This cracked me up, Karl. It was hilarious (and somehow poignant—though for the life of me I couldn't tell you why). Last time I was at a party, I was introduced as "a writer." The poor woman to whom I was introduced feigned interest and said, "Really. So, what do you write?" And without thinking (clearly), I blurted out, "Suicide notes, mostly." It was a VERY long couple of seconds before she burst out laughing.
Thanks, man. Though it easily could have gone the other way. Love your stuff, btw You should collect some of these pieces in a book. They're tremendously entertaining, wonderfully irreverent, and erudite. You have a unique voice as a writer that really appeals to me (I know something's great when I keep finding myself saying, "Damn...I wish I'd said that!").
I appreciate your kind words, and I’m inclined to add that if your generous assessment is correct, we both look good— you for being perceptive and early to the party, and me for writing the kind of stuff an honest-to-god professor judges to be worth reading. So, thank you very much for that— it helps a lot. Keep in touch—
Another excellent piece to lighten up a dark day, Karl. Odd as it may be to say so, I meet a fair number of philosophers, and you are quite right that they have one thing in common: they never talk about crimes they have helped to solve. It's not clear why that might be - do they not solve crimes, or just not talk about it?- but to attempt to solve the riddle is to become an amateur philosopher oneself. But here's something else philosophers don't talk about: bananas becoming oranges. With that, ahem, pithy observation, you are at least half way there. May I point out that every single needs a B side? It doesn't have to be as good as the A side, so maybe 'And oranges don't become bananas, either' would do, but doubtless you can think of something even better.
First of all, nice job with the “pith” pun. Next— this essay was supposed to be a short funny section that led into some serious material. But I kept adding more jokes until I just ended up ditching the serious part. It took me weeks to make up my mind about this.
Last— sure, a B-side— that’s a good idea. Perhaps this will serve:
“Many of T. Rex’s great singles wouldn’t have been as good without the vocals of Flo and Eddie. But that doesn’t mean that a guy pointing this out has to be a douche about it.”
There are reasons that when people on airplanes ask me what I do for a living, I usually say “Oh, I’m a consultant."
Very sensible.
This cracked me up, Karl. It was hilarious (and somehow poignant—though for the life of me I couldn't tell you why). Last time I was at a party, I was introduced as "a writer." The poor woman to whom I was introduced feigned interest and said, "Really. So, what do you write?" And without thinking (clearly), I blurted out, "Suicide notes, mostly." It was a VERY long couple of seconds before she burst out laughing.
Well, with thinking or without thinking, that’s a damn good line.
Thanks, man. Though it easily could have gone the other way. Love your stuff, btw You should collect some of these pieces in a book. They're tremendously entertaining, wonderfully irreverent, and erudite. You have a unique voice as a writer that really appeals to me (I know something's great when I keep finding myself saying, "Damn...I wish I'd said that!").
I appreciate your kind words, and I’m inclined to add that if your generous assessment is correct, we both look good— you for being perceptive and early to the party, and me for writing the kind of stuff an honest-to-god professor judges to be worth reading. So, thank you very much for that— it helps a lot. Keep in touch—
Plenty salt and pepper here. It's so more-ish, I couldn't stop reading.
Another excellent piece to lighten up a dark day, Karl. Odd as it may be to say so, I meet a fair number of philosophers, and you are quite right that they have one thing in common: they never talk about crimes they have helped to solve. It's not clear why that might be - do they not solve crimes, or just not talk about it?- but to attempt to solve the riddle is to become an amateur philosopher oneself. But here's something else philosophers don't talk about: bananas becoming oranges. With that, ahem, pithy observation, you are at least half way there. May I point out that every single needs a B side? It doesn't have to be as good as the A side, so maybe 'And oranges don't become bananas, either' would do, but doubtless you can think of something even better.
First of all, nice job with the “pith” pun. Next— this essay was supposed to be a short funny section that led into some serious material. But I kept adding more jokes until I just ended up ditching the serious part. It took me weeks to make up my mind about this.
Last— sure, a B-side— that’s a good idea. Perhaps this will serve:
“Many of T. Rex’s great singles wouldn’t have been as good without the vocals of Flo and Eddie. But that doesn’t mean that a guy pointing this out has to be a douche about it.”
Delightful!!!
Thanks, Harvey!