Passive Aggressive Notes

Passive Aggressive Notes (PAN) is a blog by Kerry Miller about the painfully polite and hilariously hostile notes people leave each other. If you've ever been a college dorm resident advisor, complained to a resident advisor, or watched Felicity, this will bring back memories of the least-effective method of dealing with domestic dispute: the note.

This blog is great at capturing increasingly awkward roommate relations in single snapshots. PAN dates back to May 2007, and records disputes in all sorts of shared spaces: from workplace cafeterias to apartment bathrooms to shared kitchens. I'm still gagging from the post where someone wrote in poo.

Anyone can submit photos for the blog. (You get the feeling that half the posts are submitted by the authors, in an extra dose of passive-aggressiveness and pride.) PAN asks that users include name, city, e-mail address, and back story details... along with either the physical note by mail, or a high scan photo of it via the Internets. They are currently compiling a best of the best for a book. In other words, typical Web 2.0. You, the user, do all the work, and they'll make a profit out of it. Gosh, I love web 2.0.

If the design looks familiar, it's because they use a slightly modified Cutline for Wordpress template, just like Stuff White People Like. The masthead is cute and clever, setting a very domestic tone for the website. Also, it makes me hungry for scrambled eggs. Also, the edges are encrusted with adds, tag clouds and announcements (they're a Webby Award 2008 honoree!). Annoying, but at least they had the decency to keep out of the top left corners of the page.

Overall, cute concept, cute site. B.
(Source: google. Also, that's it.)