Friday, August 17, 2007

DEAR MADLIBBIN' PARASAILER: Another Open Letter

Dearest Madlibbin‘ Parasailer:

Thanks so much for putting up with this gentle interrogation and my haplessly romantic ways--I feel like I should finally be able to exorcise the romance out of my system now that I'm two years from 30 but I just can't help myself. So, here we are again. I just hope to goodness that you aren't becoming tired of our exchanges because I'm certainly not and neither are my friends. Most of them are loving getting to know you as much as I am. One just emailed me to say that this is the most excitement she's had in months.

In any case, I hope you’re willing to continue our blog exchanges for at least a little while longer.

Without further ado, let’s get to our next set of questions, which are pretty straightforward. Again, you can reveal as much or as little as you please.

1) How do you spend your weekends?
2) How long have you known your best friend?
3) When’s your birthday and what’s your sign?
4) When was the last time you cried?
5) How do you feel about baseball?

I await your response.

Yours,
The Nerddd

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is totally blows away reality TV!

Terra Shield said...

Err... this happens to be one of the most interesting things that has happened within the last couple of months in the blogworld!

It should go on at least a little while longer

Anonymous said...

Dearest SabilaK,

Of course, if this is truly the most excitement some of your friends have had in months, then I suppose we have no choice but to soldier on, no? As was alluded to by one of your readers, this whole experience does seem a bit like a post-modern Jane Austen blog-novel, which one can only hope ends with the same amount of charm as it started with.

1) How do you spend your weekends?

Not being a creature of habit, I don’t have a regular regime for my weekends. The past few weekends, for instance, I spent entertaining guests from abroad by showing them around the city. Earlier this summer, I discovered the joys of kayaking on the Hudson (both around the city itself and also upstate) which I think is a beautiful way to see New York, and I spent quite a few weekends on paddling excursions. This weekend should be a bit more quiet, and might even involve answering more questions over the internet, if I’m lucky (re: see last line of my answer to question 5).

2) How long have you known your best friend?

Family aside, there are a number of people I am very close to, with my oldest “best” friendship having begun in Grade 6.

3) When’s your birthday and what’s your sign?

This one should be easy to guess if you think we, in fact, are very similar. As a hint (this might allow you to guess my age as well), I was about 6 hours away from being born on a leap day.

4) When was the last time you cried?

December 2006.

5) How do you feel about baseball?

I grew up watching the Montreal Expos, who I especially enjoyed in the 1980’s for their fashion-forward aqua-blue uniforms, their strangely unintelligible insignia, and their somewhat gauche tricolored baseball caps. After getting close in the 80’s, the Expos finally put together one of the best teams in baseball in 1994, but alas, the mid-season work stoppage resulted in the entire season being cancelled, and due to the new collective bargaining agreement, and the economic realities of the game, they lost almost all of their core players in the 1-2 years following the strike, including: Larry Walker, Pedro Martinez and Moises Alou. And while I understand that professional sports has always been a business, part of my childhood love of baseball ended with the demise of that team.

Still, coming to NYC has been a revelation, given the importance of baseball to this city and how people used to identify so strongly with their teams (especially when there were 4+ teams in the city). More than anything else, I appreciate the pacing of baseball, whether it be the slow unfolding of the season over a 162 game summer, down to the tense, dramatic space between each pitch in the ninth inning of a close playoff game.

If you want full disclosure though, I am a full-on Yankees-hater.
.
.
.
If we’re still speaking, I think your readership (and certainly I myself) would be curious what your answers to these questions would be (besides question 3, that is, which I think you made clear in your series of “T-Minus” posts earlier this year). In addition, perhaps you might wish to answer a few questions of your own?

1. You obviously have an affinity for writing and work in the publishing business. Do you have any aspirations to publish your own work?
2. Which of your favorite books would you like to see made into a movie and which actors would you cast in the role of the main characters?
3. Books aside, what is your favorite work of art?
4. What is your idea of a perfect vacation?
5. How do you feel about hockey?

Yours,
MP

Anonymous said...

We know he's from Canada, but he still hasn't told us of his heritage; I'm going to guess he's Persian by descent!

Anonymous said...

Well if there was every any doubt as to Madlibbin' being Canadian, his last question just proved it beyond a reasonable doubt.

P.S. Madlibbin' and Sabila, thanks for being cool enough to carry on this public courtship - I'm loving every minute!

SabilaK said...

To Anonymous who said this blows away reality tv:

Yah, seriously. Who needs that Mark Burnett, anyway? And just wait until MP and I taken a dip in the virtual jacuzzi. It'll have you asking, "Who bloody needs The Real World: Sydney"???

SabilaK said...

Terra Shield:

Darling, no worries. As per Rich's advice, I plan on live blogging MP and my wedding.

SabilaK said...

MP:
Please note, my comment to Terra Shield was a joke. I, by no means, expect you to marry me. Hell, I don't even know your real name.

SabilaK said...

Anonymous who thinks MP is Persian by descent: How does one deduce that from what MP's given us so far?
Honestly, though, he could be of Martian descent. It makes no difference to me.

SabilaK said...

Sonia:
I wonder if he pronounces the [au] sound like [u], so that about becomes aboot.
Wait, do you say aboot? I can't remember.

SabilaK said...

Dear MP:

So you're a Pisces born on February 28th. I can narrow down the year you were born to 1972, 1976, 1980...maybe even 1968?

SabilaK said...

Hey, the Yankees were also kicking butt during the 1994 season. I wonder if it would've been a Montreal-NY World Series (w/ NY winning, of course). So, are you now a Washington National fans?

SabilaK said...

The last time I cried was at 12:30 today. It was my friend ES's last day in the office. We've known each other for six years and I'm going to miss her desperately. She's like a big sister to me. We cried buckets together.

I cry a lot.

May I ask what brought you to tears in December2006? And, wow, you haven't cried at all in 2007? That's something.

SabilaK said...

Oh, and if I didn't make it clear above, I LOVE baseball.

My best friend is one Roselle, who I've known since kindergarten, which makes ours a 24 year relationship. Our other best friend is Rachel, who you already know from the spunky comments she occasionally leaves here. We met her in high school.

SabilaK said...

Gasp! You aren't a creature of habit! My dear MP, I'm afraid that I am one of those people who takes comfort in routine! The mere thought of spontaneity makes me break into hives.
Between your hating the Yankees and my hating spontaneity, I wonder if we're doomed!
Gasp!

Anyway, to answer your question, I wake up super early on the weekends...we're talking 8:30 AM at the latest. The first thing I do is hit the gym because I know if I don't do it first thing in the morning, it's not going to happen. The rest of my Saturday or Sunday is spent in the pursuit of low key entertainment with those I love: my family and my dearest friends. Maybe I'll catch a movie with one or both of my brothers and our friends. Sometimes, when I want to be by myself, I'll go to the movies alone. I recently watched Becoming Jane alone and it was lovely. Maybe the bffs and I will go out for dinner and coffee. I love a good brunch. My mother and I almost always go shopping together on Saturdays. Our shopping trips are followed by coffee at a local cafe.

I'm sure this is all a yawn to some but it's marvelous for me.

And, yes, I'm home on a Friday night, catching the Yankees-Detroit game on tv.

Anonymous said...

Having worked with Mark B on Eco-Challenge - this is more entertaining and we don't have to fight off bugs! Actually this reminds me a lot of sitting in a blind filming the mating rituals of predatory cats....

(using my best Steve Irwin impersonation) Here comes the nowwath ahmeerican mayle. Louke ahhht heem sniff that aiya lookin' for the sheila...

LOUKKE AT THAAAAYT DAYNCE! Crikey!

Man I miss Steve...

Anonymous said...

Sabila: Of course I say 'aboot'! I also end every sentence with 'eh' and have a pet penguin. On a related note, I wonder how Madlibbin' has adjusted to life in the big city since leaving his beloved igloo back home.

Sorry, I couldn't resist :)

Oh, and I'm going to call you next week, we need to catch up!

SabilaK said...

Dear MP: Where did you go? As much as I HATE emoticons, your absence has inspired the following sad face. :(

SabilaK said...

Big Kahuna: Where you be, kind sir? I owe you a phone call.

SabilaK said...

Sonia:

Canadians are precious with their aboots, oots, and penguins. You folks have a very special place in my dead American heart. I kid. The heart's just fine and it's a citizen of the world.

Yes, missy, you do owe me a call. I CAN'T wait to hear details about the big news! I'm shrieking with excitement!

Anonymous said...

Dear Sabilak,

Strangely, I did try sending you a series of answers earlier today, but I'm guessing that my attempt ended up being unsuccessful (sigh). To paraphrase:

1. I do hope that if we are, in fact, doomed (gasp!), it will be for reasons more epic than our different take on weekend plans! Perhaps something more along the lines of you discovering that I have a deep-seated dislike of Faulkner (this, of course, is merely a hypothetical as that really would be unforgivable) or if, it turns out, our families are somehow mortal enemies. Thankfully I suspect that neither is the case.

2. I'm not sure what taking a dip in the virtual jacuzzi exactly entails, but I can assure you that I'm all aboot it.

3. I was actually born 6 hours after the end of the leap day during the year of the Dragon.

4. For Sonia - leaving the nice woomy comfort of my igloo for NYC was difficult, what with having to learn to deal with "electricity", "flush toilets", using "Eh!" as a greeting (rather as a charming end-of-sentence, approval seeking verbal crutch), and experiencing the culinery wonders that are "American cheese" and "American "Maple Syrup"", but life is a compromise, no? Clearly we should organize a disco curling night and/or a best-in-show mullet contest, Penguins vs. Beavers, next time I'm back home. I mean you're Sonia from Canada, no? Clear we MUST know each other.

5. While 2007 has been a bit of a dry-eye year, I do recall getting lumps in my throat three times at this year's Tribeca Film Festival watching documentaries on (1) the Japanese invasion of Nanking in WWII, (2) an ex-pat's experience of returning to Afghanistan for the first time after having fled in the late 1970's due to the Soviet invasion, to be reunited with her father (who decided to stay and fight) and (3) Mukhtar Mai's reparations victory against the Pakistani government, which was notable for her actual attendence at the screening. Each of these were very powerful, tear-worthy films.

6. I was actually able to catch Saturday's game between the Yankees and the Tigers at Yankee Stadium (which I will admit is a truly great sports venue). Despite being a full-on Yankees-hater, I will admit to feeling a little bit happy for you when they pulled out the victory.

Lastly, I think we are fast approaching our one week anniversary of your first open letter in which you asked me how I was doing. I'm already beginning to feel nostalgic ...

Yours,
MP

Anonymous said...

MP: Ironically, I'm guessing there's only one Madlibbin' Parasailer in all of Canada.

Sabila: Well said - my penguin and I give you our blessing :)