Overheard (second-hand, thank God) at a international conglomerate’s mobile summit: “We are curating serendipity.” So they’re overseeing or organizing fortunate discoveries by accident? Unfortunately, he wasn’t laughed out of the room.
Also, authenticity is the new buzzword, apparently, replacing pivot. So now you know.
(FTW = For the win, I’m told.)
Do couples have fights if one doesn’t update their Facebook status to reflect they are “in a relationship?” At what point is the declaration made? Obligation, or point of pride? Just curious, and bemused.
Andrew Sullivan asks, “When did you lose your Internet cherry?” My story:
I was the first of my friends to purchase a PC, a massive Compaq that set me back nearly $2,000. I was freelancing at the time, typing stories on a word processor, which I would save to a floppy disc then drive to whatever publication was paying, where they would upload it. Not very efficient.
The ‘net was a virtual clean slate back then, a godsend for budding entrepreneurs. Unfortunately, I lack the money-making gene. I am, however, quite skilled at making mischief out of nothing.
The social networks back then were Prodigy, CompuServe and AOL. Soon I discovered the M4M chat rooms, fertile ground for a troublemaker.
I created a schizophrenic profile in the guise of one of the many voices in my head, disgraced six-time local Emmy Award weatherman Levon Dukes, 62: 39, Sunday school teacher, aggressive top, six-pack abs, Boy Scout leader, bear, bourbon drinker, etc.
Screen name MrDukes would enter a gay room with guns blazing, admonishing chatters for their “degenerate lifestyles” while IM’ing crude come-ons. I had an accomplice, Levon’s nephew Tiny, who would “accidentally” stumble into the lobby: “Mr. Dukes, is that you?” MrDukes would then rip into Tiny with a torrent of merciless, unprovoked insults. On cue, the rest of the room would rush to Tiny’s defense, blowing the whistle on Mr. Dukes’ closet-bound hypocrisy.
I miss chat room takeover.
One of the 13 people I least want to have dinner with reminds the world, for the millionth time, he had a famous brother.
Jermaine Jackson performed a nostalgic tribute concert Friday to his late brother Michael Jackson to mark the second anniversary of the pop star’s death as part of the 12th Indian International Film Awards festivities in Toronto.
Dressed in a Michael Jackson-inspired outfit, complete with a red military-style jacket, V-neck white shirt, fitted black slacks and a black cummerbund with an emblazoned number “5,” the former Jackson 5 performer sang a medley of his brother’s hits including “Scream,” ”Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’” and “Can You Feel It.”
“This is a special moment in the show because it’s a tribute to my brother,” said Jackson moments before joining Indian singer Sonu Nigam to perform “This is It,” a song written by Nigam after the megastar’s death, which the singers dedicated to the pop icon on stage.
Call me contrarian, but I’d be happier if New York cut the price of a pack of smokes in half. Fran Lebowitz explains:
As a single person I don’t think anyone should be allowed to get married. I am not an advocate of gay marriage, but I’m not an opponent. If it was put to a vote, I would vote for it, because I know people want it. The reasons that advocates cite always have to do with money. They’re mostly financial advantages. The reason society gives married people financial advantages is because there’s this belief that the family unit is very good for society. I don’t care if people are gay or straight; people get divorced. That type of marriage where people are married for 50 years, it’s really uncommon now and should not be financially rewarded at the expense of Fran.
I was, of course, surprised that gay people want to get married or go into the Army because those things are so, I don’t know, dull. They’re so confining. The two most confining institutions are probably marriage and the military. I would pay to get out of either one.
