Thursday, January 19, 2006

esprit de l'escalier

It was great seeing you all at Mackey's last night! Alas, I don't have any pictures (stupid camera with its 13-second shutter delay), but from my view it appeared as though a good time was had by all. Special thanks to Kathryn for organizing!

I ran into someone on the Metro the other night who I'm not a huge fan of. Frankly, he's not that huge a fan of me either, but we have a lot of friends in common and so play nice. As we were waiting for the Green Line he mentioned that he heard I was blogging a lot lately.

"No more than usual," I replied.

"But you like it?" he asked. "You enjoy strangers reading your thoughts?" He has one of those Secret Jobs We Don't Talk About and is very good at propelling conversations away from himself. If you're not careful, you'll wind up telling this guy your life story and never learn anything about him. He also has a way of making benign things seem somehow icky.

"I suppose so," I said. I was not in the mood to play ball.

"Well, I gotta ask," he said, "why don't you just keep a journal? Why put it all out there where it can get you in trouble?"

I gave my stock, self-depricating answer: "Narcissism, of course."

What I really should have said was "Because I never would have met all these really cool, brave, witty, smart people if I was just writing for myself. They're an incredibly fun and welcoming group of writers and I learn from them and am inspired by them. And I feel very lucky that I'm able to call them friends."

Esprit de l'escalier,
kids. Use it in a sentence today. And thanks for a great time!

12 comments:

Nicole said...

Thank you for a good time too :)

I-66 said...

I am reminded of a Calvin and Hobbes where Calvin wakes up in the middle of the night, walks to whatever-her-name's house (girl tormenter) and knocks on her door. When she answers, he says "I'm rubber, you're glue. Whatever you say bounces off me and sticks to you" and walks away. He gets home and says "that would've been good [10] hours ago" (or so).

So good to see you again last night.

DC Cookie said...

I couldn't have answered that question any better myself...

Red Photography said...

Sad I missed it. Next time...

alwswrite said...

Wish we could have talked some more. There's always next time, and we'll always have comments :)

VP of Dior said...

you put the bar in bar mitzvah!

great seeing you again and i would like details on your special day coming up!

EJ Takes Life said...

Nicole: It was so great to meet you!

i-66: I am continuously amazed by how awesome you are. Sorry about the shoes, but sneakers just didn't match my outfit!

Cookie: Good luck with the project-- can't wait to see what it looks like.

Kate: Damn straight, we're bringing Urban Tribe to the next one.

Always Write: I know we always say this when we meet bloggers, but I so admire your writing. I look forward to talking with you more next time!

VP: I hope you can make it (and you will no doubt be the best-dressed person there)!

Kathryn Is So Over said...

Good flying by you last night, E.

And I think the modern version of l'esprit de l'escalier is "jerkstore." :)

Hammer said...

Great to see ya - let's chat more next time!

Jen said...

Without a doubt one of my favorite phrases, french or otherwise. Then again, I'm having a major mental love affair with all things french right now... especially with this adorable boy in my french class... mmm....someday, Pierre, you will be mine.

I-66 said...

shucks, EJ. Thanks!

And don't worry about the height. It's not really a big deal :)

EJ Takes Life said...

Kimmy: *Neigh*