The Duolingo world is odd. In my French lessons they were constantly eating pizza and the Latin voice sounds like a 14th-century priest in a horror movie. I love Sedaris. He’s a ray of sunshine today.
Oui, certainement. My daughter married into a wonderful family, we love them. Plus they’re foodies, and they have their own vineyard, how blessed are we!
I adore the weird world of Duolingo. I was studying Spanish with my husband until he had to stop for a while (traumatic brain injury will do that), and then I switched over to German, which I had studied throughout high school and college, but never quite became fluent in. I'm finding that doing lessons every day (usually twice a day), is improving my German in ways that classroom study never could.
But I especially love all the Easter Eggs, like "The spider's best friend is the pig."
Yes it is. The Finnish one graduates from material possessions (radios, teddy bears, tables) to other languages, all of which are said to be beautiful or (in the case of German) cute.
FWIW, we watch a lot of French murder mysteries on either TV 5 Monde or France TV on a streaming service. Almost all these shows have a married or divorced cop with kids, and the cop parent is always coming home late, doesn’t have time to cook, and therefore brings home pizza for dinner. When the cop parent does have time to cook, they cook pasta. When the parent gives the family a choice of what to have for dinner, it’s “Que voulez-vous, pizza ou pâte?” And the pasta is generally spaghetti with sauce. We almost never ever see the parent(s) cooking or adding any kind of meat or meat sauce to the spaghetti.
If tv shows are any indication, the French only eat “French food” at restaurants and cafes.
"The New York apartment building Hugh and I live in isn’t terribly big". Well, that opening sentence set the tone for the urbane piece that followed. Yes, we need humor in the midst of all the gloom, but Babylon Bee should be the satirical standard for the Free Press, not another piece that would have been right at home in the New York Times or the New Yorker. If The Free Press drifts any more toward conventional media, I swear I will will stab myself to death with my Ozempic pen! Then you'll be sorry!
Less is more. Press media doesn’t need to match Babylon Bee. Go to Babylon Bee for Babylon Bee. Please let them report things in their style and don’t limit them to imitation.
Couldn't agree more. This kind of drivel serves to let self-absorbed New Yorkers entertain each other in the midst of their misery being trapped in high rises and paying exorbitant rental fees. But the rest of the country gets nothing from this. Seems like there are a lot of out-of-work journalists sitting around with nothing to do, but the concept of actually going out and finding a real story is too much work.
Running The Free Press and managing to get the volume of overall superb and unique content is a monumental task, and I thank my lucky stars that we have Bari, Nellie, Douglas, Suzy and the gang providing this essential alternative to the garbage of the MSM. I just get itchy when I read something that has relevance only to the same urban elite that is taking down America, and I cannot help but comment. But the real force for change will be those who actually provide practical services that people willingly pay for, and who would be bankrupt if they were not driven by evidence and reality. Those are Hillary Clinton's deplorables, among whom I count myself. If change is going to come, it will be driven by practical people, not the unemployable, university-educated conformists who snigger ironically over "The New York apartment building Hugh and I live in isn’t terribly big".
You clearly know nothing about Sedaris or his background. He does not come from money, he's white working class from North Carolina. His dad was in construction.
Read more Sedaris then? He’s a treasure. You will laugh so hard on his essay’s about his ‘deplorable’ brother Rooster who he loves, dearly. David has a unique gift for illuminating small things. His 2021 collection of writings (A Carnival of Snackery) is a good place to start if unfamiliar with him?
Too many of the usual old guard NY journalists writing for TFP. Amercan journalism -- yes, even new enterprises like TFP -- have to (and I do hate using this word) "re-imagine" what journalism should be like. The oldest of TFP's staffers needs to take the others under his/her wing and tell them what real reporting is like. You can't sit in your apartment and do rewrites from the week's news and say you are doing any reporting. And then sit around patting each other on the back about how great a piece was. How about getting busy reporting on how members of Congress seem to get rich after going to Washington. Too hard? I thought that's what you guys at TFP signed up for.
I’ve read some of Sedaris’ books and this is his style and his humor. I don’t find him particularly funny but my wife thinks he is laugh-out-loud funny. I’m right and she’s wrong, but don’t let her know that I think that.
I am very fond of David Sedaris, even though he once insulted me in public at one of his appearances. I have read most of his books and listened to many of his recordings. My wife and I invited a friend and his wife to a public appearance by Mr. Sedaris in Nashville, but the husband I said he, "would rather have a nail inserted in his urethra" rather than listen to Mr. Sedaris. I don't feel that way. So one night sans the other couple, my wife and I were excited to see and listen to Mr. Sedaris speak and read from his latest work. Afterwards, he asked the audience if we had and questions. No one else raised their hand so, although I am usually shy in public I raised my hand and said, "tell us about "The Rooster". I always enjoyed Mr. Sedaris' accounts of his brother's antics. I thought it would be fun to hear an impromptu tale from the master himself. Mr. Sedaris in his common sarcastic manner remarked, "I don't usually say there are any stupid questions, but that is a stupid question!" He went onto explain how when he writes about his family members he always informs them of what he has written before publication. (A) that was not the answer to my question, and (B) he never told us about his brother The Rooster. I was disappointed by Mr. Sedaris' response, and a bit embarrassed. After the presentation we ran into a couple of friends who introduced me to some friends of theirs. Upon the introduction the wife said, "oh your the one who asked the 'stupid' question". Thanks Mr. Sedaris for a wonderful, embarrassing evening. Years later I've gone back to reading and listening to Mr. Sedaris. He's just to poignant and funny not to, and I would not rather have a nail inserted in my urethra.
I think any time you are in a situation like that I try to remember that for you this is a singular experience. For them, they have had hundreds of people ask that same question. That certainly doesn't make his answer any better...but at least might help explain it.
German people are very direct and don't understand the concept of small talk. It's a culture where being authentic is seen as more important than being polite, so in their minds it doesn't make sense if you have a conversation where you are just chatting out of politeness but are not really interested in what the other person really thinks or has to say.
I'm German but used to live in England for over a decade and small talk was the bane of my existence, being forced to have superficial conversations where I knew from the get-go that the other person didn't really want to have the conversation but felt socially obliged to fill the air with words. It's great to be back in a country where it's ok to be silent when one doesn't have anything to say.
I’m on day 1501 in a row on Duolingo (Spanish). I’m not sure if I’ll ever be bilingual but the streak rates high in my home with strict instructions on continuing it should I become incapacitated.
My husband is on day 2442 learning German. I’m at a meager 815 learning French. We picked different languages so we could improve our communication with each other. Lol!
Wonderful. Thank you Free Press and Mr Sedaris. One of my daughters is using Duo for Russian, but we have a very strong suspicion it’s programming her to be a spy with code phrases like “the giraffe escaped from the zoo.” Cheers.
Oh, this cheered me up. David Sedaris, thank you. You do more good, probably, than you realize.
The Duolingo world is odd. In my French lessons they were constantly eating pizza and the Latin voice sounds like a 14th-century priest in a horror movie. I love Sedaris. He’s a ray of sunshine today.
What's wrong with constantly eating pizza?
Nothing! That’s all this Italian eats! lol. But why aren’t the Duolingo characters in the French lesson eating escargot?
Or cheese and bread? Because my daughter is married to a Frenchman and at his home we eat a lot of cheese and good bread.
Can I come over?
Oui, certainement. My daughter married into a wonderful family, we love them. Plus they’re foodies, and they have their own vineyard, how blessed are we!
I adore the weird world of Duolingo. I was studying Spanish with my husband until he had to stop for a while (traumatic brain injury will do that), and then I switched over to German, which I had studied throughout high school and college, but never quite became fluent in. I'm finding that doing lessons every day (usually twice a day), is improving my German in ways that classroom study never could.
But I especially love all the Easter Eggs, like "The spider's best friend is the pig."
Charlotte and Wilbur!
Shades of Charlotte's Web!!
In the Norwegian one, you learn how to say bear, wolf and I love spiders!
Yes it is. The Finnish one graduates from material possessions (radios, teddy bears, tables) to other languages, all of which are said to be beautiful or (in the case of German) cute.
FWIW, we watch a lot of French murder mysteries on either TV 5 Monde or France TV on a streaming service. Almost all these shows have a married or divorced cop with kids, and the cop parent is always coming home late, doesn’t have time to cook, and therefore brings home pizza for dinner. When the cop parent does have time to cook, they cook pasta. When the parent gives the family a choice of what to have for dinner, it’s “Que voulez-vous, pizza ou pâte?” And the pasta is generally spaghetti with sauce. We almost never ever see the parent(s) cooking or adding any kind of meat or meat sauce to the spaghetti.
If tv shows are any indication, the French only eat “French food” at restaurants and cafes.
"The New York apartment building Hugh and I live in isn’t terribly big". Well, that opening sentence set the tone for the urbane piece that followed. Yes, we need humor in the midst of all the gloom, but Babylon Bee should be the satirical standard for the Free Press, not another piece that would have been right at home in the New York Times or the New Yorker. If The Free Press drifts any more toward conventional media, I swear I will will stab myself to death with my Ozempic pen! Then you'll be sorry!
Sorry, lacking a sense of humor is a *you* problem.
Less is more. Press media doesn’t need to match Babylon Bee. Go to Babylon Bee for Babylon Bee. Please let them report things in their style and don’t limit them to imitation.
Couldn't agree more. This kind of drivel serves to let self-absorbed New Yorkers entertain each other in the midst of their misery being trapped in high rises and paying exorbitant rental fees. But the rest of the country gets nothing from this. Seems like there are a lot of out-of-work journalists sitting around with nothing to do, but the concept of actually going out and finding a real story is too much work.
David Sedaris is a frequent contributor to The New Yorker.
Yeah, we gather that. Spare us anything from him in the future.
I thought the exact same thing regarding another writer from New York, with the exception of stabbing myself with an Ozempic pen.
TFP is running out of shit to report, you could see by Nellie’s TGIF this past Friday Alastair!
Running The Free Press and managing to get the volume of overall superb and unique content is a monumental task, and I thank my lucky stars that we have Bari, Nellie, Douglas, Suzy and the gang providing this essential alternative to the garbage of the MSM. I just get itchy when I read something that has relevance only to the same urban elite that is taking down America, and I cannot help but comment. But the real force for change will be those who actually provide practical services that people willingly pay for, and who would be bankrupt if they were not driven by evidence and reality. Those are Hillary Clinton's deplorables, among whom I count myself. If change is going to come, it will be driven by practical people, not the unemployable, university-educated conformists who snigger ironically over "The New York apartment building Hugh and I live in isn’t terribly big".
You clearly know nothing about Sedaris or his background. He does not come from money, he's white working class from North Carolina. His dad was in construction.
And yet, the piece is exactly as AG described.
Read more Sedaris then? He’s a treasure. You will laugh so hard on his essay’s about his ‘deplorable’ brother Rooster who he loves, dearly. David has a unique gift for illuminating small things. His 2021 collection of writings (A Carnival of Snackery) is a good place to start if unfamiliar with him?
Rooster’s wedding is my all-time favorite.
mmmm- I thought his dad was in something tech like IBM? Been reading (and loving) him for years!!
Yes, but he graduated.
Don’t get me wrong, I love David Sedaris, read his work and love listening to him.
Ask the guy who is the one making that claim, not me
Too many of the usual old guard NY journalists writing for TFP. Amercan journalism -- yes, even new enterprises like TFP -- have to (and I do hate using this word) "re-imagine" what journalism should be like. The oldest of TFP's staffers needs to take the others under his/her wing and tell them what real reporting is like. You can't sit in your apartment and do rewrites from the week's news and say you are doing any reporting. And then sit around patting each other on the back about how great a piece was. How about getting busy reporting on how members of Congress seem to get rich after going to Washington. Too hard? I thought that's what you guys at TFP signed up for.
Thank you Alastair fir a great reply I’m in the same basket!
I’ve read some of Sedaris’ books and this is his style and his humor. I don’t find him particularly funny but my wife thinks he is laugh-out-loud funny. I’m right and she’s wrong, but don’t let her know that I think that.
Don’t forget Ollie.
I am very fond of David Sedaris, even though he once insulted me in public at one of his appearances. I have read most of his books and listened to many of his recordings. My wife and I invited a friend and his wife to a public appearance by Mr. Sedaris in Nashville, but the husband I said he, "would rather have a nail inserted in his urethra" rather than listen to Mr. Sedaris. I don't feel that way. So one night sans the other couple, my wife and I were excited to see and listen to Mr. Sedaris speak and read from his latest work. Afterwards, he asked the audience if we had and questions. No one else raised their hand so, although I am usually shy in public I raised my hand and said, "tell us about "The Rooster". I always enjoyed Mr. Sedaris' accounts of his brother's antics. I thought it would be fun to hear an impromptu tale from the master himself. Mr. Sedaris in his common sarcastic manner remarked, "I don't usually say there are any stupid questions, but that is a stupid question!" He went onto explain how when he writes about his family members he always informs them of what he has written before publication. (A) that was not the answer to my question, and (B) he never told us about his brother The Rooster. I was disappointed by Mr. Sedaris' response, and a bit embarrassed. After the presentation we ran into a couple of friends who introduced me to some friends of theirs. Upon the introduction the wife said, "oh your the one who asked the 'stupid' question". Thanks Mr. Sedaris for a wonderful, embarrassing evening. Years later I've gone back to reading and listening to Mr. Sedaris. He's just to poignant and funny not to, and I would not rather have a nail inserted in my urethra.
“When shit brings you down, just say ‘fuck it,’ and eat yourself some motherfucking candy.”
Is that a quote from the rooster? Sounds like it.😀
It is indeed.
Wow-- that was really Ass-a-holic behavior on his part!!
I think any time you are in a situation like that I try to remember that for you this is a singular experience. For them, they have had hundreds of people ask that same question. That certainly doesn't make his answer any better...but at least might help explain it.
Sounds like a real A-hole to me. Is this the same guy so many here speak in such glowing terms about? Stupid question, indeed.
German people are very direct and don't understand the concept of small talk. It's a culture where being authentic is seen as more important than being polite, so in their minds it doesn't make sense if you have a conversation where you are just chatting out of politeness but are not really interested in what the other person really thinks or has to say.
I'm German but used to live in England for over a decade and small talk was the bane of my existence, being forced to have superficial conversations where I knew from the get-go that the other person didn't really want to have the conversation but felt socially obliged to fill the air with words. It's great to be back in a country where it's ok to be silent when one doesn't have anything to say.
Wow, what a great way to start a Saturday! Multiple laughs out loud. A great antidote to NYT op eds. Thanks!
I love The Free Press but I love you even more because you now have David Sedaris! Thank you, thank you!!!!!
Lets have an entry every day.
Delightful column! Great ideas/phrases for small talk openings!
David Sedaris offers gentle coaching on small talk so we can put down our phones and have actual conversations with people!
Thank you Free Press. Hope you have another thousand people sign up!
I remember one of the first lessons in past-tense Hebrew on Duolingo: "The lion ate the boy." I felt a little bad for a moment.
The sentence “Even the bear was dating another guy” made me laugh out loud before even getting out of bed in the morning.
What may have started off as an article about small talk turned out not to be. Meh
I’m on day 1501 in a row on Duolingo (Spanish). I’m not sure if I’ll ever be bilingual but the streak rates high in my home with strict instructions on continuing it should I become incapacitated.
My husband is on day 2442 learning German. I’m at a meager 815 learning French. We picked different languages so we could improve our communication with each other. Lol!
Wonderful. Thank you Free Press and Mr Sedaris. One of my daughters is using Duo for Russian, but we have a very strong suspicion it’s programming her to be a spy with code phrases like “the giraffe escaped from the zoo.” Cheers.
Great, now I have the image of a suicidal raccoon struggling with a bottle of pills. Lol!
That was writing gold!!!
David Sedaris is a treasure.
Thanks so much for delighting us with the wonderfully entertaining David Sedaris! This was exactly what I needed to start my weekend.