is the word 'diary' better than the word 'blog'? probably not.
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Unwelcome Operator.
Today on a hot bus (again, this time the 49 which magically takes you from anywhere on Mission Street to anywhere on Van Ness Avenue) I was sitting on the aisle. On an airplane I like to sit on the aisle. But not on a bus, no. On a bus sitting on the aisle means that men are going to come stand near you, grab hold of the hand bars above, and then lean in. The leaning in means that their stomach or, worse, groin area is going to rub on your shoulder or hover near your face. It is so freaky disgusting that I cannot stop myself from shivering in disgust and trying to move away, and yet none of them ever seem to notice they are doing it. It could be that they are all well-versed perverts, but I tend to think it's just some sort of cluelessness about how much space they actually take up in the world. They seemingly have NO IDEA AT ALL how very far they are leaning in to the seating area. So far do they lean that I would have to sit in the lap of the person in the window seat (thereby turning this scenario into pass-it-on harrassment, or some crazy form of "operator") in order to avoid being oppressed by some dude's gut. Oy!
But then I learned something. The song-mix sent to me by dear friend Yoktan, called "Airport Rescue," works very well on buses too. It contains the ideal mix of relaxing music, diverting lyrics, and dreamy soundscape, such that you might forget there is an unwelcome groin in your face. Yes, it is that powerful.
On and back to the topic of fame and semi-fame. What is up with semi-famous people designing slutty shoes? I mean, I guess I understand why Jessica Simpson is now in the high high heel stripper-shoe business (she's short, and a stripper), but have you seen the shoes by Carlos Santana? This year's shoes don't seem so bad, but last year's were so over-decorated, it was like someone handed him a Bedazzler and said, "Go Forth And Make Shoes!"
And now, in closing (for now!), in response to yesterday's entry, I give you Heidi on Fame:
"When I worked with Michael J. Fox I realized that being really famous meant that both your name and your face had to be equally recognizable to a pool of people whose only common characteristic seemed to be that they were
alive.
"There are many people who are face-and-name famous to dead people, but are now either totally forgotten or just name-famous. Remember when Might had to come up with a famous person from the first millennium for their Y2K issue? I thought a lot about the problem at the time and it's why I suggested they go with Gengis Khan. Most people have a stereotypical idea of what he looked like and a hugely diverse set of cultures knows the name.
"Which brings me to another criterion: lapsing into an adjective. Being really famous means that people use your name in an explanatory or adjectival manner. Really famous people lapse into archetypes. And while I can't totally define 'archetype,' let's just say that if you can 'be' the person on Halloween without requiring an identifying name sticker, then that person is sufficiently 'famous.'
"Being famous, however, guarantees nothing in the way of power or money. Which is why the triumvirate (fame, power, money) makes such a good annoying party question: Would you rather be famous, powerful or rich? That usually starts a funny conversational argument bested only by asking people who can explain the international date line.
"xo H"
11:33 p.m. - July 24, 2006
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