More Pie
 

I enjoy the pics bc I like to know if the person I have been dealing with telephonically and may meet soon in person is hot. So I know what to wear, how to do makeup and hair. For the right guy, I might go sexy librarian or slightly too short skirt. I never look up the gals. THe voice says it all.

I have also noticed that certain firms have the hottest people. Cooley and Latham come to mind immediately.

Jack likes Jack
 

At one point in the 70's the Brady boys would have failed the pencil test. What is the "paper bag test"?


Anne
Depending on the humidity, I might fail the pencil test.

More Pie
 

Well, my recollection of interviews with Latham was something along the lines of Are You Hot, except that the partners weren't as good looking as Lorenzo Lamas. And certainly no Rachel Hunters in the mix.

Paging DS and Grinchy: Etiquette Q
 

The modern version of the cut direct is the cut direct. It involves glaring and saying "I do not know you, sir" and walking on. The cut indirect, which is less impressive but easier on the nerves, is to entirely fail to see them, stare over their left shoulder and say "excuse me" and walk on. You cut someone because you have no respect for them, so you will not even appear superficially polite (though to act so is within the bounds of etiquette).

Now, if what you want is to maintain social contact & pretend to be all nice but make the two of them writhe with agony over their wrongs, that is very different, and considerably more complicated. The basic method is to maintain contact but bring up excruciating things in a way that can't be brought back to you. Do either of them have children estranged over their divorces? Ask how they are frequently. Friendly with the guy's wife? Mention you saw her and she looked wonderful/ successful/ sexually satisfied. Engage in chit-chat about the qualifications necessary for a good employee/ partner/ chef/ whatever and mention the importance of personal fidelity and loyalty as indicators of worth.

But I'm not sure any of that is worth the effort. You don't seem to want a social relationship with these people, and their affront wasn't directed at you, so I'd just stick to shallow, casual acquaintanceship and not spend any more effort or energy on them than you have to.

Jack likes Jack
 

Paper bag test was: if you were as dark or darker than a paper bag, you were black. If you weren't, you were just "tan," I guess.

Jack likes Jack
 

I think you were still black, you were just more desirable at that time, and, sadly for the OM in his teenage years, less desirable now.

My half-creole and half-white cousins who I thought pass completely are still considered black in the South.

More Pie
 

I call bullshit. I can't tell whether a girl is hot over the phone. I've talked with chicks who sounded like wart hogs on the phone and turned out to be hot and spoen with chicks who sounded gorgeous and turned out looking like Andrea Dworkin. If you can tell whether a chick is hot over the phone, its probably some female intuition thing... or I'm just clueless.

WTF?!
 

What has happened to ESPN? It used to be The destination for quality sports coverage. Now they are just another network. No more entertaining Sports Centers, no more non-mainstream sports. They've got football, they've got baseball, they've got basketball, they've got NASCAR, but so do the Big 3. ESPN's draw used to be the fact that they covered the 'other' sports that weren't available on mainstream network television. Soccer, rugby, Little League World Series, kill the guy with ball (Aussie Rules), the Mud Bowl, etc. Now they've got Rush Limbaugh as a football expert? I'm so depressed.

Anne
Wonder who they'll trot out for college basketball commentary- Geraldo? Oprah?

WTF?!
 

Limbaugh also stated that Donovan McNabb has been overrated b/c the media wants a black QB to be succesful and that Philly's defense has carried them. Mr. Limbaugh clearly does not play fantasy football...

WTF?!
 

Limbaugh is so stupid about sports that I cannot stomach the show.

First, they get rid of Sterling and replace him with Michael. Now, I will say that it appears Michael is off drugs, so that's a positive move for him. However, he is still not Sterling.

Then they go and add Rush. His own brief commentaries are awful, his "Rush Challenges" segments are excruciating. Add in the offensive comments about McNabb and you have the makings of a real problem.

I send an email every Sunday morning to complain. Clearly they care what I think, since their ratings are up.

Bored on a conference call; still thinking about public radio
 

At one point I had respect for your oeuvre and your intellectual prowess. The fact that you listen to NPR--and listen often enough to evaluate the mellifluousness, or absence thereof, of the hosts names--disturbs me and causes me to re-evaluate again the respect that I once had for you. I feel the same disillusionment that I felt when I discovered that J.Edgar Hoover wore dresses, Martn Luther King had a thing for white women, or Gandhi liked to receive tea enemas in his menage a troises. Menages a trois? Well, at any rate, you can discern the level of disillusionment.

I would have thought that you could find better uses for your time than listening to neo-marxist screeds from a bunch of Grub Street hacks. Why not turn off the radio and go to a museum, read a good book or subscribe to a bestiality website.

Paging DS and Grinchy: Etiquette Q
 

Good advice. I'm sure the cheaters have been through plenty of guilt and shame. And they are probably uncomfortable running into you anyway (and probably already know how you feel about them). Not likely that the disapproval of an ex-coworker will cause them as much lost sleep as the pain they've caused other people (whose opinions matter more than yours, dear wingnut) already has. Unless you want to come off like the reverand's wife in the Simpsons. In which case, go for it and say something hateful to these people who are just trying to live their (flawed) lives. WTG.

Jack likes Jack
 

Yeah, I think you're right. I remember it was mostly used in New Orleans, which got rather more into complicated classifications.
One of my S.A. friends has two kids, one of whom can pass and one can't. Mother's white, and the daughter isn't (though she'd pass anywhere in the US). The whole family refers to the boy as "White-Boy." Going out in Johannesburg with them is kind of weird. People will smile at the boy and mother, but treat the daughter like she's invisible. Or, they'll compliment the beautiful daughter with that whole, smug "see how progressive I am!" tone. Though one has to give them marks, being still rather new at this "how do we deal with having to actually deal with each other" thing, for jumping right in, slogging along and trying things out rather than timidly waiting for someone to tell them what's "right."

WTF?!
 

Give Rush time and he will Greek himself.

The Sunday morning pregame has declined drastically on all networks. They've become so bad they may just drive me into church on Sunday mornings.

WTF?!
 

Well, that is The Lord's Plan.