Timothy McSweeney's Header Image

- - - -

Just in time for Valentine's Day,
the Guardian in London has
reviewed and raved about
The Secret Language of Sleep.
And, for the rest of the week,
you can buy it for $5!

- - - -

SUGGESTED POSES
FOR PHOTO-BOOTH
PICTURES.

BY TED TRAVELSTEAD

- - - -

(a) Big ol' cheesy smile

(b) "I am not a crook" face with double peace sign

(c) Doin' the funky chicken

- - - -

(a) Sticking tongue out

(b) Wearing fuzzy top hat, giving thumbs-up

(c) Showing off your rare fourth nipple

- - - -

(a) Hands on pretend steering wheel

(b) Cheerfully letting in a pretend hitchhiker

(c) Being held at pretend knifepoint while not pretending to soil yourself

- - - -

(a) "May I take your order?" with imaginary pad and pen in hand

(b) Preparing an imaginary tableside Caesar salad

(c) Performing the Heimlich on an imaginary portly hedge-fund manager

- - - -

(a) Naked and covered in fudge

(b) Bewildered by flash, naked, and covered in fudge

(c) Tongue-bathing self in a panic after waking up from self-hypnosis tape

- - - -

(a) Showing off your stylish summer cape with a flourish

(b) You, a fashionable blurry twirling dervish

(c) Wiping your breakfast off wall with summer cape

- - - -

(a) Cowboy hat, hands on pretend gun belt showdown-style

(b) A tip of the hat to the pretty ladies as they stroll past the saloon

(c) Cutting open and crawling inside your dead horse to avoid freezing to death in the icy blasts of 40-below gale-force prairie winds

- - - -

(a) Arm in arm, with your fiancée, as she holds up her new engagement ring

(b) Bickering politely over what the next pose should be

(c) Peeking from the closet at your wife of many years, who smiles through tear-filled eyes as she desperately tries to please you by "gettin' it on" with your burly neighbor, Kurtis

- - - -

(a) Peacocking for the paparazzi on the red carpet at the premiere of your cinematic masterpiece

(b) Smoking a cigarette nonchalantly by the pool while half-listening to an eager interviewer

(c) Sweating profusely, cheap black hair dye running from your graying temples, as you desperately plead for a walk-on role in a C-movie about a ghost clown so you can afford one more week in a seedy North Hollywood motel

- - - -

(a) You are a child again, running free in a field of swaying grass, not a care in the world

(b) Cradling a huge and garishly colored snow cone at the neighborhood pool's snack bar, your tongue a multiflavored rainbow-hued palette

(c) Clutching your aching stomach and flipping the light switch on and off continuously while trying not to think of your parents' impending divorce

- - - -

(a) Standing on the pitcher's mound, glove and ball to chest, coolly staring down the league's MVP

(b) Riding high, on the shoulders of your teammates, after pitching your third no-hitter

(c) Sitting next to your walker, under a state-fair tent, shoulder throbbing like the dickens, signing "souvenir game balls" for $4 a pop

- - - -

(a) Sword held high, standing your ground against a ferocious lava-drooling dragon

(b) Hoisting the dragon's head triumphantly skyward, as the just-saved princess clutches your armor-clad legs

(c) Shaking the family dachshund upside down so it doesn't choke on your 12-sided die that it just gobbled up

- - - -

(a) Fedora cocked rakishly, .38 snubnose under your coat, you lean back in your desk chair as the femme fatale's shadow falls across the frosted glass of your office door

(b) You pour her a shot of rye to soothe her frayed nerves, and top off your third double of the day, as she dishes out her tale of woe

(c) "It's not fair!" you cry out in a high-pitched voice as the judge sentences you to a six-month stint for unlawful possession of a firearm and impersonating an officer of the law

- - - -

OTHER McSWEENEY'S FEATURES:

- - - -

Suggested Poses for Photo-Booth Pictures By Ted Travelstead
What Happened After I Lost My Guardian Angel: A Timeline By Jon Methven
Good News: A Seat on My Tandem Bicycle Just Opened Up By Colin Nissan
Calendar of Upcoming Events and Workshops for the Sean Oggie Institute By Michael Kaplan
A Letter From the U.S. Secretary of Education Regarding the Birth of Your First Child By Chandler Dean

- - - -

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

BOOKSTORES WITH A McSWEENEY'S DISPLAY

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 RECOMMENDS

REVIEWS OF NEW FOOD

NEW WHOLPHIN FILM

TEDDY WAYNE'S UNPOPULAR PROVERBS

NON-ESSENTIAL MNEMONICS

BITCHSLAP: A COLUMN ABOUT WOMEN AND FIGHTING

DISPATCHES FROM A GUY TRYING UNSUCCESSFULLY
TO SELL A SONG IN NASHVILLE


GLOBAL WAR ON BEDBUGS: LETTERS FROM BEDBUG CITY

THE CONFLICTED EXISTENCE OF A FEMALE PORN WRITER

OH MY GAWD: A COLUMN ABOUT A TEENAGER NAVIGATING RELIGION

DISPATCHES FROM MANILA

DISPATCHES FROM AN INDIAN CASINO

THE CONVERGENCES CONTEST

CHRIS WHITE ANSWERS PROFOUND
QUESTIONS ABOUT THE PRESIDENTS


REPORTS FROM THE PINBALL SCENE

LETTERS FROM THE HELLBOX

NOTES FROM AN AMATEUR SPECTATOR
AT AMATEUR MIXED MARTIAL ARTS FIGHTS


B.R. COHEN'S DAYS AT THE MUSEUM

CONVERSATIONS AT A WARTIME CAFÉ

GRANT MUNROE'S CORPORATE FOLKTALES

SARAH WALKER SHOWS YOU HOW

DISPATCHES FROM AN ENVIRONMENTAL LAWYER
WHO IS TRYING TO GROW A MUSTACHE


DISPATCHES FROM A HANGDOG BANKRUPT

DISPATCHES FROM THE CAPITAL

DISPATCHES FROM INDIA

THE WINNER'S CIRCLE WITH ERIC FEEZELL

SEAN MICHAELS LISTENS TO MUSIC IN MONTREAL

SHORT IMAGINED MONOLOGUES

STAINED TEETH: A COLUMN ABOUT WINE

YOUR MONEY, YOUR JOB ... YOUR LIFE, WITH ALISON ROSEN

KEVIN DOLGIN TELLS YOU ABOUT PLACES YOU SHOULD GO IN EUROPE

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


E-MAILS SENT TO THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
FLAG-FOOTBALL TEAM


TRAVELING EUROPE IN STYLE WITH AUCKLAND DINGIROO,
DARK-AGE TOURIST AND CRITIC OF FOOD AND DRINK


JOHN MOE'S POP-SONG CORRESPONDENCES

INTERVIEWS WITH PEOPLE WHO HAVE INTERESTING OR UNUSUAL JOBS

FLIP: A COLUMN ABOUT SKATEBOARDING

OPEN LETTERS TO PEOPLE OR ENTITIES WHO ARE UNLIKELY TO RESPOND

BEN GREENMAN'S FAKE CELBRITY MUSICALS

DISPATCHES FROM A PUBLIC LIBRARIAN

EXCERPTS FROM THE PANORAMA

SOLUTIONS TO BENJAMIN TAUSIG'S
THREE-DEMENSIONAL CROSSWORD PUZZLE
IN THE SAN FRANCISCO PANORAMA


ABOUT A VERY BAD WIZARD

ABOUT THE WILD THINGS

ABOUT THE CONVALESCENT

ABOUT FEVER CHART

ABOUT GOD SAYS NO

ABOUT ZEITOUN

- - - -

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL