quiddities and agonies of the ruling class - a rolling new york times thread

scanned that clip as repping artisinal toilet paper

in the fashion section no less:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/06/fashion/unmarried-spouses-have-a-way-with-words.html

HORRIBLE

idiots obviously should have 're-claimed' POSSLQ, it's the best

the fuck is wrong with 'boyfriend'

Anne Tierney, 32, a bodyworker in West Palm Beach, Fla., went for “fusband,” which, she explains, is a catchall for “fake husband, future husband.” (Ms. Tierney’s fusband, Ozzy, calls Ms. Tierney “wifey.”) Technically the two are engaged, but Ms. Tierney said: “The word fiancé makes me cringe. What am I, in France?”

She should relax. They turn people like her away at the gates of France.

i have been with my girlfriend for 8 years and i just call her my girlfriend

don't underestimate "paramour"

in France nobody gives a shit about being married in the first place

btw pretty sure people there say "copain / copine" which just means "friend" but mainly they'll just say the person's name and if you don't know who they are then fuck you

I say "partner" for feminist reasons.

partner just sounds so businesslike

Actually the queer adoption of "partner" seems to have spurred some businesspeople to start saying "business partner" instead of "partner" so you know they are straight businesspeople and not gays.

Notably my shitty landlord from a couple years ago would assiduously allude to his "business partner".

It's business time.

Anne Tierney, 32, a bodyworker in West Palm Beach, Fla., went for “fusband,” which, she explains, is a catchall for “fake husband, future husband.” (Ms. Tierney’s fusband, Ozzy, calls Ms. Tierney “wifey.”) Technically the two are engaged, but Ms. Tierney said: “The word fiancé makes me cringe. What am I, in France?”

this is insane

i bet every time she says it he winces

fuzzband

Since this appears to be the only thread that has mentioned the brant bros:

http://brantwatch.tumblr.com/

what's a bodyworker?

massage but with EXPERTISE

like a panelbeater but with humans instead of cars

thanks for the new display name

I was expecting VG's comment.

(never heard "panelbeater" before)

i had to consult mr Veg: I guess you call it a bodyshop in the US

My brother was in a band called the Nickelbeaters, which is what he said used car dealers called $500 (or thereabouts) cars.

Christ I can't believe theTimes ran a puff piece about Frank Rich's two sons. Actually I can believe it since they're both writers who got high placed media jobs straight out of college and written books I've never read or heard of. No surprise right but what's so audacious is the article claims that nepotism had nothing to do with their success and nobody knew who their dad was when hiring them. They're just that good. And if you're buying THAT there's a bridge...

"Writing is the family business" - fuck me with a rake

getting profiled in the newspaper your dad worked for is definitely a great way to fight perceptions of nepotism

could be a hit piece commissioned by someone in the nyt who hates frank

what better way to insinuate nepotism

prob eating frank up rite now

“We both write about pretty extreme subjects and apocalyptic global scenarios,” he said a few days earlier at a coffee shop in San Francisco. In the title essay of “Last Girlfriend,” for example, every woman but one is believed dead. And in “What in God’s Name,” a novel he published last August, the world is set to explode unless two 20-somethings kiss. (Spoiler: They do and then go out for Indian food.)

jesus christ.

the lede of that story is hilarious... "nepotism is hard... people might think you've benefited greatly from nepotism"

also the nyt paid for this writer to go to san fran & nola to interview frank rich's kids. i need that gig.

why would you want to talk to them?

i would consider it an acceptable price to pay for getting to chill in SF & NO on someone else's dime

Many have stumbled along the way. Just ask Susan Cheever (whose books document her struggles with alcoholism and sex addiction), or David Updike (how could one possibly be as prolific as Dad?), or Scottie Fitzgerald, whose career was forever shadowed by that of her parents, F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald. “In my next incarnation,” Ms. Fitzgerald once wrote, “I may not choose again to be the daughter of a Famous Author. The pay is good and there are fringe benefits, but the working conditions are too hazardous.”

This is a batshit fantasy way of looking at things -- isn't it more likely that these writers just aren't as good as their parents and only got as far as they did on their names?

i like how nathaniel is all "i did tons of research on disaster zones for my novel, so i'll never live in seattle" meanwhile he lives in new orleans. cool story.

xp

i dunno, it's not that hard to feature that being the child of a revered famous writer could fuck you up. of course a lot may also depend on the parenting abilities of said writers.

I usta see Frank at the movies with his kids quite often about 15 years ago, sounds like they were more interesting then!

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/20/realestate/what-is-middle-class-in-manhattan.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&

this already got bumped in the other quiddities thread

somebody should close one of the two

I didn't dare click through to a "The Hunt" story that began thus:

A Vote for the East Village

After looking in Morningside Heights for an apartment to buy, Kat Gang realized she did not want to leave the East Village after all.

feel like the East Village hardly needs the help

I mostly associate the east village with awful, cramped apartments and NYU students. Seems like the kind of place that was only cool once because it was cheap. Not all that charming otherwise.

quiddities and agonies of the norwegian
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/20/world/europe/in-norway-tv-program-on-firewood-elicits-passions.html?hp

here's a good one:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/07/greathomesanddestinations/jay-fieldens-restoration-drama.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0

caring for a father with dementia kinda levels out the quid/ag quotient somewht