elisi: Living in interesting times is not worth it (Small things by creadigol_lili)
elisi ([personal profile] elisi) wrote2010-10-05 10:21 am
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Because sometimes life is far more wonderful than any story.

Via Sullivan, Lewis Lapham talks about life in New York:

On a cloudy afternoon in Central Park I came across two men seated on a bench, each with a fanciful parrot resting on his shoulder, engaged in intense discussion accompanied by decisive gestures and rapid changes of expression. The parrots were identical; the two men were as unlike one another as a ferret and a panda—on the near end of the bench a small and heavily damaged white man in a threadbare raincoat, early seventies, not many teeth, sunken chest, furtive demeanor; at the far end of the bench a handsome and handsomely tailored black man, gold jewelry, stylish hat and brocade vest, broad-gauged grin, majestic presence.

In answer to my questions, I was told that the parrots were the only two of their particular species ever to have made it north of the Panama Canal, that the two men had met by accident while out walking their birds on 125th Street, that each had come to regard the other as the only man in America with whom it was possible to hold an important conversation.
yourlibrarian: StoryGathering_crystalsc (BUF-StoryGathering_crystalsc)

[personal profile] yourlibrarian 2010-10-05 03:31 pm (UTC)(link)
What a great story. Thanks for posting that.
ringthebells: picture of bells (Default)

[personal profile] ringthebells 2010-10-06 11:39 pm (UTC)(link)
Wow, that's just awesome. :-)

[identity profile] diamondtook862.livejournal.com 2010-10-05 09:40 am (UTC)(link)
That's kind of awesome. I love my city. :D

[identity profile] jrsz.livejournal.com 2010-10-05 09:52 am (UTC)(link)
How incredible! I love sweet little stories like that :)

[identity profile] firefly124.livejournal.com 2010-10-05 09:57 am (UTC)(link)
That is absolutely awesome.

[identity profile] henriettaholden.livejournal.com 2010-10-05 10:05 am (UTC)(link)
That is the sweetest thing I've heard. I miss my cockatiel.

[identity profile] ever-neutral.livejournal.com 2010-10-05 10:07 am (UTC)(link)
This is just... neat!
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[identity profile] prophecygirrl.livejournal.com 2010-10-05 12:41 pm (UTC)(link)
What a completely wonderful story! Thank you for sharing it.

[identity profile] avrelia.livejournal.com 2010-10-05 01:05 pm (UTC)(link)
Great story :)
ext_106804: (Default)

[identity profile] teragramm.livejournal.com 2010-10-05 01:19 pm (UTC)(link)
Because sometimes life is far more wonderful than any story.

Yes, and sometimes way more amusing.

What a quaint, cute snippet of life.
ext_423802: ([hmc] Howl: Smile)

[identity profile] the-redjay.livejournal.com 2010-10-05 01:58 pm (UTC)(link)
That's genuinely rather lovely. <3 Thanks for sharing.
Edited 2010-10-05 14:00 (UTC)
promethia_tenk: (Default)

[personal profile] promethia_tenk 2010-10-05 04:29 pm (UTC)(link)
Oddly, that sounds like exactly the kind of relationship one of my friends would get into. The whole thing reminded me very forcibly of her, and I have therefore emailed her the link.

Thanks for putting a smile on my face.

[identity profile] avidrosette.livejournal.com 2010-10-05 06:26 pm (UTC)(link)
What a great anecdote. Thanks for sharing!

[identity profile] hello-spikey.livejournal.com 2010-10-05 06:34 pm (UTC)(link)
That is lovely!!

[identity profile] zanthinegirl.livejournal.com 2010-10-05 07:17 pm (UTC)(link)
Neat story! the world is both weirder and more wonderful than we ever realize!

[identity profile] diamondtook862.livejournal.com 2010-10-05 07:46 pm (UTC)(link)
Best city in the world, imho (sadly, NYers are not known for their humility when it comes to their city). ;)

I do love London, though I know you don't live there (right? I'm not sure you even live in England at all)... it feels more like home than any other place in the world I've been.

[identity profile] diamondtook862.livejournal.com 2010-10-05 08:17 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, then are you originally from another part of the UK? *hopes I'm not too nosy* I seem to recall you saying something like that. I'm totally jealous that you got to live in London. My Sis lived there a total of 5 months, I lived in Oxford for a year, so I only got to go on weekends, and it always felt like getting to visit home. But yeah, seriously expensive!

[identity profile] diamondtook862.livejournal.com 2010-10-05 09:46 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh my goodness! Seriously squeeing here. You two are just about the sweetest thing I've ever seen! I knew you called him Mr. Darcy, but wow. :) Y'all are gorgeous. I bet your daughters are lovely.

Oxford is amazing in the old books and buildings and all that amazingness, but as a city it's just normal. No underground, which is very inconvenient. ;)

[identity profile] diamondtook862.livejournal.com 2010-10-06 03:10 am (UTC)(link)
Aw, I was right. They are completely adorable! :)

lol! No, of course not. Maybe I'll post some pics of the University Parks in the Winter because it absolutely is romantic living there (in between the cars and the buses and the many bikes). It really is lovely and amazing and I want to go back there to live more than almost any other place in the world. :) (I'd like to give.a stab at Moscow or St. Petersburg too- can you tell I'm a city girl?)

[identity profile] diamondtook862.livejournal.com 2010-10-06 10:05 am (UTC)(link)
Hehe :) or writing Who fanfic.

I'll have to do that.