~Sunday~ Tonight we had our 38th Salon meeting, at Mitch’s, and we finished discussing the 9 agenda items right as Mitch’s was closing, almost 3 hours to the minute of starting.
As always, a rip-roaring, cheek-hurting (from laughing) good time was had by all.
For your reading pleasure, here is our agenda with my answers included:
Sunday, September 8, 2013
Salon Headquarters
- I'm interested in everyone's thoughts on seeing, ""EmpBen_Srchg: $.12" on your restaurant bill. Article: Are you "Surcharging" Your Customers Away? [John]
I think it’s infuriating. As a customer, I don’t care about your internal business problems. Just add that shit to the cost of the food.
- Have you ever been called by a nickname? If you were going to go by one of your own choice, what would it be? Question inspired by: Why You Should Let People Call You by a Nickname (Fortune 50 CEOs do). [John]
I never have. My dad was called Manny, which is short for Manuel, which made me wonder if a variation or shortening of a name (e.g., Bob for Robert) is a nickname.
The Wikipedia entry for nickname says:
A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name",[1] or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name. It can also be the familiar or truncated form of the proper name,[2] which may sometimes be used simply for convenience (e.g. "Bobby", "Bob", "Rob", or "Bert" for the name Robert).
The term hypocoristic is used to refer to a nickname of affection between those in love or with a close emotional bond, compared with a term of endearment. The term diminutive name refers to nicknames that convey smallness, hence something regarded with affection or familiarity (e.g., referring to children), or contempt.[3]
The distinction between the two is often blurred. It is a form of endearment and amusement. As a concept, it is distinct from both pseudonym and stage name, and also from a title (for example, City of Fountains), although there may be overlap in these concepts. A nickname is often considered desirable, symbolizing a form of acceptance, but can sometimes be a form of ridicule.
Every once in a while, my friend Joe refers to me as “Mahty,” and it’s in the context of my forgetting something or when we’re traveling together and having breakfast and I get my meds out. He’ll say, “Take ya pills, Mahty!”
- What would your preferred metaphor to talk about sex be? Here’s a suggested one: Al Vernacchio: Sex needs a new metaphor. [John]
The one suggested in the video, pizza, works for me. Anything but a sports metaphor!
- Let's answer these three questions around this infographic: Goodreads Top Five Most Abandoned Books. [John]
- Have you abandoned any of the books in the "Top 5 Abandoned Classics" section?
I abandoned Atlas Shrugged. Like several people I’ve talked to, I read The Fountainhead first, and liked it so much, I started Atlas Shrugged, but abandoned it.
The only other one of the five that I’ve read is Moby Dick.
- From the options in the "What keeps you turning pages?" section, which one most resonates with you?
“As a rule, I like to finish things.”
- From the options in the "When do you abandon a book?" section, which one most resonates with you?
“Ridiculous (or nonexistent) plot.”
- Have you abandoned any of the books in the "Top 5 Abandoned Classics" section?
- We (want to) know what you did last summer. Let's carve out some time to catch up after long time and long miles away from one another. 🙂 [Anna]
- Had the worst job situation in 33 years of professional life
- Applied to 4 companies for jobs – SAS, RTI, Timely Text, and Red Hat (via The Select Group (TSG))
- Attended Southern Decadence
- Got a job offer from Red Hat through TSG and gave NC State my notice on 09/05/13
- What does rain evoke for you? Do different types of rain evoke different thoughts and feelings? Does the season make a difference? [Kim]
You might remember from my list of things that I know are irrational, but I do or think anyway, that one of my main thoughts about rain is that working out during it is about the absolute best use of rain I can imagine.
The only kind of rain that evokes any kind of thoughts and feelings is driving rain for a long amount of time, and what it evokes is a sort of PTSD memory of Hurricane Fran flooding, during which we lost 40 trees and dealt with a stinking, flooded first floor of our house being under a foot of water for a couple of days, and no power for over a week.
- Dear daughter: I hope you have awesome sex. What were you told growing up? How has that impacted your relationship to sex? If you have children, what do/will you tell your children? [Kim]
What a wonderful life view. I like that he included “genderqueers” in this sentence: “Yes, all these boys and girls and genderqueers may break your heart…”. I loved his use of the word “consigliere.”
I wasn’t told a thing from my parents, at least not that I remember. My sex education was experiential.
- Activity: Write "The Guide to Being Our Boyfriend.” Note: This is a non-standard item. [Kim]
We had various and sundry interpretations of this question, and mine was one of the wrong ones. Kim meant, what characteristics would we expect of a boyfriend of Salon (as an entity), not a list of characteristics of what we like in a personal boyfriend, which is how I answered it.
But, since I took the time, here are the characteristics that I look for in a boyfriend/partner:
- Be intellectually curious
- Be self-aware
- Be fiscally healthy
- Appreciate the diversity of all humanity
- If you own pets, love them unconditionally
- At least some hair on your body would be hot
- Be willing to bottom
- Live close, visit often
- Have (and keep) your own group of friends, and preferably have several groups of friends from different aspects of your life
- Laugh with me
With that said, Anna interpreted the question correctly, and had a smart, side-splitting list that I hope to share as soon as she sends a copy of it to me.
- What is the most odd, funny, horrifying, or weird thing you’ve discovered about someone while you were on a date with them? [John]
I got this question from Single Dad Laughing’s blog. Here are some of the answers he ended up publishing:
- He told me he would sleep walk, drive places, and wake up later with a dead animal hacked to pieces in the back of the car.
- He told me he “Had a place on his parents’ property.” What he meant was that he lived in a bus in their driveway.
- That she had previously been paid to poo on someone.
- He told me that he had a teenage proclivity to have “relations” with oranges. It involved cutting an access hole in the fruit and a microwave. I wish I was making this up.
- One guy tried to interlace our toes as we cuddled. The same way you hold hands. Weirdest move EVER.
- Right before a date this guy says he ripped his favorite jeans in the crotch (we were talking in the phone) When he met me at the restaurant he says ” look I fixed them” (safety pinned it together) and just then the pin gave and one of his balls popped out.
- I dated a guy once. The whole night he kept his hands in his pockets. When we were walking home, I reached inside his pocket and he didn’t have hands.
Here's a link to the blog entry, No Second Date For You, if you want to read the rest of them that he published.