Monday, November 05, 2007

these are some of the nation's best and brightest

A week ago, I attended a party in Oakland with Caltech friends. The conversation turned to our college classmates. (all names changed)

Mark: "William might be coming back to do a startup, if the funding goes through."

Me: "Wow, he'd move back here from China? That would be a big change. Did you know he's currently living in a house without running water or heat?"

Mark: "Why is he living without running water or heat???"

Me: "Yes, this is the question I posed to him also. He gave some long answer about pipes bursting, and how they have a water well. I understood every sentence he said, but afterwards I still didn't know why he's living without running water or heat."

... [later] ...

Stefan: "Tim performed the ceremony when Lina and I got married."

Mark: [to me] "You see, Tim is a man of the cloth."

Me: "Is he the one who's on the run?"

Mark: "No, I said he's a man of the cloth. He applied on the internet to become a priest -- "

Me: "I know, but is he a man of the cloth on the run? Didn't he escape the country?"

Stefan: "Tony is the one on the run from the law, not Tim. Tony is wanted for arson."

Me: "Oh, right. But wasn't Tim busted for dealing acid?"

Mark: "Yes, but he just got suspension for a year. He got fingered by another student, but he wouldn't rat anyone else out, so he ended up with the suspension."

Me: "That's really noble of him, to not tattle on anyone else even though it was done to him."

Stefan: "Yeah, he's a stand-up guy."

...

The next day, talking to my brother.

Me: [after recounting the conversation] "Do you have these conversations with your Stanford alum friends? Like, who's on the run, who was dealing acid, who is a man of the cloth?"

My brother: "No."

Me: [pause] "I'm glad I went to Caltech."

:)

I like non-conformists.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Let's see... Dotcom millionaire at the age of 25. Currently grooming self to go to business school. Regular in the 20-something party circuit. Frequent patron of pricey restaurants from Los Angeles to Las Vegas and glamper. Self-indulgent blogger and self-styled fashion rebel. AND your l33t sk00lchumz are grifters and petty drug dealers? You ARE truly worldly, the veritable Biggie Smalls of Rich Internet Applications.

Unknown said...

Anonymous - I think Niniane is more likely to go to grad school for creative writing than to b-school.

Hmmm... your account of the party conversation and your Caltech friends makes me think if the movie Real Genius was anything like Caltech...

Anonymous said...

Niniane is already a multi-multi millionaire. Why would she need to go to business school? She can simply retire.

Santa Ana River Rat said...

Well, your wealth should not dictate your flare for life. For instance, If Steve Jobs is into sodomizing people with cheap crap in pretty wrappings he should be allowed to do so. So if Viniane wants to sell acid, run from the law and conduct the matrimony of anonymous strangers? She should be allowed to do it whether she's a multi millionaire or not. I have a friend, who made lots of money after he sold his software company, now runs a questionable massage parlor near Tribeca area and VERY happy running it. Go Viniane...be a non-conformist...sell some drugs and be a thug!

N said...

Who is this Viniane character? Is she grooming herself to go to business school? Because I am not.

-Niniane

Anonymous said...

You should cultivate an evil twin identity named 'Viniane'.

Anonymous said...

"My name is pronounced like "Vivian" but with N's"
Vivian + Niniane = Viniane?????

Anonymous said...

Maybe someone should come up with the Fake Niniane blog - sort of like the Fake Steve Jobs blog.