Some thoughts are better kept to yourself.
I’ve never been particularly good at that.
Spare Thoughts started with a simple problem: there are a lot of things happening in the world that are either mildly ridiculous, oddly relatable, or so stupidly specific that you can’t help but notice them.
Once you notice them, they tend to stick.
A strange phrase overheard in public. A completely unnecessary observation. A tiny moment of human behavior that makes you think, Well, apparently we’re doing that now.
Most people let those thoughts drift away.
I decided to give them a website.
What exactly is a Spare Thought?
A Spare Thought is the mental equivalent of finding a french fry at the bottom of the bag.
You weren’t looking for it. You don’t technically need it. But now that you’ve found it, you’re probably going to spend a few seconds thinking about it.
That’s the general philosophy around here.
Some thoughts become essays. Some become designs. Some become products. Some are simply too dumb to justify either and are allowed to wander around unsupervised.
There is no grand formula.
That’s kind of the point.
Why the name?
Because your brain rarely sticks to the task at hand.
And then, occasionally, you have a thought that refuses to leave. Those are the ones we’re interested in.
Spare Thoughts is a place for those mental leftovers—the observations, oddities, complaints, jokes, curiosities, and tiny flashes of nonsense that don’t fit neatly anywhere else.
Made from things we notice.
A lot of the ideas around here start with something remarkably ordinary.
That’s where the fun starts.
The goal isn’t to manufacture cleverness out of thin air. It’s to notice the weirdness that’s already sitting right in front of us.
Sometimes all it takes is looking at an ordinary thing from a slightly crooked angle.
The merch is part of the thought.
The shirts, mugs, prints, and other stuff aren’t just decorations for the website. They’re essentially physical evidence.
Evidence that somebody had a thought and, instead of exercising reasonable judgment, decided to put it on a product.
Some designs are built around observations. Others come from phrases, situations, or concepts that simply deserve to exist somewhere outside someone’s head.
If you’ve ever worn something that made a complete stranger laugh, stare for a second, or quietly nod in agreement, you already understand the appeal.
It’s not necessarily about making a statement.
Sometimes it’s just about saying, Yep. I noticed that too.
No profound life lessons required.
Spare Thoughts isn’t here to solve the world’s problems.
I’m leaving that to people with considerably more impressive credentials and significantly better organizational skills.
I’m here for the smaller stuff.
The weird stuff.
Meet Our Team
A talented team of one, wearing several hats and occasionally forgetting where he put them.
Me
Chief Executive Troublemaker
Still Me
Executive Director of Whatever This Is
Just Me
Managing Editor of Mental Leftovers