CONTEST

ABOUT WHAT IS THE WHAT

ABOUT BOWL OF CHERRIES

ABOUT COMEDY BY THE NUMBERS

ABOUT JOHN BRANDON'S ARKANSAS

ABOUT MICHAEL CHABON'S MAPS AND LEGENDS

ABOUT UNDERGROUND AMERICA

ABOUT DEB OLIN UNFERTH'S VACATION

LETTERS FROM AN EARTH BALL TO, OR CONCERNING, SEAN HANNITY

DISPATCHES FROM ADJUNCT FACULTY AT A LARGE STATE UNIVERSITY

ADVICE FROM A PERSON WITH A BACHELOR'S DEGREE IN PSYCHOLOGY

DISPATCHES FROM THE NBA ENTERTAINMENT LEAGUE

JOHN MOE'S POP-SONG CORRESPONDENCES

B.R. COHEN'S ANNALS OF SCIENCE

INTERVIEWS WITH PEOPLE WHO HAVE INTERESTING OR UNUSUAL JOBS

OPEN LETTERS TO PEOPLE OR ENTITIES WHO ARE UNLIKELY TO RESPOND

DISPATCHES FROM A PUBLIC LIBRARIAN

MICHAEL IAN BLACK IS A VERY FAMOUS CELEBRITY

DISPATCHES FROM ROY KESEY, AN AMERICAN GUY MARRIED TO
A PERUVIAN DIPLOMAT LIVING IN CHINA


DAN KENNEDY SOLVES YOUR PROBLEMS WITH PAPER

STEPHEN ELLIOTT'S POKER REPORT

- - - -

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL