Top 55 Things To LOL At

Today, Rob and I were gchatting and we got to talking about the internet expression "lol". Well, it went like this. Rob was talking about reusing some titles he pitched to The Onion in an upcoming list, and then he typed "lol recycling". For some reason I thought that was one of the titles, like a Point/Counterpoint: "Recycling Is Key to Our Planet's Future vs. LOL Recycling"... 

Anyway, we started talking about the diminishing power of "lol". Aside from just abbreviating "laughing out loud", it also has this incredible property to instantly deflate whatever follows it. Not maliciously, certainly not intelligently, but the effect is undeniable. It's a flippant display of skepticism. And sometimes, it's the only way to express that some concept or idea is so big, so complicated, so absurd, that you can't really take it at face value. You just have to lol.

So. Inspired by some of the things that Rob and I lol'd at today, here's a list. (Or poem?)

55. lol recycling

54. lol snowy owls

53. lol coral reefs

52. lol energy efficiency

51. lol net neutrality

50. lol conflict diamonds

49. lol veterans of foreign wars

48. lol globalization

47. lol privatization

46. lol the housing bubble

45. lol stimulus package

44. lol bipartisanship

43. lol monogamy

42. lol two-state solution

41. lol reparations

40. lol universal health care

39. lol Large Hadron Collider

38. lol quagmire

37. lol caves

36. lol Mohammed

34. lol Jesus the prophet

33. lol Jesus the son

32. lol no child left behind

31. lol children

30. lol childhood

29. lol adulthood

28. lol voter apathy

27. lol yes we did

26. lol mavericks

25. lol lipstick on a pitbull

24. lol Joe the Plumber

23. lol Joe the Biden

22. lol viral presidency

21. lol AIDS virus

20. lol A-Rod

19. lol the love of the game

18. lol the book of love

17. lol the line of David

16. lol David at the dentist

15. lol Charlie bit me

14. lol Chocolate Rain

13. lol Purple Rain

12. lol bad moon rising

11. lol China on the rise

10. lol Israel and Palestine

9. lol Florida and Ohio

8. lol Tom and Katie

7. lol the levies

6. lol Kanye West

5. lol West Africa

4. lol East Berlin

3. lol North Korea

2. lol the South will rise again

1. lol tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow