LOST:

I went to bed early last night and when I woke up, I discovered I’d lost my right to marry. It’s pretty easy to recognize–four California Supreme Court justices spotted it several months back, although it took them a long damn time to finally find it. It’s in like-new condition–I personally haven’t had a chance to use it yet, and was really looking forward to the opportunity. A couple of my friends and family still have theirs, and even enjoy it so much they’ve used it several times. If you can find it for me, I’d really appreciate getting it back. I’m not sure, but I think the shady gang of thugs who stole it were heading for Utah or maybe Fresno, so please keep an eye out. Thanks.

[Lost: My Right to Marry from The Best of Craigslist]

Thanks to Elsa, I’ve stumbled across something that is probably more funny, insightful, and entertaining than Stuff White People Like, Overheard in New York and PostSecret combined: The Best of Craigslist, nominated by the site’s own users. Who knew the comedic and literary talents of our communities would explode given a chance to display them while bartering for goods? I guess this is the time-honored tradition of story-telling to vendors at the market, recreated for the online marketplace.

The gems are countless, but just to give a few examples, they run the gamut from simple misunderstandings to vague allusions to sexual deviancy. It’s unclear how much is written seriously, but interesting to speculate. And although most of the posts harbor at least a little pretense of having some Craigslist-ian purpose (i.e. a frustrated rant about members of the opposite sex thinly disguised as a personal ad), occasionally the posters seem to be purely using the postings as a way to life-blog or to write short stories. There are publishing opportunities to be had in this, Craig.