26. June 2008 by Ben.

In the IT front office, a woman carries on a conversation about how to choose a new password, while her small child watches.  Then, out of nowhere:

Girl, age 5: “This one time, my daddy had a hole in his pants, and I could see his underwear.”

Coworker: “And did you fix the hole?”

Girl: “Nope.  We threw out the pants and got new ones.”

Posted in Kids' Quotes | 1 Comment »

22. June 2008 by Ben.

I forgot that interspersed with the plot in When Harry Met Sally are vignettes of elderly couples on a couch recounting how they met. For example:

Her: “We fell in love in high school.”
Him: “Yeah, we were high school sweethearts.”

Her: “But then after our Junior year his parents moved away.”
Him: “But I never forgot her.”
Her: (smirking) “He never forgot me.”

Him: “Her face was burned on my brain. And it was 34 years later that I was walking down Broadway and I saw her come out of Toffenetti’s.”
Her: “We both looked at each other and it was just as though not a single day had gone by.”
Him: “She was just as beautiful as she was at 16.”
Her: “He was just the same. He looked exactly the same!”

This is just reminiscent of the scene in Gilmore Girls (Say Something, episode 5.14) where Sookie tries to soothe Lorelai by recounting a romantic story.

Sookie: “I heard about this couple on one of those morning show, similar to you guys - all lovey-dovey, perfect for each other, you know, headed for marriage - and something happened, and they broke up in their senior year of college, even though they were madly in love with each other. They moved to different parts of the country. They married different people. Oh, had kids, grandkids. Then their spouses died, oh, and they were available again, and they talked and they hooked up, and now they’re together and they’re happily in love after forty years apart.”

Lorelai: “That’s a horrible story!”

And finally, Common Sense Media cautions parents about these clips.  Besides the obvious an obvious warning about the famous orgasm scene, they also note:

The short vignettes highlight long-lasting, loving relationships. May create unrealistic romantic expectations for teens.

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21. June 2008 by Ben.

Upon someone new entering the room:

Her: “I want to arm wrestle you!”
Him: “I’m leaving right now though.”
Her: “Wait, come back! I don’t even know who you are! You have to arm wrestle me!”

Upon finding a taker and beginning to arm wrestle:

Her: (yelling as one would yell “I’ll never give in!”) “I will not divorce you for tax settlement purposes!”

– Things said at parties

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11. June 2008 by Ben.

“You look like a Go Go Girl.  (beat)  It’s not a bad thing – I like Go Go Girls.”
– One coworker to another

I planned to link to a picture of a Go Go Girl for context, but when you Google that phrase (in Google Images) you get “Go Go Girl Sexy Adult Costume” in the first result, and “Go Go Girl Child Costume” in the eighth.

New rule:  Anything that can be made into a “sexy adult costume” should be unavailable in “child costume” form.

Posted in Overheard | 1 Comment »

8. June 2008 by Ben.

It really hurts subscription sales when I leave a show and overhear someone say, “That’s the best I’ve seen them do in a long time!”

Posted in Anecdotes, Overheard | No Comments »

5. June 2008 by Ben.

“That seems a little unusual because I had the same thing happen to me.”

– Coworker

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2. June 2008 by Ben.

“I’ll tell you this: I wanted something physical.  I wanted to either fool around with her – meaning kiss her,  feel her up, or whatever –  or even more, go all the way, or whatever.  I wasn’t counting on that, I was just here to have fun, and that’d be a nice feature to it.  That’d be like a bonus.” – David, Junior at Lincoln Park High School.  This American Life #186, “Prom”

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30. May 2008 by Ben.

Sophie was very excited at my arrival when I first got there.  As she walked in the door I could clearly here my name overlaid with tones of excitement.   Ben’s here!

Until she saw me.

Then she immediately ran upstairs to her room as fast as she could go and refused to come out until I was gone… which wasn’t really likely to happen.  When she did have to come downstairs (to eat, for instance), she refused to take her eyes off me, certain, I think, that if she weren’t watching me I’d immediately transform into a drooling monster and destroy her.

When I was still there the next morning, she resigned herself to being in the same room as me, though any time I went anywhere near Mommy she ran over and pushed me away, yelling, “No!  My mommy!”

By the third day, though, the tables had turned.  Anytime I went anywhere near Mommy (or anyone else) she still ran over and pushed me away… but now yelled, “No!  My Ben!”

By this afternoon I had a voice mail that said, first, “Why won’t Ben talk!” (sorry, Sophie, I wasn’t really on the phone) and “Come back!“  Hehe!  I win!  And that’s very cute.

Posted in Colorado, Kids' Quotes, Anecdotes | 1 Comment »

30. May 2008 by Ben.

After the Green Line crash last week, NTSB officials are in town investigating the accident.

Four or five of them were on my B train this evening with a CBS reporter and cameraman, and as we pulled into Boston College one announced, “Phew.  We made it.”

Wait!  The National Transportation Safety Board was unsure about whether or not my train would “make it?”  I feel like this should bother me.

Posted in Anecdotes, Overheard | 1 Comment »

28. May 2008 by Ben.

Sophie came running in Wednesday morning just as I was waking up and decided it was time to become a monster – a routine activity on all lazy mornings.

She sat quietly for a long time, though, shooting me furtive quizzical glances, before eventually asking, “Ben glasses?”

“Yep. I wear glasses!”
“Where?”
“I took them off when I went to sleep.”
“No! Glasses on!”

I put my glasses back on, and she immediately proceeded to roar and attack me.

Apparently without glasses I cease to be Ben, and cannot play.

Posted in Colorado, Kids' Quotes | 1 Comment »