We interrupt my work day for the following announcement:
I am being enticed to travel to and stay with a friend in New York, as I have been promised easy access to two "beautiful, single opera singers" with whom she is rooming.
(Actually, I was promised this a little while ago, and I was assured this morning that new living arrangements have not changed the situation.)
Clearly, my first visit to New York since 2001 needs to happen very, very soon...
2 days ago
10 comments:
Opera singers are a good thing? There's a reason the phrase "drama queen" exists... Or is it the friend who is enticing, and the opera singers are an unfortunate side-effect?
Also bear in mind that the latest stupid-ass "security" overreactions appear to have made air travel into mandatory boredom (in addition to the extreme discomfort we've always had to endure).
The meaning of the word "entice" that I had in mind is the action of somebody else---like me bribing somebody to come to my place because I have stash of 140 proof chocolate.
The real reason I want to visit is to see my friend because I really like visiting friends. The other stuff is basically an excuse to make facetious comments, although it certainly doesn't make it less likely that I'll be visiting. :)
My friend is an opera singer (or, at least, has some levels in it) and she's very smart, so I'm not going to assume her roommates are dumb. While I completely understand (and perhaps have been known to occasionally propagate) comments like yours, a given person in these careers deserves a chance before I condemn them as 'stupid.' This is doubly true if this person is beautiful, young, and single. :)
That said, I have essentially no patience for people who I find tedious/dumb no matter how much eye candy they may provide. Anyone who falls below a certain threshhold (which is a reasonably high) is not somebody with whom I want to be spending any time.
I'm afraid to ask, but in terms of "security" overreactions, what happened this time...?
OK, so I looked up the whole security measure bit.
The only thing it will affect regarding what I currently bring on the plane with me is that I can't have my partially-consumed coffee with me (which I have been known to bring with me on occasion).
Also notice that they have not prohibited us from bringing any snakes on board...
I don't understand your comment about boredom. None of the newly-prevented measures are preventing us from brining entertainment items on board... unless, of course, you're doing different things with lotion that I would.
Perhaps the US won't be as heavy-handed and idiotic as the Brits this time, then. There was a swarm of emails going around IPAC this morning and afternoon about passengers being prohibited from taking on any carry-on items whatsoever, with the exceptions of glasses (but no cases) and wallets, keys, etc. No books, no magazines, no ipods, laptops, anything. The key point of concern was electronic fobs like those used for remote entry locks on cars (IPAC has fobs for secure remote logins).
Anyway, anecdotally we learned later this evening that in practice, at least for SFO to Southern CA the only new restriction is the no liquids thing, and arbitrarily large quantities of electronics (and one would think books as well) can still be carried on. If so, very good, and shame on the Brits for being more overreactively stupid than the US for once. :-)
Re: opera singers. I never said anything about intelligence. My concern would be personality. High maintainance, large egos, and extremely artsy folk generally don't have a heck of a lot to talk about with scientists. I get along pretty well with my aunt (an opera singer), for what it's worth. I have a vague recollection that some of her old stories from early in her career underlie my lack of enthusiasm for opera singers...
I got my information from a FAQ that TSA posted on their website today after the questions started pouring in. Besides the 'no liquids' (with the exception of certain stuff for babies, which one has to present in advance), they also mentioned increased hand-checking of check-on luggage (and the need to come to the airport earlier, which doesn't really change anything for those of us who take SuperShuttle) and the need for everybody to take their shoes off (which I am usually asked to do anyway---possibly because I clearly look like a bloody terrorist). However, there seems to not be any issue at all with electronics stuff, which is what I need for my entertainment. (I'd care about books too, but my motion sickness already prevents me from reading books during the flight. Still, I'd be really annoyed at not having that with me while waiting to board.)
I saw some notes about the stringent requirements from the Brits. Indeed, that would suck...
Actually, I find that I get along well with struggling young artists*, as many of them have a lot in common with struggling young scientists and face analogous hurdles and extremely long roads on the elsusive path to success.
* I am explicitly excluding actors/actresses and perhaps many other struggling artists who live in or near Hollywood. Those people are freaks. (However, I can certainly dig struggling artists who like to go to pretentious coffee bars the way I do. We at least have in common the fact that we can laugh at all those cretins who think Starbucks is the pinnacle of coffee places.)
In my post, 'opera singer' was perhaps the least important descriptor that I used... I can't decide which one was the most important, but I'm leaning toward 'easy access' at the moment.
Sounds like both of youse are due for a trip to NYC, just to check out this particular vintage of opera singers. I for one consider us to be high-kwalitay!
Merely as an FYI, training to sing opera is highly technical, involving more than a passing understanding of physics, acoustics, and of course the physiological apparatus of vocal production. (All of this pretty critical when you are making your body a human amplifier in order to project over a 100-piece orchestra to an audience of thousands with no electronic amplification.) You'd be surprised how much we do have in common--until recently, as Mason knows, I was engaged to a neuroscientist. Of course we probably had nothing in common and it was just the great sex.
I like interesting people who are passionate about what they do. You'd well admit that there are boring (or boorish) people across all fields, whether it be the sciences, filmmaking, finance, IT, opera, horticulture, art history, taxidermy, law, religion, politics, library "sciences", construction, publishing, PR, dogwalking or the circus arts. While opera as a chosen vocation may have some concomitant self-selecting personality traits, not all of us = high-maintenance self-important no-talent ass-clowns.
Just me.
Maria: I already know you're high quality, but that could be because I knew you before you became an opera singer? Or possibly because you're the only person who wrote in my yearbook how famous you'd become... :)
I read a layperson's article somewhere (American Scientist?) about why it's hard to understand the words sung by opera singers (even sober ones ;P ).
The neuroscientist could also have just been messing with your brain. :) They're very good at that...
Booring people in science? I've never met any of those and can't possibly imagine it to be true...
Ummm, I met "boorish." Don't you love it ginormously when I combine two words like that?
So she's not only beautiful (according to Mason--I'll happily take his word for it), but she's also intelligent (to me, the use of words like "assclown" is a positive indicator) and willing to stroll into this little geeks' den and start talking about sex. Brains, breasts and bravado--now there's a combination. (forgive the vulgarity, but I do so love alliteration.)
So, Mason, I can see why you told me to read this thread. You're gonna have to introduce Maria to the crowd down here if she ever dares come this way.
Lemming: Now, you're getting me in trouble. What I actually said was that I was promised (by her) that her roommates were beautiful. I make it a point not to make comments along those lines about my friends (except for you, Lemming, because I think you're gorgeous, and I can't hold it in any longer), so while what you thought I said is convenient for getting me in trouble, it's not actually what I said. I'm going to be non-committal in open discussion because that's just the kind of wuss I am.
And if you don't scare her off, I'm sure Maria can handle the rest of my friends. Then again, I haven't scared her off (yet), so she can probably handle you. She has nerves of steel. Or something like that.
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