Back in the aughts, Cracked magazine was owned by the same company as the Weekly World News. During the rocky final years of Cracked, our editor, in an attempt to give the writers a pay check, had us contribute articles to WWN ("the humor magazine that nobody knows is a humor magazine.") It took me a while to get the hang of the paper but first the editor suggested I do the "Letter and Answer" format for their Dear Abby-style advice column, except that their "expert," Dottie, was a bitch. I struggled with the format, kinda of recycling various jokes and bits I had over the years into a letter format with a snotty answer
Well, good-by, Dottie!
Let's see; we got an Odd Couple reference. A take on the lawsuits that were popping up over fat kids and fast food, a look at menopause, along with a nod to the movie Psycho and some straight-up jokes in the Confidentials. It's a middling effort at best, which is a shame, as it was my last column. Now that I think of it, I'm pretty sure the reason I don't have a 12/24 column is because they asked someone else to do it. It was his try-out and they must have liked it. I wasn't so much as fired as replaced, because they were still willing to read my submissions. By this time I was started to get the vibe of the paper and began pitching story ideas for articles. And it was a better fit. I hope you agree as I continue these WWN entries.
So, good-by Dotti, and be a dear; don't let the door hit you on the butt on your way out. Actually, that doesn't work, as she remained but for only a few years more. They ended up revamping the column in 2005, (which was part of a whole bigger thing) replacing Dotti Primrose with "Hi Dolly." So, I guess I got out of the advice columnist business just in time (wink-wink).
In hindsight, a stronger column would have been nice, but if I were capable of stronger columns, I wouldn't have been "transferred" to field reporting...
Let's see; we got an Odd Couple reference. A take on the lawsuits that were popping up over fat kids and fast food, a look at menopause, along with a nod to the movie Psycho and some straight-up jokes in the Confidentials. It's a middling effort at best, which is a shame, as it was my last column. Now that I think of it, I'm pretty sure the reason I don't have a 12/24 column is because they asked someone else to do it. It was his try-out and they must have liked it. I wasn't so much as fired as replaced, because they were still willing to read my submissions. By this time I was started to get the vibe of the paper and began pitching story ideas for articles. And it was a better fit. I hope you agree as I continue these WWN entries.
So, good-by Dotti, and be a dear; don't let the door hit you on the butt on your way out. Actually, that doesn't work, as she remained but for only a few years more. They ended up revamping the column in 2005, (which was part of a whole bigger thing) replacing Dotti Primrose with "Hi Dolly." So, I guess I got out of the advice columnist business just in time (wink-wink).
In hindsight, a stronger column would have been nice, but if I were capable of stronger columns, I wouldn't have been "transferred" to field reporting...
