response to standing room

it does beg the question... why asian airlines? have they more tolerance for standing? are they smaller people? or do more people want to fly from asia?

standing room only

I just read an article on the NYTimes that said some airlines are thinking about creating standing room only "seats". Here's what was said:

“Airbus has been quietly pitching the standing-room-only option to Asian carriers, though none have agreed to it yet. Passengers in the standing section would be propped against a padded backboard, held in place with a harness, according to experts who have seen a proposal.”

I personally think it is a great idea. I pretty much feel like a side of beef in an airplane anyway, so might as well push the idea to the max. If I could stand on the subway for 60 minutes on the way home from high school, with all the stopping and starting, I could certainly stand for an hour flight from DC to NY.

It would be great if standing room seats were substantially cheaper. I’d sure prefer flying for an hour standing up for 50 bucks than sit on Amtrak for 3.5 hours for 100 bucks. I think the strapping in is kind of a strange idea, but hey, it might be more comfortable than getting smushed into a small seat. And as a smaller man, I can only imagine how bigger people feel.

So there you have it folks, a sign of things to come in this over-populated world. As a closing note, why do people feel flying is a privilege? If you can’t afford it, just like everything else, don’t do it.

Three horrible proms part II

this one is worse. way way way way worse. probably the worst prom i’ll ever experience. and one of those nights that provides fodder for prodding and teasing to this day.

so i didn’t really want to go to prom. i didn’t want to go the year before, and then ended up with karoline at hers. and i certainly didn’t want to go to my own prom. BUT this girl at my school kept on asking me to go, and i kept on saying no, and everyone thought i was nuts because she was probably the most beautiful girl in the school (israeli model). her name was adi noyman, which was also a little weird for me cause my sister’s name is adi. so anyway, eventually i agreed to go to the prom with her and she was happy.

so in the limo on the way to the prom we all drank all the alcohol in the car and got a bit wasted. adi got really wasted. my birthday was the next day (18th birthday) and she had been kidding (or serious?) about how fun it would be to lose my virginity both on prom night and on my 18th birthday. and now you’re thinking, how the fuck can yaniv screw this up? well, after the lame-ass prom most of the people were heading over to amanda’s apartment for an afterparty. BUT for some STUPID reason i wanted to go to a club with some other friends, since i had never been to a club. WHY? i don’t know. adi didn’t want to go, so i told her i’d meet her in a little bit at amanda’s. needless to say, when you’re a bit drunk and waiting in lines and not getting in to clubs because you’re eighteen and then one of the girls you’re with loses her wallet and you have to retrace all your steps and for some reason you don’t hear your cell phone ringing to tell you to get your ass to the party because adi is waiting for you and you get ther way later, you could call the night a royal fuckup. especially if by the time you get to the party, the israeli model who wanted to see you had just left with someone else, crying because she thought i had ditched her. which i unintentionally had. the one and only person i have ever ditched in my life was an incredibly beautiful and fun girl on prom night who may have even wanted to have the pleasure (?) of taking my virginity. I TOLD YOU I DIDN’T WANT TO GO TO PROM! oy. and i ended up sleeping on a friend’s couch and that was not so fun. it was depressing. and the next day trying to profusely apologize to Adi. she joined my family for my big birthday dinner party thing, but i don’t think things were ever really the same between us. wow. i sound even more stupid and pathetic having written this down. go ahead and join in and make fun.

this is what adi looked like as a model





this is what we looked like at prom night (drunk a bit?)


and this is my greatest moment. graduating from high school with a chanel model on one side and a kenneth cole model on the other (adi was at the time plastered all over nyc as a kenneth cole girl. and they had this whole dirty sexy thing going on so i'd sit down on the subway and look up and there she was spreading her legs and i'm like "do i need this?")

nuggets of gold

I was reading this article on ethical gold yesterday and I had an epiphany. I’m sure you will all be stunned to hear it is about relationships. Gold, back in the prospecting era of the 49’ers, could be found in large nuggets, just lying around waiting for people to pick it up. These days, gold is only found in microscopic quantities, and the typical number thrown around is you need to move 30 tons of rock to be able to pull out enough microscopic gold to produce one ring. Cyanine is the chemical of choice to wash out that gold, prompting a whole number of environmental issues. That’s the setup…

How many times have you heard the question or statement “I don’t really know you, tell me more about yourself.” I think girls think emotional issues can be pulled out of guys like gold nuggets could be pulled from the riverbeds during the gold rush. The reality is more like shifting through tons of earth to find the microscopic bits laced throughout. Only by spending time with someone can you get to know them, and then you can answer your own questions about their emotions or personality. Which is not to say that people shouldn’t talk about their feelings. That’s all and well, but the good stuff only comes out slowly. Consolation prize for those who want to find those nuggets is that the “getting to know each other” piece of a relationship, while you’re searching for those microscopic bits and pieces of your s.o. is a whole lot more fun than moving 30 tons of rock.