Something That Does Exist: Personal Biographers

As a little bit of a break from the usual purpose of this blog, I’m actually writing about something that already exists today. A big part of why I started this blog was to share the ideas I come up with, and I make sure that when I’m about to add an entry I at least do a quick Google search for the idea I am going to write about. For the first time, my search yielded something pretty similar to what I was going to write about.


A few months ago I was reading a biography about two brothers who started the first successful radio empire in the US. While reading the biography, I couldn’t help but wonder how it was that these two men had a biography written about them when so many other people have great stories that never get told. Of course, the subjects of this biography did something great that an author decided was worthy of a biography. But certainly there a lot of people who live interesting lives, lives that might not attract the attention of a biographer but would still be interesting to someone. That’s when I came up with the idea for personal, private biography writers. These biographies could be made to honor an older relative, maybe to mark a significant birthday or anniversary. Possibly the biographies could be made by the elderly themselves to preserve their own legacy.


This seemed like such a lucrative and practical idea; I couldn’t understand why no one else had tried it before. The Google search I did before writing this entry solved that for me. It turns out that such services already do exist and I simply hadn’t heard of them. I hope that since this service already exists, that I at least brought it to more people’s attention.


If this is something you might like to learn more about, here are some links:

Here is some advice for getting started.

Some websites of companies that offer this service: Timepieces, Dear Memory


Is this something you had heard of? Does it sound like a good idea? Should I continue writing about the ideas I find that do exist?

What Happened to Lelaina Pierce?

This is an idea I have loved since I first thought of it. It came up while I was discussing movies with a good friend on a road trip. We were specifically discussing one of my personal favorite movies: Reality Bites.



For those of you who don’t know anything about the movie (or who just need to be reminded), the film deals with a group of young people who have just graduated from college. They are job-seeking, relationship-building young gen-Xers. The audience gets to look into their personalities and the dynamics of their friendships. The movie stars Winona Ryder, Ethan Hawk, Steve Zahn, Janeane Garofalo, and Ben Stiller; it is Ben Stiller’s directorial debut.

After seeing Reality Bites so many times, I have grown pretty attached to the characters and I would like to know where they are now. Did Lelaina ever find success as a documentary filmmaker? How long did her relationship with Troy last? Did Sammy’s parents ever let him back in the house? Is Vickie still working at the Gap? Did any of them find happiness? Are any of them still friends?

I’m sure if you didn’t love this movie as much as I did, you probably have another movie where you are dying to know where the characters are now. If it helps, you can pretend like this entire entry is about that movie.

I love ‘Where Are They Now’ segments on TV, but they only address where certain actors or celebrities are now. I want a special feature on DVDs where we can see where the characters are now. Imagine how much fun it would be to get the cast together (in character) to say what they are doing now. Sometimes a sequel just isn’t an option, and we all know that sequels are often inferior to the original anyway. This idea works very well in place of a full sequel.

Has anyone seen this as a special feature before? Are there any other movies where you would like to know whatever happened to the characters? Does anyone know if Ben Stiller would go for something like this?

Chest Hair Dye

Yes, you read that headline right. Remember these are things that would make my life easier, but I have a feeling other people could use such a product.



I have had grey hair on my head since high school, starting with a few here and there and growing to some small patches. Still not a significant amount of grey hair, but it is there and observable. Because I sprouted grey head hairs at such a young age, I don’t associate that with aging or feeling/looking older. However, it wasn’t until just a year or two ago that I noticed my first grey chest hair. Since then, those grey chest hairs have multiplied. For me this was a significant moment. I think everyone observes something about themselves at some point that reminds them they are aging,* and this first noticeable grey chest hair was it for me.

For many others, this moment happens when they notice the first grey hair on their head, and they often address the issue by dyeing their tresses back to a more desirable color. So I think someone should invent chest hair dye. Basically, it would be like “Just For Men” hair dye, but designed specifically for application onto body hair.

I did a cursory Google search to see if such a product already exists and all I saw were tips on how to use traditional hair dye for body hair purposes. I can think of a few reasons why body hair and head hair should be treated differently, so I still believe there should be a separate product for it.

If you have seen or heard of such a thing let me know in the comments section. Really, if you have anything at all to contribute, go ahead and leave a comment.


*If you disagree with this, then you probably just haven’t seen it yet. Wait for it.

Long Term Travel Savings

Most of my readers may already know me as somewhat of a world traveler. For any readers who don’t know me well, I spent a year of my life studying abroad in five different countries in order to earn my Masters degree. During that time I was able to visit around 20 total countries. Basically, I spent 11 months traveling and learning. It was a great experience; I wouldn’t trade it for anything.



When I talk to family members or friends about the experience, they often tell me how exciting it sounds and that they wish they could do something like that. I almost always answer with the same response: ‘Then you should.’ I don’t actually expect people to do the exact same program that I did, nor do I think everyone should choose that path. However, I do feel strongly that anyone who really wants to travel in their lifetime, can and should do it. When I tell people this, they inevitably have some excuse for why it won’t work (I can’t take time off work, I have to spend time with my kids, etc.). While I don’t doubt that these are legitimate reasons, I do believe that with a little bit of creativity and ingenuity these excuse-makers can find a way to travel the world sometime in their lives.

This leads me to today’s “Thing That Should Exist.” There needs to be some serious planning tools that will help people who want to travel. This could take many forms. Maybe there will be counselors or case managers who will personally advise potential travelers on how to work it into their lives. Or perhaps more of a kit that will offer options and ideas. Does anyone else have any ideas for how this could work? I know there are tour groups and travel agencies that specialize in creating travel experiences for people in many different stages of life, but I also know that these cannot address the needs or interests of everyone. At the very least, there should be savings plans that are designed specifically for travel.


I have been blessed to experience many adventures and I simply want others to be similarly blessed. I don’t assume that everyone would want or should want to have the same adventures as me. I just think they should be able to live the life they want, even if they can’t do it right away because of work and family responsibilities.

Does something like this already exist? Who thinks this would be useful? Any other thoughts?

Tanning Planning

As we all know, the sun has at least two very significant effects on the human body. Actually, it probably has more than two, but for this particular Thing That Should Exist there are only two important ones. First, the sun can cause severe skin damage, including cancer. Second, the sun can cause skin to take on a more attractive hue when it lightly toasts the skin. While I know there is an increasing number of people who avoid the sun and prefer the pale shade that comes with an indoor lifestyle, there is still a sizable portion of the population who would choose to go out in the sun or to a tanning bed to achieve the perfect shade of skin.



Because people do still value that certain epidermal hue, there should be a way to achieve it safely and without the chance of becoming burnt (or worse: staying in the sun all day and never becoming tan, the result of too much SPF). Of course sunscreens and tanning oils have existed for many years, so you may be thinking this is not a very novel concept. However, people have been misusing sunscreen for as long as sunscreen has existed, either by applying the wrong amount or the wrong SPF. In addition, there has never been an exact science telling people how much to use and how long to stay in the sun.

This is where Tanning Planning will come in. It’s going to require science to determine how long someone should stay in the sun and for how many days and what SPF to apply on those days in order to achieve the perfect shade. Everyone has different skin that can handle different amounts of sun, which is where some studies will need to be done in order to figure out what different consumers need. I’m sure after enough testing, scientists can break it down to only a few categories that can be easily determined in a retail store at the time of purchase.

In my imagination, Tanning Planning will come in the form of a brand new line of sunscreens, a complete package telling the consumer when to use each product. Though that is how I imagine it, I’m sure it could take on several different forms, including some sort of insert that comes along with pre-existing sunscreens. Either way, I think this product would work because it rhymes.

If this product already exists, let me know in the comments. Believe it or not, I would love to hear your thoughts on it.

More Effective Bullshit Meter

Many people swear to the existence of something called gaydar, which I understand to be some sort of gauge of the sexuality of others. By 2010, I think we all know that the idea of such a device is pretty much bogus. That is to say that it does not exist in a tangible way that any can be practically used and sold commercially (this seems like the kind of thing SkyMall would sell exclusively). I have reservations with the idea of such a thing existing even in a non-tangible form, but when it comes right down to it, gaydar is probably something that just shouldn't exist anyway. People should be allowed to come to terms with their sexuality and allow others to do the same without some sort of gauge or meter doing it for them.

There is, however, another person-rating device that I think would be invaluable: a BS-meter. Let me explain what I mean by BS by giving a few examples. When a person talks about himself too much and his story has many inconsistencies, he is probably full of BS. When a politician promises anything, you can probably assume it’s BS. Any get rich quick scheme is very likely to be BS.

Those are just simple examples with clear-cut cases of BS. Even with those clear illustrations of BS, many people are still fooled. Many people even believe they have a well-tuned inner sense of what is BS and what is not. But all of us are fooled from time to time. We are fooled by that politician who promises something we want to believe in or by that ‘fool-proof’ scheme for abundant riches because we desperately desire the cash.

This would be the sales pitch for anyone who could develop a more effective ‘BS Meter.’ I think the SkyMall catalog could make a killing off of something like that. I think people could buy several of them. I would put one near the TV, so it could detect BS in the news media. I would have another on me at all times (maybe in the form of a key chain?) to decipher my daily interactions with people. This would dramatically improve my life.

As with any of my ideas, I welcome comments telling me if this already exists and where I can find it.

I was afraid of this

Wouldn't you just know it? I mean this is the kind of thing I really should have expected. I'm usually completely full of ideas and all I want is to just get those ideas out. So I created this blog thinking it would be a good way to let others in on my ideas. Now that I've set up the blog, it's as though the well has dried up. I haven't thought of a good "thing that should exist" in over a week.

Keep checking back folks. I'm sure it's just writer's block or stage fright or something. I will be coming up with fresh ideas again soon. Count on it.

Intro and Purpose.

Hello and welcome to my simple blog. In case you can't tell from the title alone, this is a place where I will simply create entries of ideas I have for things that do not exist, but that I think should exist. Admittedly, this blog will be somewhat self-serving since I only intend to write about things that I want, that would make my life easier. That being said, if you have any ideas for things that would help make life easier, feel free to share those ideas with me and I can expand on them.

I hope that by listing my ideas I can achieve three things:
1) Improve my writing skills.
2) Find out if any of the described items do, in fact, exist.
3) Inspire some creative person to develop(or invent, produce, etc.) one of my ideas, thereby improving my life.

Readers can help with number 2 above by commenting on my posts if something does exist. I would also appreciate comments telling me who agrees that my idea might be helpful. I guess I can accept people disagreeing with me too. Who knows, maybe it will even lead to an exciting discussion.

If you decide you want to steal one of my ideas, that's great! Please just let me know, so I can anticipate.

Now stay tuned for my first real post.