Wednesday, September 26, 2007

thanks, my friend

Standing in the lunch line at "American Table" cafe:

Me: "There are a lot of funny stories I want to share, but they fall into the 'you had to be there' category."

Dan: [nodding]

Me: "Perhaps it's just about context. If a great writer described all the context, effectively transporting the reader there, the story should be just as funny."

Dan: "No. Let's say a cocky guy is strutting down the street, and slips on a banana peel. If you were watching it, that would be really funny. But if I tell it to you afterwards, it's not."

Me: "Then it's about managing expectations. If you're not expecting anything to happen, the surprise makes it funny."

Dan: "Right."

Me: "So I just need to lower expectations first, by telling a lot of pointless stories."

Dan: "Well, you've got that part down!"




As an example of one such story...

Standing on a street corner in San Francisco, at 10pm. A taxi drives by with a huge ad on top of it, with "ORACLE" in red letters on a white background.

Tom: "Do these Oracle ads actually work?"

LG: "I could sure use some enterprise databases right about now."

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

That is funny, you don't have to be there, but it's a general "what is the point of infrastructure/commodity advertising in the mainstream?" joke. Like SAP, or cotton, etc.

Anonymous said...

I was feeling really tired and disgruntled too, but IM'ing with you made me feel better. Hope you had a great party! I'll see you in exactly 3 weeks!!!

Anonymous said...

Hi Niniane,
I have been reading your blog since 2005.Literally,all!!!...Needless to say I dont only enjoy them,but I have
unconsciously come to think that you are a beautiful person I admire,and someone that I would consider and react in a way I would see a Celebrity on the streets of LA....If I ever see you..
hmmmmm...poor me..(~_~)...you don't even know I exist...

PS: I know this comment isn't even related to this post.

Anonymous said...

The Oracle ad on the taxi is not supposed to immediately make you want to purchase an enterprise-quality database :-)

Funny comment though.

N said...

re: Anonymous @ 9/26/2007 11:54 PM.

That is so sweet!!! You made my day. :)

Anonymous said...

har dee fucking har har har

米国人 said...

About as useful as an ad for the local electric company or water company I think.. Woo.