tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17424537.post5371532696670987067..comments2023-09-26T09:49:02.290-04:00Comments on Revenge of the nerd: DEAR MADLIBBIN' PARASAILER: A Third Open LetterSabilaKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15019901539131880750noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17424537.post-10996655799946469002007-08-17T23:09:00.000-04:002007-08-17T23:09:00.000-04:00Sabila I don't recommend going near those boxer br...Sabila I don't recommend going near those boxer briefs after 17 whole days...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17424537.post-40786351785478603932007-08-17T00:10:00.000-04:002007-08-17T00:10:00.000-04:00Anonymous: I'm not pulling the plug on this very p...Anonymous: <BR/>I'm not pulling the plug on this very public pas de deux just yet!SabilaKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15019901539131880750noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17424537.post-81366596139179984442007-08-17T00:04:00.000-04:002007-08-17T00:04:00.000-04:00Sonia: Also, as much as I would like to say yes, M...Sonia: Also, as much as I would like to say yes, MP now lives stateside and I wouldn't want to scare him away...call me!SabilaKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15019901539131880750noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17424537.post-7056407424432289392007-08-17T00:02:00.000-04:002007-08-17T00:02:00.000-04:00Sonia: I love Canada!Sonia: I love Canada!SabilaKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15019901539131880750noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17424537.post-56179810473035794672007-08-16T22:27:00.000-04:002007-08-16T22:27:00.000-04:00It has been like a charming Jane Austen blog-novel...It has been like a charming Jane Austen blog-novel with the Madlibbin'/Darcy/Knightly character wooing (with some subtlety and charm) our heroine. But a couple of (editorial?) comments: the MP emphasis on so much travel seems a little forced. Maybe some reticence on worldliness is in order. Also, should our heroine ask her last question so bluntly? This reader thinks such questions about origins is more Lydia Bennet than Elizabeth Bennet. Would Mr Knightly ever ask to take things offline to a gmail account? Ah, maybe he would, but Ms. Austen wouldn't leave her readers in the dark.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17424537.post-44609234456741192832007-08-16T19:30:00.000-04:002007-08-16T19:30:00.000-04:00I knew he had to be Canadian. Sabila, if you need ...I knew he had to be Canadian. Sabila, if you need me to undertake any undercover investigations on my side of the border, I would be happy to oblige :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17424537.post-57746799816214850052007-08-16T15:56:00.000-04:002007-08-16T15:56:00.000-04:00So, where are your folks from?So, where are your folks from?SabilaKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15019901539131880750noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17424537.post-86194717418249533902007-08-16T12:19:00.000-04:002007-08-16T12:19:00.000-04:00Needless to say, I think we were all hoping for a ...Needless to say, I think we were all hoping for a more revealing look into your, ahem, wardrobe choices, but instead, you successfully turned mysterious and have left it to our imagination. Despite your predilection for emotional diarrhea, you clearly have great potential as a femme fatale (albeit, one that is effusive, happy-go-lucky and otherwise a fan of Jane Austin). <BR/><BR/>On to the questions:<BR/><BR/>1) Was it business or pleasure that took you to Bhutan? <BR/><BR/>While I was certainly not there on business, I’m not sure how many would consider my trip to be all that pleasurable either. In fact, I think I broke 7 of the 10 items on your list of excursion don’ts for your impending trip to Maine (the other 3 of which were not broken because of Bhutan’s lack of parallel parking opportunities and lobster hatcheries). In brief, the centerpiece of my trip was a 3 week trek through the Bhutanese Himalayas (i.e. along the border with Tibet). The sheer scope of the landscape literally took my breath away (as did the high altitude and the wonderful Murakami novels I read along the way). It also required me to shatter a personal record by not showering for 17 days in a row (okay – so is the crush now over?). I literally bathed for hours upon arriving at the hotel. That said, it truly was one of my favorite travel experiences of all time. <BR/><BR/>2) How many siblings do you have, where do you fall in birth order, and are you close to your family? <BR/><BR/>I have one older sister, and together with my parents, we are a very close knit family. <BR/><BR/>3) What would you say is your greatest flaw and what is your biggest regret? <BR/><BR/>I see that there is going to be at least one fairly ambitious question in each set of five. I think the easiest way to answer is with the following anecdote: I loved 19th Century Russian literature when I was younger, and etched into my memory as a teenager was the scene from Crime and Punishment in which Raskolnikov, while serving time in Siberia, after years of soul-searching, sinks to his knees and confesses his greatest sin to the sky in an act of spiritual redemption. I recall hoping that I too, one day, would have the chance to go through Siberia, sink to my knees and confess my greatest sin to the sky, and feel spiritually cleansed. That opportunity came a few years ago, but all I could think to confess was “I am unresolved.” I think that is the flaw of being a young adult – overconfidence coupled with inexperience. <BR/><BR/>Given the anticlimax that was Siberia, with only 3 days in Moscow before I was to fly away, I chose not to head off to visit St. Petersburg, but instead, I chose to rest and reflect. To this day, I regret not having gone. <BR/><BR/>4) ES asks, do you carry a messenger bag to work or an attaché case? <BR/><BR/>I’m surprised ES went from boldly asking about my undergarment choices to then asking about my work accessories. Normally, it’s the other way around, no? (especially after ES’ enthusiastic approval) <BR/>I have carried both to work, depending on the circumstances and the occasion. I like the impracticality/pagentry of briefcases, but I do use a messenger bag where mobility is a must. <BR/><BR/>5) From where do you hail and in what part of the nation do you now reside? <BR/><BR/>I am originally from Canada and I currently reside and work just across the river from you (i.e. in the same city in which you work). The more interesting question, of course, is where my parents are from, which given the wealth of diasporaed communities here in North America, could be from anywhere. Needless to say, their life stories are more interesting than mine. <BR/><BR/>I suspect at some point, your readership may grow, or have already grown, tired of these exchanges. To the extent you would like to take this offline, you can try me on my new gmail account, the name of which, I’m guessing you can guess fairly easily (hint – you can’t use ' when you chose gmail usernames, as I discovered yesterday night).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com