Eccentric Flower talk:201012/Estonian Sonatas
From Eccentric Flower
Comments on Eccentric Flower:201012/Estonian Sonatas
I have things I should be doing, but you always give me so much to comment upon, ya bastid.
I would definitely suggest making the effort to visit the Eiffel Tower and some of Europe's other big touristy spots. It's fascinating to see a big icon like that in reality, it's like meeting a living, breathing Marilyn Monroe or something. The Eiffel Tower is much, much taller than I'd expected, and down at the base there were guys selling these weird mechanical bird things that could fly around by themselves. Europe in general wasn't the experience I was expecting... It often felt like an alternate reality, much like the US in many ways but very much NOT like here in other ways.
Interesting observations about the Irish. I've never been to Ireland, but I found the English to be a pretty off-putting lot. Some of them were nice and they seemed very, very smart, easily 20 IQ points higher than most Americans you'd meet... But many of them also seemed sneery and calculating, quick to hit you with a very cutting, sarcastic quip because you had the gall to be a foreigner asking them the way to the bus stop. Also, surprisingly prone to alpha male displays and threats of violence. Just riding the underground sometimes made me feel like I was in a Guy Ritchie movie. I'm still a raging anglophile, but the British did everything they could to beat it out of me.
I would call your work erotica, rather than porn. Erotica is a pretty schmantzy word, but it's what I would call stories with a strong sexual component that aren't necessarily intended to lead to wanking. I can think of elements in several of your stories that seemed pretty erotic in a fetishy way (like that one with the brothers who have to share a certain something) but maybe I was getting a tingle from them that wasn't intended.
You've got to get back to writing. You've got to. Screw the sulking and the excuses and WRITE. Please. Just sitting on your talent until you die is stupid.
-- 02:05, 24 December 2010 (GMT)
I agree with Ursula that you should see the touristy things in Paris if you have the opportunity. Admittedly, I was eleven when my mom took us to France to see her home and meet our maternal family, so my point of view would probably be different now. But actually walking the banks of the Seine and climbing the steps to Mont Martre and seeing the market at Les Halles, those are all firmly embedded in my memories for all time. I'm assuming it's more crowded now, if such a thing be possible, and much has changed, but the icons haven't. And they were breathtaking, even for an eleven-year-old.
Last time we were there (1999) we stayed in the countryside, visiting relatives, which was fascinating. I saw Dijon and we watched fireworks for Bastille Day reflected over the Rhone. We visited a 14th century town, the name of which escapes me *hangs head* and drove up into the hills to visit an uncle who is/was ensconced in a lovely old home for the permanently bewildered. The views were spectacular.
Point of that ramble is this: don't skip it if you get the chance to go. You have the advantage of knowing the language, so chances are you won't encounter as much derision and snottiness as we did as children.
One of my bucket list items involves actually seeing Victoria Falls, but it's way too dangerous in that part of the world, right now, and besides that, who can afford it? Same with Egypt, the Valley of the Kings, Giza, all of that. What I wouldn't give, but the State Dept. takes a dim view of American tourists in that part of the world, for the time being. Sigh...
-- 04:59, 24 December 2010 (GMT)
Iain:
If I wrote the educational treatise, it would be not about writing porn but "What I have learned about human sociology and psychology from nearly two decades of serious cross-spectrum monitoring of pornographic web sites." And no publisher on earth would buy it.
You know, if you could give it a less horrible title than THAT, I'm pretty sure some publishers would buy it. Sex sells, after all. Heck, you could always just call it "PORN!" (And then a suitably wonky and explanatory subtitle in teeny text underneath.)
-- 06:06, 24 December 2010 (GMT)
Bunny: I only speak enough French to read the menu and find the toilets, really. Nonelvis is the one who speaks French.
I didn't think Egypt was on the no-go list at the moment, although I know some other African countries are (and for good reason). I myself wouldn't go to Egypt because it would break my "never travel anywhere that I look like a walking bag of money to the locals" rule.
-- 16:44, 24 December 2010 (GMT)
Exactly. Not long ago, there were killings of U.S. citizens in Giza and environs. I'm not sure if it's still proscribed, specifically, but you are so right about looking like a potential target. You could disappear and never be heard from again. I'll pass.
-- 19:14, 24 December 2010 (GMT)
Oh, and about speaking French, you sure had me fooled. I held my own in 1999, but I was predominately in the company of family, so they forgave a lot of my syntax, or lack thereof. It was way worse when we kids didn't speak a lick of French. The other kids called us Sacre-Americains. You don't suppose they got that from their parents, do ya?
-- 19:17, 24 December 2010 (GMT)
I should be clearer; I don't think I would worry too much about my safety in Egypt. The big problem I have with looking like a bag of money is not the risk of robbery/kidnapping, which I consider low outside of sub-Saharan Africa, certain -stans, and the more machete-oriented parts of Indonesia.
No, my problem is a lot pettier than that: as an ostensibly wealthy tourist, you end up having to routinely pay bribes or overcharges for anything to get done - "Oh, I'm sorry, sir, your reservation seems to have been lost, but for a small fee I'm sure the problem can be corrected" - I hate corruption of that sort to begin with, and the lower the GNP gets, the more prevalent it gets as everyone tries to pad out his meager wages by soaking the "rich" tourist. I sympathize that they are so poorly paid, but they don't get to solve that problem on my dime.
Also, you get beseeched for baksheesh on every corner. Again, not that I don't sympathize with the plight of the desperately poor, but I simply don't believe in giving money to someone who asks me for it on the street for any reason whatsoever. It ain't the correct answer and it's annoying. Now, if they were asking for contributions to the Force Mubarak To Retire Political Action Fund, then we might have something.
Robert Young Pelton, who wrote The World's Most Dangerous Places books, estimated at one point that in most of the countries where he travelled (and he goes to the poor places, in case the title wasn't a hint), he paid an extra fifty percent over what his normal travel expenses would be to that area in cadeaux, bribes, baksheesh, et cetera. (He advises doing things like bringing along cartons of cigarettes even if you don't smoke, since a pack of cigarettes is even better grease than cash in certain situations.) RYP has a higher budget than I do, so my policy is that any place I think I would have to apply grease just to go be a tourist is a place I don't go. I don't haggle, I don't pay bribes, and I don't give handouts.
-- 19:51, 24 December 2010 (GMT)
As for me, I worry as much about my safety. But boy, do I ever agree with you about haggling. Mexico was just awful. I know I wasn't playing by their rules, but if they gave me a price and I thought it was too high, I walked. "No, Miss, let's talk!" didn't interest me in the least. Tell me a fair price and I'll decide if I want to pay it. Talk about a tourist, huh? I know people who would gladly bargain all day long, but I'm not wired that way. It's one of the many reasons I have no interest in going back to Mexico.
The safety part probably comes from watching too much television. But I can't think of many places to visit, if any at all, that are worth the risk of never coming home again.
but they don't get to solve that problem on my dime.
Amen. We have quite a number of street corner panhandlers, and our County Sheriff has mounted a campaign to discourage people from giving money to them. He acknowledges that it's hard to refuse an outstretched hand (no, it's not) but he maintains that much of the money goes to drugs and alcohol. His slogan is "It's okay to say no." Instead he asks that you give that amount to one of the many charities in the area that distribute the money to those truly in need. Begging is no longer legitimate, because it's being abused.
In Seattle last year, I saw a guy wrapped in a blanket, in a wheelchair, with a sign, and talking on his cellphone. Sigh...
-- 03:51, 25 December 2010 (GMT)
OK, foreign travel is one thing I can speak knowledgably about, as I've done a lot of it over the past 39 years. First, TSA: Yes it's annoying and stupid (why could I get a gate pass for Delta at JFK, but not at Continental at Newark to help my wife manage the baby through security?). But really, *that's* what's going to keep you from seeing the world??? As a barrier to entry, that's really pretty low.
One thought, though: Is Canadian airport security any more civilized? You could drive up to Montreal and fly from there, if so and if it really is that big a deal. I've flown Air Canada to Japan and Israel, and it's a pretty reasonable airline, as airlines go.
Second, sightseeing. You are absolutely right about going up the Eiffel Tower because it's the only interesting thing on the skyline. But what's neat is that you'll turn a corner, and all of a sudden, it'll be there, and you'll go, "wow." Paris one of the great walking cities. My favorite is from Place de la Concorde straight up the Champs Elysees to the Arc at Place Etoile. The whole walk is on a line with the Louvre behind you and La Defense way up in the distance. I am confident you would just love walking the streets of Paris for several days (Michelin's Green Guide has numerous suggested walking routes and tells you what you see along the way, and I recommend them highly).
Also, the French stopped being assholes, for the most part somewhere in the late '80s. I encountered the stereotype in the '70s and early '80s, to the point that I purposefully avoided most of France (I did do Verdun and the WWI battlefields) on my big trip in '91. But when I started going over for work in '95 and since, it was like they had finally twigged to the realization that if they were at least facially polite to the tourists, we'd come back and spend more dollars. I haven't had a bad interaction in Paris in something like half a dozen or so trips over the last 15 years.
Third, appropriately, the Third World. Yes, begging and haggling and baksheesh are awful and drive me as crazy as you. Please accept that as a given. India was too much for me -- no one took "no" for an answer, and shoeshine wallahs would surreptiously throw cow dung on your shoes to drum up business. After the third time it happened in two days in Dehli, I was afraid I'd hit somebody and start a riot/get killed/get thrown in prison. So I left. But I did manage Thailand and Egypt, and I *highly* recommend the latter. There is haggling at the souk, so I basically avoided shopping there, and just walked through briskly. You have long legs (longer than mine by a good bit), and I can just out-walk the hucksters and beggers. Unlike the Indians, moreover, the Egyptians take "no" for an answer. As for sightseeing, the pyramids not only live up to billing, but surpass it, which in my experience, almost never happens (the Taj Mahal does, too, FWIW, but I can't in good conscience say "go to India"; I can say, "Go to Egypt"). You also need to take a cruise down the Nile to Luxor and the Valley of the Kings. I was so in love with Egypt that I extended my stay and flew down to Abu Simbel, where they have giant rock carvings.
One way to minimize the beggars and hucksters is to go on a group tour. Now, yes, I know you hate being told where to go and what to do; I do, too. It's also more expensive that going on your own. But there are so many fewer administrative hassles, you are somewhat insulated from beggars and hucksters, and the guides actually know incredible amounts of interesting information. In the Third World, being a government-sanctioned guide is one of the best and highly paying jobs there is -- they go to university to study history, foreign languages and guiding generally. Plus, you often get really interesting people on these groups: In China, I met, among others, a wealthy German couple, a cop from Nassau County, a Sri Lankan-Swedish nurse and a British spinster school teacher. Really the only thing to top that would have been a dead body and a little Belgian detective.
Fourth, although I think you should go to China given your interest in the language, I should warn you that Hong Kong -- which I love to the point that I think I could live there for a few years (not that I'm planning on it) -- is probably too crowded and hectic for your taste. If you've been to Chinatown in New York, it's like that, only three orders of magnitude more. I also loved Tokyo, which is like New York and Los Angeles built on top of each other, with half a dozen or so Times Squares thrown in. Both cities have amanzing energy for me, but I think the masses of humanity would possibly grind you down too much to enjoy them.
Fifth, Order of Operations: I think it's best to experience foreigness in degrees. So last summer when I took my nephew and his grandmother to Europe, first stop was England, then Paris. After that, I'd suggest Italy (Florence should be on you Bucket List). I also love the old Central European capitals - Budapest, Vienna, Prague, Berlin. Prague, in particular, is the most beautiful city I've ever seen (and I've seen a lot of 'em). If you're into amazing European art, then it's Paris, Florence, St. Petersberg, Amsterdam and Madrid, in that order.
But, yeah, Paris. You do need to see it. I remember you writing about wandering around in Ireland and taking that ferry -- you were having a blast. Walking around Paris -- that's the ticket for you.
-- 17:02, 26 December 2010 (GMT)
Oh, I forgot to mention safety. Yes, there are occasional terrorist attacks in places like Egypt, India, Indonesia. Well, the deadliest terrorist attack ever was in New York City, so I wouldn't worry about Luxor all that much.
You do get accidents, too, (just saw this item after my previous comment: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2010/12/26/2010-12-26_8_american_tourists_killed_in_a_bus_crash_in_egypt_near_abu_simbel_temples.html). But you can run across a drunk on the Alewife Brook Parkway just as easily.
I'm not suggesting vacationing in Baghdad, mind you. But really, any place you are likely to go is likely not to put you at risk for violence, crime or disease.
-- 17:17, 26 December 2010 (GMT)
I can't speak to international travel, but of all of my friends/relatives who have flown in the past several weeks, not one has encountered anything but normal screening from TSA. Not even an x-ray, let alone a patdown. I don't care what they say about not profiling, I'm convinced they still do. I suppose you could be randomly selected, but none of my peeps were bothered in the slightest. So there's that. International could be different, especially upon return, since I understand you first clear Customs, and then encounter TSA. Not sure I understand why, but whatever. Even so, they don't automatically x-ray, etc. Just sayin'.
I agree with Robert, Paris is definitely a city for walking. Driving is nigh on impossible, for one thing. And heck, picture-taking is a walking activity. Also, don't go alone. The romance value is everything it's cracked up to be, and more. *hums Love is a Many Splendored Thing* I suppose any city can be romantic, but Paris? Oh, my.
-- 17:46, 26 December 2010 (GMT)
Patrick:
Two comments: You look much better than you think you do. I think your "lack of hairstyle" suits you very well, and earrings, while probably not giving you the feminine appearance you might be hoping for, look good on you, as well.
For narrow streets that are just as they meet the eye, I think you need a different lens. I'm not a photographer, but I think you can't take the level of photograph that you're thinking (I think I'm thinking the same view) with a point and shoot lens.
-- 23:46, 23 December 2010 (GMT)