Flattery Will Get You Nowhere...
Except with me.
When I was thirteen or so, wading through the third circle of hell known as puberty, I decided I was tired of feeling hideous. I'd read Isabelle Allende's Eva Luna, where the titular character decides she wants to be beautiful, and so is. Sounded like a plan to me. But for the days when such self-assurance was harder to come by (any day with a letter R or U in it) I filled up a small box with compliments. I called it my Vanity Box. In it I put whatever passed notes or remembered items might have fallen my way, like crusts to a patient dog waiting under a dining table. In other words, such items were not plentiful. The drunk man singing "When a Man Loves a Child" while eyeing me lasciviously (or just trying to decide which of the two of me he liked better) did not make the cut. For instance. But by junior year of high school I'd amassed enough items that on Very Bad Days I could read through the items and feel a little better afterwards.
I think everyone needs a Vanity Box. So I ask: what's the best compliment you've received in recent memory? Here's my favorite of late:
I read the New Yorker op-ed piece by Warren Buffet and thought my facebook acquaintances would enjoy it. I posted it with a little quip linking it to a recording artist by the name of Warren G, who's big hit Regulate discusses theft and, uh, re-appropriation of wealth (I swear I'm not patronizing you -- this was so my mom has an idea what I was talking about)
Me, a facebook poet!
When I was thirteen or so, wading through the third circle of hell known as puberty, I decided I was tired of feeling hideous. I'd read Isabelle Allende's Eva Luna, where the titular character decides she wants to be beautiful, and so is. Sounded like a plan to me. But for the days when such self-assurance was harder to come by (any day with a letter R or U in it) I filled up a small box with compliments. I called it my Vanity Box. In it I put whatever passed notes or remembered items might have fallen my way, like crusts to a patient dog waiting under a dining table. In other words, such items were not plentiful. The drunk man singing "When a Man Loves a Child" while eyeing me lasciviously (or just trying to decide which of the two of me he liked better) did not make the cut. For instance. But by junior year of high school I'd amassed enough items that on Very Bad Days I could read through the items and feel a little better afterwards.
I think everyone needs a Vanity Box. So I ask: what's the best compliment you've received in recent memory? Here's my favorite of late:
I read the New Yorker op-ed piece by Warren Buffet and thought my facebook acquaintances would enjoy it. I posted it with a little quip linking it to a recording artist by the name of Warren G, who's big hit Regulate discusses theft and, uh, re-appropriation of wealth (I swear I'm not patronizing you -- this was so my mom has an idea what I was talking about)
"I actually spent half the day trying to think of something witty to top that regulating comment by your friend, played around with some puns linking Nate Dogg and Bill Gates, but abandoned my quest, as the original comment is just perfect, a facebook poem, if there ever was one. Regulate, yo. Peace. "
Me, a facebook poet!
I like when you write and share!
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