Enter the Secret Password

Print Man. I.D. please.

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I haven't posted in so long! Apologies. Been a lil' busy...

I'll write a real post in a week or so, but for now I have some things to share with you!

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One of my new favorites

http://mirandajuly.com/


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This place kind of intrigues me: http://www.thrillist.com/new-york/2009/07/28/der-schwarze-kolner

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Marc Steinmetz is pretty cool. As are these escape tools created by inmates:


http://www.marcsteinmetz.com/pages/fluchtstuecke/efluchtstuecke_minis.html

Although a little [extremely] shady, some of these creations are really impressive...

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Digging Pineapple Seed. Beautiful simplicity at a reasonable price. Some favorites:

http://pineappleseed.com/jewelry/scr04.html

http://pineappleseed.com/jewelry/icn10.html

http://pineappleseed.com/jewelry/scn11g.html

http://pineappleseed.com/jewelry/scr02.html

http://pineappleseed.com/jewelry/mecr01.html (men's)

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Create your perfect ice cream. Need I say more?


http://www.perfectflavor.com/mixer/list_bases

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So, I went to this [http://www.theenglishsurgeon.com/] last Friday and it was pretty incredible. This new documentary follows London’s foremost brain MD during a winter in Ukraine as he wrestles with mortality, small miracles, and the risks involved with going under the knife. Aside from almost throwing up and passing out at one point, I really enjoyed it. The director and surgeon were there at the end for a Q&A, which made it all the more rich. I would go on and on telling you what it's about, but check out the site and WATCH IT.

NYT review: http://movies.nytimes.com/2009/07/24/movies/24english.html

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More things I like:

http://shop.moxsie.com/all-black/hot-news.html

http://shop.moxsie.com/necklush/lush-oranges-and-red.html

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Man Booker business..."Wolf Hall" is actually our book, yay! Harper Collins- Fourth is the uk publisher.

http://www.themanbookerprize.com/news/stories/1252

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Want to read:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0312428596/artandlies-20

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Hilarious. Comparing your column about puppies to Joan Didion's masterpiece? I dont think so...

http://gawker.com/5324754/toward-bethlehem-with-joan-didion-and-jill-abramson

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Pretty flippin' cool:

http://seedmagazine.com/slideshow/mathematicians/

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YAY Michael Chabon! YES

Michael Chabon talks about his childhood of freely running around the outdoors, getting into scrapes and exploring. He fears that our new anxieties and desire to control children's lives to protect them from everything from sexual predators to germs is stunting their imagination, with possible ramifications on the future of literature.


http://www.nybooks.com/articles/22891

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More later!

Whoever has learned how to listen to trees no longer wants to be a tree

[thanks to KB for this text...makes me miss the sweet VT summer]



trees are sanctuaries - herman hesse "wandering"


Trees are sanctuaries. Whoever knows how to speak to them, whoever knows how to listen to them, can learn the truth. The do not preach learning and precepts, they preach, undeterred by particulars, the ancient law of life.

A tree says: A kernel is hidden in me, a spark, a thought, I am life from eternal life. The attempt and the risk that the eternal mother took with me is unique, unique the form and veins of my skin, unique the smallest play of leaves in my branches and the smallest scar on my bark. I was made to form and reveal the eternal in my smallest special detail.

A tree says: My strength is trust. I know nothing about my fathers, I know nothing about the thousand children that every year spring out of me. I live out the secret of my seed to the very end, and I care for nothing else. I trust that God is in me. I trust that my labor is holy. Out of this trust I live.

When we are stricken and cannot bear our lives any longer, then a tree has something to say to us: Be still! Be still! Look at me! Life is not easy, life is not difficult. Those are childish thoughts. Let God speak within you, and your thoughts will grow silent. You are anxious because your path leads away from mother and home. But every step and every day lead you back again to the mother. Home is neighter here nor there. Home is within you, or home is nowhere at all.

A longing to wander tears my heart when I hear trees rustling in the wind at evening. If one listens to them silently for a long time, this longing reveals its kernel, its meaning. It is not so much a matter of escaping from one' suffering, though it may seem to be so. It is a longing for home, for a memory of the mother, for new metaphors for life. It leads home. Every path leads homeward, every step is birth, every step is death, every grave is mother.

So the tree rustles in the evening, when we stand uneasy before our own childish thoughts. Trees have long thought, long-breathing and restful, just as they have longer lives that ours. The are wiser than we are, as long as we do not listen to them. But when we have learned how to listen to trees, then the brevity and the quickness and the childlike hastiness of our thoughts achieve and incomparable joy. Whoever has leaned how to listen to trees no longer wants to be a tree. He wants to be nothing except what he is. That is home. That is happiness.

Infinity Years of Freedom

The Tangled Alphabet...

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And oh boy can it get tangled and mangled and jostled and jangled and mish-mashed to the point of being unrecognizable. It's malleable, it's fallible, it's every bit of existence is contingent upon other bits of its shifty self. But we love it. And we need it.

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Speaking of language, locavore, frenemy, and staycation make debut appearance in the new Webster's dictionary.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g8pdiQ9jQsQwcu2YsiJrCp16vE_AD99ASRMG0


The article references this (http://www.amazon.com/Word-Myths-Debunking-Linguistic-Legends/dp/0195375572/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1247171978&sr=8-1) book, which I am now intent on getting.

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Give struggling authors a chance, Brother!

http://ideas.theatlantic.com/2009/07/bet_on_books.php

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I knew this was a bad idea...


http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2009/jul/08/trust-read-your-work

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Sooooo, Borders UK just launched an online dating service. Amazing. "Good day, chaps! Come get your books, greeting cards, and a nice lassie all in one online stop!"

http://www.borders.co.uk/borders-dating

Am I tempted to join under the pseudonym of Ursula B. Cartale? I just may be...I just. May. Be.

[have no idea where that name came from]

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Lineup for 2009 Book Festival has been announced. Exciting!


http://www.loc.gov/bookfest/2009/authors/index.html

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This was a pretty fascinating interview. I only caught bits n' pieces of it, since it was on whilst I was running amuck in my apartment getting ready for work this morning. I remember early rumblings about this book from a few months ago though. Ah, if only I had that time-freezer machine and I could read EVERYTHING, muwhahahaaaa.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106388550

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Yet another book I must devour...


http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/09/books/09maslin.html?_r=2&ref=global-home

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Geeks aren't born, they're made:


http://www.avclub.com/articles/pg-wodehouse,30148/

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Jay Parini (VT represent!) interviews Gore Vidal:


http://www.kwls.org/lit/podcasts/2009/07/gore_vidal_writer_against_the.cfm

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Rob Walker= The Man


http://significantobjects.com/

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D'accord, c'est tout pour maintenant!

Cinnamon

'till later...

Accidental Gifts

Kate and I met these little piggies last weekend on Little West 12th Street outside of Destination  (http://www.destinationny.net/)

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Day off today...will be full of exploration.  That is, once I stop being the laziest human alive and gather the gusto to part from my french press and put on real people clothes.

Oh yeah, have to retrieve my bike from the west side as well...crossing my fingers that it's still there.

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Was at my kitchen sink this morning, contemplating doing the dishes (which are still bathing in week-old water, for the record) and turned to the tiger figurine hanging out on the corner of the sink.  He's been there for about 5 months now.  I was walking back to my apartment at some ungodly hour in the morning in february and literally stumbled upon this guy.  He's beautiful, plastic, brave, wise, and about 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" of awesomeness.

This was especially exciting/noteworthy for me on that morning because there had been a sudden influx of tigers in my life.  Yes, real live tigers were suddenly roaming around everywhere.  I wish.

But really, for some reason tiger photos/images/signs/themes were surrounding me.  For a good month not a day went by where I didn't see a tiger something (note: this blog started around that time.  Hence the "teeming tigress".  I figured the universe was telling me that I am indeed a tiger).  Tigers on license plates, staring at me from bookstore windows, a photo emerging of my brother and I circa 1987 dressed as tigers, a friend randomly BBMing me a picture of a tiger at the zoo, and so on.  My point:  when I physically tripped over this tiger figurine, I was simultaneously stunned and not surprised at all.  Brought him home, gave him a dish soap bath, and now he guards my kitchen.

Anyway, so I am looking at him this morning and started recalling the cool things I have come across while roaming NYC sidewalks/floors/parks and beyond.

- Miniature eggplant magnet.  Found: 79th/York.  Now on my fridge, holding up a photo of my niece

-Tiny, tiny bell.  Found: on the 1st floor of MOMA.  Now in a little box of magical trinkets in my apartment

-Extremely sketchy/cool looking rubbery thing that, I swear, resembled a florescent dinosaur claw.  Found: Bleecker St.  Now: potentially still there; potentially reunited with its fellow dino claws; potentially consumed by curious dog.  I didn't touch it.  Something about it screamed "disease-ridden"...but it was pretty incredible, nonetheless

-Figurine of Raphael, the ninja turtle sans sai.  Found: Champs de Mars, Paris.  Now:  I have no effing clue.  He is with me somewhere though, perhaps back in VT.  He lived in my Parisian apartment with me for 5 months and then I carted him back to the states.  Maybe he ran away.  Maybe he's looking for his sai.  My friend and I gave him little toothpick sai, but I can see where that would be less than satisfactory.  Poor Raphael.

-Fortune cookie fortune.  Found: on the stairs up to my apartment.  Ok, finding one of these in NYC is far from rare.  But the weird thing?  All it said was: YOU.  So, you know, I picked it up and brought it along with me.  Figured the world was telling ME something.  Now: in one of my many moleskines...somewhere

-Tea bag tag that says: Travel light, live light, spread light, be the light.  Found: when I was working at Random House...in the kitchenette.  Now: on my fridge, of course.  I wanted to anchor it there with the eggplant magnet, but the magnet is too big and covered up the message.

...there's lots more, too!  That's a good list for now though.  I need to shower and delve into the day.

Wonder what I'll find out there!

A Crystal Character

Hello! Geesh, been a while, I apologize. Life has been a good kinda crazy these past couple of weeks. I'm embarking on a new adventure this evening and don't have much time right now to blog, but had to share a few things...of course!

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In my work neighborhood. Will be going someday in the near future...SO cool. Thanks for this link, BCS :)

http://nymag.com/bestofny/fun/2009/blow-steam/

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Love the little girl jump-roping necklace...ah, the sweet, sweet picture of youth.

http://shop.lucidnewyork.com/

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Kafka's Pest Control ad...hm


http://www.kansascity.com/news/neighborhood/leawood/story/1282628.html

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An otter love romance...awww


http://achewood.com/index.php?date=06302009

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Literary heatwave quiz:


http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/quiz/2009/jun/29/books-heatwave-quiz

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Yeah, Chip! [this guy was kind of, sort of, maybe, on some level, almost my boss...once]

http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2009/06/chip-kidd-to-pen-batman-comic-for-dc.html

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Wowzah! ...I wasn't going to say anything, but I cannot help but point out Thomas' photo. I mean. That's all. Good article though. NYT used the word "dildo". A milestone?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/26/books/26book.html?_r=1&hpw

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I have stuff to actually share too, but I have to take a jaunt to my next location. Had a cool experience today, hoping/thinking it will seep into tonight...

'til next time

<3

Some of us cannot eat poems when we are hungry

...just a little

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Winding down after a wonderful weekend...went out and bought two big bunches of flowers in a rain storm.

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I want to get in on this "reading books that don't exist" action:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2009/jun/16/reading-books-don-t-exist

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Ha!  Love this little note to William Carlos Williams...a play on his "This is Just to Say" poem:

http://www.marriedtothesea.com/061809/dear-william.gif

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Paradise Lost fashion show...

http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/cn_news_features/displayarticle.asp?id=426200

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NASCAR + poetry= a combination that, much to my surprise, actually exists:

http://www.thespeciousreport.com/2003_nascar.html

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China Mieville suggests 5 literary movements starting with "Zombiefail '09-ism":

http://www.omnivoracious.com/2009/06/neither-a-contract-nor-a-promise-five-movements-to-watch-out-for.html

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Terry Gross interviews Woody Allen:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=105400872

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I'll leave you tonight with this play on Green Eggs and Ham that made me chuckle a little...ok, a lot:

what kind of mystical, magical device is capable of such wizardry?

A few weeks ago, upon hand-delivering a pineapple to my office and later realizing that the act was not the focal point of my following blog post, my dear friend Ben proclaimed that one day he'd like to be the centerpiece (or "cynosure", if you will) of an upcoming blog post.  So this is it!

In short, Ben is a crazy, cracky, cranky, cozy, corrupt, coital, caring, contagious, canny, comical, and compassionate guy.  

I think the best way to illustrate our friendship is by sharing random excerpts of Gchat conversations we've had through the months.  Our relationship truly blossomed one fine day in...I want to say November?...when we were both at work and experiencing a significant lull in the day.  And thus it began.  Have I mentioned how hilarious this guy is?  Let's just say that at least 10 times someone has walked into my office to find me red in the face, gasping for air, with tears streaming down my face.  This is extreme laughter.  Anyway, done w/ the rambling.  This will most likely be worthless and potentially annoying for anyone who is not Ben or myself, but here it goes.

This one's for you BenYameen, Boops, Beep, Car, and whatever else I call you...

[everyone else may as well switch screens at this time]

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me: Hey dude

Benjamin: hey dudette

me: (Remember that tv show from the '90s?)

Benjamin: its snowing like what?

hey dude!

i do!

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Benjamin: "my name is Thor Stormborn, I was born on a glacier in helsinki, and I kill bears for a living."

me: I know that guy

Benjamin: "I am also a principal dancer with the bolshoi ballet"

THAT'S a unique guy!

me: "also, I invented the post-it"

Benjamin: "my diet consists of barbed wire, and vegan rice."

"also, I am chuck norris."

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me: yaoun chat furrr a biyt?

Benjamin: maybs

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Benjamin: you are a cool woman

and i am cougar prey...

me: together...we have the power to...

eh...

Benjamin: hm...

gain the respect of older women?

me: slash envy?

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me: ADORABLE, love her

Benjamin: she doesnt understand that that makes her sound like a 14 year old with the IQ of a ballpene hammer


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Benjamin: but come ON!

me: Je comprends

These chips r going to heavenly, btw

Benjamin: i am kind of a hardass, but i have a mostly happy life and there's little that makes me uncomfortable

me: Guacamole

Benjamin: no that doesnt make me uncomfortable, just aroused

me: Good response, huh?

Benjamin: and also btdubs, i make amazing yam fries

me: I'm making that too (guac)

Benjamin: wait, lemme try that again

also, btdubs, i make amazing sweet potato fries

me: Yam fries ...

Benjamin: the word yam is hilarious

haha say yam fries aloud


me: I did! And I'm cracking up in my kitchen

Yam

Benjamin: yeah i generally avoid saying yam because it makes me laugh

me: We should have a cook-a-thong

Woah!!! Thon. Thon

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me: u there?

Benjamin: YO, what's up?

me: talking to broccoli ... so boring

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Benjamin: oh you'll love it

i saw it on broadway and DIED

me: so excited

Benjamin: hilar

me: ridic

Benjamin: totes

me: love abbrevs

Benjamin: love to hate them

me: hate to love them

it's a double-edged sword

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Benjamin: you am not so bright

me: I are two!

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Benjamin: no no im starting my mullet

me: HOT

Benjamin: oh yeah

me: mullets r so trendy/edgy (in Spain, circa 1993)

Benjamin: but i shaved my head, except for the last few inches above the back of my neck for my mullet

me: sexy, ben

Benjamin: i figure if I rock that with a nice neckbeard, the ladies will be unable to resist me

thick luxurious neckbeard


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Benjamin: nice

did you have a stroke recently ?

me: eff u

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me: art thou therest?

Benjamin: no

me: ok, oh well...i'll try again later

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Benjamin: thats $2,000 a month julia

me: eek!

Benjamin: absurd

do you know what I could accomplish with that

me: the purchase of many McFlurries

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Benjamin: the weth is perf

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Benjamin: its almost sensual isn't it

i love that

me: Had to wait till I had turned over all the chips...vital part

Benjamin: totes vite

me: And yes, it's like a mini org

Benjamin: J.V. org

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me: I was hoping I had read their book so I could moderate

But noooooo

Benjamin: haha moderate?

you're such a bibliophile...

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Benjamin: 3 of my close friends have swine flu

me: huh, just remembered i have a phone call at 8:30

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Benjamin: weak people kinda bother me

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me: I'm chatting via phone

Benjamin: *gasp!

me: I know...don't say anything

Benjamin: what kind of mystical, magical device is capable of such wizardry??

me: ...I'll explain that to u one day, lil' one

Don't sweat it, I will ease your frazzled mind when I return

I know it's a lot to take

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Benjamin: good call

im gonna go poop out of my anus now

me: out of your anus? weird

Benjamin: i know i know

variety is the spice of life

me: your body works so differently than any other i know

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Benjamin: do you use gruyere and cheddar and parmesan??

and butter?

and love?

me: yes, YES, and yes

not parm, actually, not necessary. Or gruyere

Benjamin: and crust on top?

me: double up on the "hunter's sharp" cheddar

what is mac n' cheese w/o crust?

Benjamin: oh the hunter's sharp...

mac and gay

me: i'll tell you what it ISN'T: mac n' cheese

right

Benjamin: god we're so clever

me: mac n' I may as well put this in the garbage disposal

Benjamin: have you heard of the waverly inn?

me: mac n' I just threw up in my mouth a little and it tasted better than "mac n' cheese" w/o crust

ok, im done w. that

Benjamin: we get it

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Benjamin: bus it??

shame on you

don't you dare bus it

me: Well it IS only $15


Benjamin: and you pay for what you get

you can't put a price on safety

and by safety i mean luxury

and by can't i mean can


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Benjamin: i dont think you're there, but i forgot to tell you the story about the mom who basically proposed marriage to me on the cruise

remind me to tell you lates

me: what!?

sorry, work happened

what cruise? what mom?

Benjamin: it's ok, me too

the cruise i take my clients on after the concert

well, there's an overpriced cash bar, and a group of about 3 of the moms were hitting it pretty hardcore

me: of course

Benjamin: by about 1:30, they were all railed

me: you are such cougar prey

Benjamin: and pretended they were in high school on the dance floor and everything it was hilarious

anyway

hahah i am cougar prey


me: yessss

Benjamin: i decided to have some fun with them, so i went over to schmooze with them

thinking I knew full well how it would end

well, we're talking about what i like to do in NYC

"do you see broadway shows?"

me: haha, right question to ask YOU!

Benjamin: "well, i'll see a show if one of my friends is in it, but I prefer the ballet and the opera"

they swooned...

and one says to me

pointing to her wedding ring

"if it weren't for this fucking thing, i would literally marry you right fucking now."

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Benjamin: extra people??

me: in lbs

Benjamin: like a midge for each leg?

midge = midget

me: i knew what that meant, give me some credit

Benjamin: wait what's gross about wetlands?

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me: ben, ok, ok, but what about u?

how is your throat?

Benjamin: she's ok

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me: best nickname. ever.

Benjamin: hahahaha

thats worth ordering broccoli even if you don't like it

"jules hows that broccoli?"

"pretty boring actually, could major use some spice"

"actully it's REALLY boring"

me: "i actually hate broccoli"

"it's always the same"

Benjamin: "def needs to get laid. I pretend to like broccoli, but i actually am annoyed by it"


me: "broccoli has no libido"

Benjamin: "then sometimes I think i like it, but then i have it, and am reminded why I loathe it so"

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Benjamin: anyway, byesies

me: ciaosies

Benjamin: haha nice, we'll talk tomorrow

me: yes

Benjamin: a bientotsies

and so on

me: a tout a l'heursies

ad infinitum

Benjamin: hahahaha enough


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