ceci n’est pas une poubelle

December 2nd, 2008 · 99 comments

i hereby declare the writer of the second note in this exchange (from a college art studio in texas) the winner of the season’s official “oh, snap!” award.

(sure, the original note-writer might have a case — but just like those pesky BCS rankings, style points count, baby!)

related: i before e except after c ftw

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FILED UNDER: art · austin · garbage · oh snap · texas · university

99 responses so far ↓

#1 se

I like the first note, down the side “be brave and sign your name”
I guess he ran out of ink, using it to double the letters in the note and couldn’t sign his name

Dec 2, 2008 at 11:02 pm rating: +15

reply to this comment
- #1.1 Dare
  
  The only thing better than leaving your name off a PAN, is signing someone else’s.
  
  Dec 3, 2008 at 12:11 pm rating: +1
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#2 Thanks!

Trash cans and life choices….hmmm..interesting I would like to meet the person whose life choices involve trash cans! I will bet they are quite a..umm…very immoral and exciting too!

Dec 2, 2008 at 11:25 pm rating: +2

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- #2.1 Canthz_B
  
  Not to mention aromatic.
  
  Dec 2, 2008 at 11:31 pm rating: +8
- #2.2 Crash
  
  Hey, those trashcan fires are great on a cold night while I’m re thinking my life choices…
  
  Dec 3, 2008 at 1:14 am rating: +13
- #2.3 You!
  
  Yesterday, I thought it was a trash can. I performed a donkey show to buy some crack, dropped out of high school, and totally did a bunch of guys because I thought it would make them respect me.
  
  …but I was wrong. I see that now. This note has saved my life.
  
  Dec 3, 2008 at 2:31 am rating: +2
- #2.4 MoxieHart
  
  Prom-night dumpster baby?
  
  Dec 3, 2008 at 8:47 pm rating: +1
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#3 Canthz_B

What? Not even a pink penis?!

I’ve come to expect more from the so called creative folks.

Dec 2, 2008 at 11:30 pm rating: +19

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- #3.1 AuntyBron
  
  Pink? In an art studio? I expect plaid or, perhaps, Dali-esque penises.
  
  Dec 3, 2008 at 10:36 am rating: +6
- #3.2 Candice
  
  Where’s Michelle when you need her?
  
  Dec 3, 2008 at 2:36 pm rating: +1
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#4 erin

one has to wonder… is it trash? or is it art that in its complexity looks like trash?

Dec 2, 2008 at 11:32 pm rating: +35

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- #4.1 Canthz_B
  
  Art is in the eye of the beholder, or the truck of the sanitation department, whichever comes first.
  
  Dec 2, 2008 at 11:38 pm rating: +27
- #4.2 Bunnee
  
  Or art that is actually MADE out of trash? (But how can you tell in that pigsty?)
  
  Dec 3, 2008 at 10:01 am rating: 0
- #4.3 reyna ulikba
  
  It’s installation art, babe.
  
  Dec 5, 2008 at 10:49 pm rating: 0
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#5 canadian deadhead

Looks like trash-talking has hit a new low (and not just with this post, either) !

Dec 2, 2008 at 11:33 pm rating: +2

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#6 Canthz_B

We all know that bio-hazard waste should be placed in the proper container in a hospital setting…but this is an art studio, dammit…I was making a statement!!

Dec 2, 2008 at 11:36 pm rating: +5

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#7 JNB

Well, that second note about summed it up.

Dec 3, 2008 at 12:08 am rating: +3

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#8 Skwerl

Could this be installation art? We could make millions!

Dec 3, 2008 at 12:23 am rating: +1

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#9 Tmarie

I actually think the second note goes beyond “oh snap!” to being a valuable life lesson.

If we all took the time to evaluate whether our expectations were reasonable, there would be fewer PANs….

Oh wait, then what would we laugh at? Where would we get our thumbs-ups and green commenty backgrounds?

Please block note #2’s wisdom from your minds, folks.

Dec 3, 2008 at 12:36 am rating: +11

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#10 HairySwede

please don’t judge my life choices.

Dec 3, 2008 at 1:12 am rating: +7

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#11 stringyhair

Damn dirty artists. I bet the second writer has dreadlocks.

Dec 3, 2008 at 1:34 am rating: +9

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#12 snee

trashcan? art studio? hospital? life choice center? soapbox?

looks like a wall to me.

Dec 3, 2008 at 2:03 am rating: +6

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#13 Canthz_B

It actually is a hospital psych ward. They just tell them it’s an art studio so they’ll shut up and do their finger paintings.

Dec 3, 2008 at 2:43 am rating: +41

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- #13.1 Sarah
  
  jesus christ, cb, is there any post on this website you aren’t all over??
  
  Dec 3, 2008 at 5:33 am rating: +9
- #13.2 Wade
  
  Sarah
  
  This is a site where we make snarky comments on passive-aggressive notes, not a place to worry about who contributes regularly. If you think it is, perhaps you should rethink your expectations in participating in this site.
  
  Dec 3, 2008 at 6:50 am rating: +52
- #13.3 Dare
  
  Sarah, Don’t worry. Canthaz has Michelle to take care of the work in his department.
  
  Dec 3, 2008 at 12:14 pm rating: +1
- #13.4 Canthz_B
  
  Sarah, many months ago I began the arduous task of trying to determine just how many comments the site administrator would allow one poster to make.
  I have not yet found that limit, so my quest continues.
  
  Dec 3, 2008 at 12:29 pm rating: +13
- #13.5 snee
  
  go for the gold, CB!
  
  Dec 3, 2008 at 2:18 pm rating: +3
- #13.6 Canthz_B
  
  I’ve got a million of ‘em, snee…much to the chagrin of Sarah.
  
  Dec 3, 2008 at 2:34 pm rating: +3
- #13.7 Ti O
  
  * in H Cosell voice *
  
  One man, one record, and you are there as he pugnaciously strives for PANgold.
  
  Dec 3, 2008 at 2:43 pm rating: +5
- #13.8 Canthz_B
  
  *in John Facenda voice*
  
  Each PAN begins as a frozen tundra. No comments litter the screen. No ideas are before us to guide us.
  Yet, there exist an intrepid few willing to strike out and make a name for themselves in this unforgiving PANscape…CB is one of these inspired few.
  
  Dec 3, 2008 at 2:53 pm rating: +5
- #13.9 se
  
  I find it interesting that Sarah seems to think that CB is Jesus Christ.
  
  Dec 3, 2008 at 2:56 pm rating: +7
- #13.10 Canthz_B
  
  I come in many guises, my son.
  
  Dec 3, 2008 at 2:59 pm rating: +2
- #13.11 RY
  
  yes, and the most believable guise is the ” I’m a friggin unlikeable loser who can only get attention online by making snarky comments and being a d****bag to make me feel better about myself” ….what a WINNER!!!
  
  Dec 3, 2008 at 3:42 pm rating: +7
- #13.12 Wade
  
  And yet there you hang, dingleberry-like, from CB’s comment, seeking attention without making a snarky post related to the note.
  
  I hope it makes you feel better about yourself, RY.
  
  Dec 3, 2008 at 3:56 pm rating: +18
- #13.13 Canthz_B
  
  Why yes, you are.
  Someday, when you can tell the difference between jokes and reality, you too may aspire to such heights, RY.
  
  Dec 3, 2008 at 3:57 pm rating: +3
- #13.14 Ti O
  
  Did I mis-interpret the tens of thousands of comments that came before and that this isn’t the snarky fun PAN site?
  
  Last time she was around CB se she thought he was god because all we could hear in the other room was her screaming “oh god oh god OOoooooh GOD!”
  
  Dec 3, 2008 at 4:03 pm rating: +3
- #13.15 Canthz_B
  
  You must have, Ti O.
  I’m obviously the only one that posts on this site more than once per PAN and would like some attention.
  Everyone else posts once and would prefer that no one read, and God forbid, find mildly amusing, what they post.
  
  Hell, I’m still trying to understand why I have to be called a duffel bag!
  
  Dec 3, 2008 at 4:09 pm rating: +4
- #13.16 anglophile
  
  Hey! You got your snarky comment in my online passive/aggressive diagnostic database!
  
  Dec 3, 2008 at 4:11 pm rating: +3
- #13.17 Ti O
  
  Well I still have my issued dufflebag and it is green, rather shapeless and at best 3-4′ tall when stuffed full. I have heard through the grapevine that you match none of these characteristics. I have a dufflebag and I know dufflebags. You sir are no dufflebag and good day.
  
  Dec 3, 2008 at 4:16 pm rating: +4
- #13.18 Canthz_B
  
  Was that Robby Benson with Danny Most?
  
  Dec 3, 2008 at 4:17 pm rating: 0
- #13.19 The Commish
  
  “Douche” isn’t the kind of word that as children would get us a mouthful of soap. It would be s****id to censor words that don’t n**d to be. See? Isn’t that fucking ri****lous?
  
  Dec 3, 2008 at 4:19 pm rating: +14
- #13.20 anglophile
  
  I am no priss, and have been known to swear once or twice (an hour), but, I have to say, I’d hesitate to say the word douchebag out loud. Maybe because I’m not 13 years old.
  
  Dec 3, 2008 at 4:26 pm rating: +7
- #13.21 Ti O
  
  *singing loud in the shower*
  “Blinded by the light. Dressed up like a douche, another runner in the night..”
  
  what? You mean that isn’t how it goes?
  
  Dec 3, 2008 at 4:37 pm rating: +7
- #13.22 The Commish
  
  I always thought it was, maybe that’s why I don’t see it as a curse word. That, and the fact douchebags were a staple in The Commish household until it was learned they do more harm than good.
  
  Dec 3, 2008 at 4:38 pm rating: +1
- #13.23 Canthz_B
  
  I just wonder why, 6.5 hours after this PAN started on all good terms, Sarah saw fit to attack me and stir a turd…and I get to be the bad guy?
  
  Not that I mind, but think before you post people.
  
  Dec 3, 2008 at 4:41 pm rating: +3
- #13.24 agatha christie
  
  Ti O, I always thought it was “Dressed up like a douche, another roller in the night…” A subtle change, but gives it significant difference.
  
  Dec 3, 2008 at 9:38 pm rating: +1
- #13.25 Wade
  
  LOL. Everyone knows it was “Wrapped up like a douche, another rumor in the night…”
  
  Manfred Mann’s mangled lyrics created a hit… and sent the songwriter, Bruce Springsteen, laughing all the way to the bank.
  
  Dec 4, 2008 at 12:10 am rating: 0
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#14 Holiday Djinn

I have seen quite a few art studios. I have seen quite a few trashcans. I still cannot tell the difference. If you wait around long enough at both, you can probably score a bj and drugs.

Dec 3, 2008 at 7:09 am rating: +32

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#15 Wade

I had the same problem in second grade art class.

“This is not an ashtray! If you think it is… wait. It is an ashtray. Never mind.”

Dec 3, 2008 at 7:30 am rating: +16

reply to this comment
- #15.1 Commentator
  
  Whew! For a second there, I thought you were replying to #14.
  
  Dec 3, 2008 at 9:50 am rating: +6
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#16 Debris Blanc

After re-thinking his life chices, Oscar The Grouch moved from a back alley on Sesame Street to Greenwich Village and started a small art studio where he created and sold post-modern cubist collages made from discarded soup cans and Saran Wrap. But every time he tried to go to bed and take a nap after a hard day of collaging, he woke up covered in half-empty Starbucks latte cups and used condoms. It finally got to the point that he had to say something………..

Dec 3, 2008 at 7:38 am rating: +43

reply to this comment
- #16.1 T.U.M.
  
  *coffee spittake*
  
  Dec 3, 2008 at 8:59 am rating: +2
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#17 Ti O

A Paris, je suis un artiste, dans le reste du monde, je suis une prostituée.
signé,
Courtney Love

Dec 3, 2008 at 8:14 am rating: +16

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#18 Ti O

You’re putting trash in my performance art. Please stop upstaging me with your own installation.

Dec 3, 2008 at 8:16 am rating: +5

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#19 0falcon8

give a hoot, don’t pollute!

Dec 3, 2008 at 8:45 am rating: 0

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#20 0falcon8

would that note be considered a trashPAN?

Dec 3, 2008 at 8:56 am rating: +10

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#21 T.U.M.

When I was walking to work this morning, I saw a note taped to a car parked at the next building. From a few yards away, I could tell it was written in bold, black Sharpie on orange construction paper. My heart fluttered in its bony cage - was I to have a PAN morning right in my own front yard?

I was crushed when the note turned out to be perfectly reasonable, sincerely polite, and impeccably spelled.

Dec 3, 2008 at 9:02 am rating: +18

reply to this comment
- #21.1 Goldie
  
  I know the feeling! I’ve been looking out for PANs myself. Spotted one on the office fridge a few weeks ago, but then, before I could snap a picture, a coworker tossed it into the trash. O cruel, PANless world.
  
  Dec 3, 2008 at 11:43 am rating: 0
- #21.2 Woman on the Verge
  
  I was in our copy room and saw… wait for it… a sign with clipart that said “Don’t pick your nose!” By the time I got back with my camera, it was gone. I was so sad…
  
  Dec 3, 2008 at 5:03 pm rating: 0
- #21.3 Kansas girl
  
  I do think Sharpie on orange construction paper would give a few PAN points to any note, even if otherwise reasonable.
  
  Dec 3, 2008 at 5:17 pm rating: 0

painfully polite and hilariously hostile writings from shared spaces the world over

ceci n’est pas une poubelle

December 2nd, 2008 · 99 comments

99 responses so far ↓