Last weekend, I was at a party with some people I hadn't seen in a while. As we brought each other up to date on the varied comedies of errors that are our individual lives, I finally got to tell them about having been trapped in an elevator at the start of July, with a man who breeds fighting roosters for a living and even has a weekly TV show that is a big hit among his fellow sabongeros all over the country.For the record, I consider myself pretty socially adept, and I probably would have said the same thing, were I her.
One chicken story led to another--because, believe it or not, everyone has at least one--until someone raised his glass in a toast and said, "F*** chickens!"
It was funny rather than offensive; and everyone's laughter and clinking glasses were--now that I've thought about it--signs that the group felt done with the subject of chickens and wanted to move on.
But I'm a woefully literal lit nerd who was once a Lit major as well, and the word association just got the better of my booze addled mind. So I said: ...
Whose Speech Fed Rome Even as the Tiber's Flow
9 hours ago
12 comments:
Maybe the secret is to not drink so much booze?
Would that be advice for Enbrethiliel or for me?
+JMJ+
I would actually give the opposite advice, Ioannes. See how easily convinced you were that it was the booze's fault and not mine. ;-)
All my friends would find that funny. I guess my crowd is not so squeamish. (Not the most perverted act I've read about in supposed high literature, btw.)
No offense, folks, but the post said in part, "...and the word association just got the better of my booze addled mind. So I said, 'You know, in the Mario Vargas Llosa novel The Return of the Hero, there are characters who actually do that to a chicken.' The entire room fell silent. My closest friend got up and walked out."
That might not have happened had restraint and moderation been exercised, hence my comment. And yes, I do know all about making a donkey out of myself while inebriated (nope, I am NOT saying anyone here is a donkey), having done it far too many times in a life time ago.
1st Corinthians 15:34 - "Become sober-minded as you ought..."
1st Thessalonians 5:6 - "...but let us be alert and sober."
1st Thessalonians 5:8 - "...let us be sober..."
2nd Timothy 4:5 - "But you, be sober in all things..."
Proverbs 20:1 - "Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise."
Ioannes, one is right to stay away from a proven source of temptation; however, I believe that Enbrethiliel was exaggerating for literary and dramatic effect, since a) the remark wasn't all that inappropriate given the context of the whole discussion, and b) I know her not to be even a quasi-lush in real life. Now you can argue that perhaps the episode itself was fueled by booze, but honestly it sounds like the sort of thing many of my scrupulously dry college friends might have found hysterical.
Mrs. Darwin,
I am NOT judging either you or Enbrethiliel.
I simply observed that when voice was given to a thought that was described to have occurred within a "booze addled mind", the room fell silent and a friend walked out.
Ephesians 5:8 - "And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit..."
If that doesn't apply, then no worries.
Sorry if I offend anyone.
+JMJ+
No worries! =) I only have myself to blame, since I suspected while I was drafting the post that the plebeian word "booze" (despite all its alliterative value in the line it appears in--which is minimal, at best) would get me into trouble. =P
I wonder what the "secret" would be, if the line were the much classier: ". . . the word association was as delicious as the glass of Carlo Rossi red I had at dinner . . ."
But "booze" stayed because I thought Llosa's Nobel credentials were classy enough. Apparently not. (LOL!)
+JMJ+
Ioannes, you and I cross-posted, so I didn't see your last comment. I don't take any offense, but I think you're focusing too much on the word "booze." My story is about being a lit nerd among people who don't read as much as she does, not about being drunk among people who were sober. If you go through the combox, you'll see that most of the commenters (who are fellow book bloggers and other self-confessed nerds), know from their own experiences that it wasn't the booze that was talking.
Thanks for the clarification, Enbrethiliel. Then my comment(s) wouldn't apply.
Only a fool would get stuck
With bedding a bird that goes cluck;
If you're on the prowl
For a sensual fowl,
I can only say, Lord love a duck!
The friend walked out? Oh good grief. That's kind of pathetic.
Post a Comment