Overheard: Information Exchange

Location: Coffee Shop

Scenario: Teenage girl waits for a friend and talks on her cell phone.

“I’m so cold. I wonder why people don’t wear their hoods. (Puts hood up.) You know what makes no sense to me? You see all those fashion shows, and they get a good response, but no one would actually wear that unless you’re that girl on “Clueless.” And their hair is all messed up. Hair is like a fashion statement.

So I went into the boy’s bathroom? I went in with, like, no shoes? Ohmigod, it was like the grossest thing. So you know how Amanda stands on the paper towels? I did that.”

Pulitzer Shortlist

From a November article in GQ, by Rory Evans:

“…Compared to the other men in Hollywood’s 18-to-34-year-old bin, [Colin Farrell] does seem like the most compelling character. Leonardo DiCaprio drives a car that runs on batteries. Josh Hartnett lives in St. Paul, and Ben Affleck is supposedly sober. Farrell, in contrast, rents a whatever car, has fathered a child without getting roped into marriage (his son was born to model Kim Bordenave in September), likes to get laid and, even better, likes to talk about it–a lot.”

So, to break this down, Mr./Ms. Evans is against environmentally friendly modes of transportation, the Twin Cities, and sobriety for alcoholics. In the “compelling” category you’ll find, “whatever cars,” men who are unable to land a model even when they’ve managed to impregnate her, and people who like discussing sex–a lot.

Nightmare Fairies

So, according to this article, PETA has decided to hand out fliers to little kids coming out of the Nutcracker. The fliers “include a color drawing of a woman plunging a large bloody knife into the belly of a terrified rabbit. The fliers urge kids to ‘ask your mommy how many dead animals she killed to make her fur clothes.'”

As long as PETA is educating the public on how animals have similar feelings and instincts to humans, perhaps they should pause and consider how a mother bear reacts when someone threatens her cubs.

Walking Faster

It is raining heavily. This man is wearing a yellow slicker and rain boots as he hoses down the sidewalk. There is obviously something so noxious on the pavement that he cannot wait a few minutes for the rain to wash it away. He would prefer to stand in the downpour with a hose to expedite the process.

Word of the Day

When we travel, I’ve started to take my own teabags along so I’m not stuck with Lipton when the hotel room offers hot water. On our honeymoon, I took ginger peach tea along. I was having a cup recently and suddenly I felt like I was on our hotel patio in Malaysia. I could practically hear the ocean.

What I like about the word “redolent” is that it’s a perfect expression of the relationship between smells and memory. It means:

1. Having or emitting fragrance; aromatic.

2. Reminiscent; suggestive

On the Payroll

A while back, I was reading a Salon article about how Iraqis were surprised that Saddam didn’t fight back when the troops found him. The article quoted a man who is employed by U.S. troops as a security guard. He said of Saddam’s capture, “We lost our only hope and now we are stuck with the Americans.” So that’s comforting.

presidential

In the past, I’ve tried to remain detached in the primaries. Once I choose a candidate I like, I tend to be fiercely loyal. If that person doesn’t win the nomination, I feel like a traitor when I ultimately vote for the other guy.

I spent last weekend helping Bryan with the Howard Dean campaign. He did site advance work, and I was the advance person for the hotel, which means that I missed the concert and Dean’s speech because I was watching the press core’s luggage. Though I learned very little about Dean himself, I’m hoping he gets the nomination simply because I shook his hand in a parking garage at 6 a.m. after collating his press briefing. That makes for a lame anecdote if doesn’t get elected.