Who Knew?

In 1999, John F. Kennedy Jr., his wife, Carolyn, and her sister, Lauren Bessette, died when their single-engine plane, piloted by Kennedy, plunged into the Atlantic Ocean near Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.

I remember hearing the first words of the missing plane and who was on it and knowing it was over.  I knew the circumstances, watched it unfold as did everyone because John John was royalty.  He was also this guy who was always downtown in Soho, on his bike, or roller blades. at bars and always a big flirt. 

One summer night in 1998, out with friends celebrating   Max ’s having passed the BAR exam.  We were down on West Broadway at Lucky Strike and Box a very Euro bar with great drinks.  JFK jr. came in, and went to the bar.   Notoriously he had not passed the BAR in his first attempt, and had real difficulty passing it later.  I always saw him  but I would never approach him, there was no reason to and he was always surrounded by women anyway.  So the joke/idea was that we should ask him to join us for a toast to Max for his achievement,  passing the BAR on his first try.   It was teasing and mean and I don’t do mean.  There was no way I would go through with it even though the bar was rather quiet that night and the fact was John John had looked over a few times and smiled his famous smile in our direction.  My friends kept telling me to go over, he was looking and I was being ridiculous, but I had no intention. 

As he was leaving, he veered toward our table and said  ”Hope you are having a good night,”  looking and locking eyes with me and then smiled the killer smile and walked out.  Well my “cool” friends all burst out into nervous laughter as I turned crimson red.   I was so happy they never went through with their childish dig. 

A year later he was married and missing and everyone I knew was crushed ,shocked and in disbelief.  How could it be in real life, that this could happen to him?  I mean why?  The Kennedy curse just would not relent.  I remember my first thought  was, thank G-d Jackie O. had passed, and about Caroline and her utter despair over her baby brother.  The Bessette family losing two daughters in a national tragedy.  The search went on for over three days but I grieved knowing there was no surprise ending. 

It was like Princess Diana all over again.  It devastated the country and the world.

I am a sentimental person so I shared that silly story.  Rest in peace, John, Carolyn and Lauren you are not forgotten.

1.

2.   Fierce: savage; wild; indicating cruelty; ravenous; rapacious; as, ferocious look or features.

On so many levels this word grates on my nerves.  From Christian Siriano the odd little elf man who won Project Runway and took the word to  nerve rattling level.  To Tyra Banks who displays her lack of command of adjectives and of the English language all together by using the word in every sentence.

3.  Misspoke: –verb (used with object), verb (used without object), -spoke, -spok·en, -speak·ing.

1. to speak, utter, or pronounce incorrectly.
2. to speak inaccurately, inappropriately, or too hastily.

 Oh this one has been abused like no other word since Hillary Clinton decided to run for G-d, I mean President of the United States. The worst part is that when used it is usually a PC term for “having said something really really inappropriate.”

4.   Schadenfreude: definition; A malicious satisfaction obtained from the misfortunes of others.

All I can say about this word is that it has been used in every article I have read in The New Yorker, Vanity Fair and well, every other magazine I have picked up (and I have a minor magazine obsession).

FYI:  I went to dictionary.com and guess what?  It is today’s word of the day. How appropriate.

5.   Dawg:  I am not going to go to the trouble of giving a definition here.  Anyone who has seen even one     episode of American Idol has heard this word overused and abused by Randy Jackson, though he is among many offenders in the pseudo hip hop world. 

6.  Super-delegate:   A party leader or elected official chosen as an uncommitted delegate to a national political convention. (Origin 1984). 

 So apparently prior to 1984 these people were just plain old folks, and then perhaps due to some genetic X-men type metamorphosis they became super.  Though I am not sure if capes are required attire, but if I was a super delegate I would definitely wear one.  I mean there should be perks right? 

7.  Baby Daddy/Mamma: Are we so lazy that we cant say the entire phrase?  The definition as I understand it applies to an unmarried couple expecting a child.  Personally I think it is offensive and is a rude way to refer to a person. 

8.  _______ilicious: i.e. Fergalicious, Bootilicious and so on.  Please put this one away, for all that is good and holy, let it die soon.

9.  Cougar:     Significant age disparity in sexual relationships has been and remains a feature of couples in many cultures and societies. The most common pattern in heterosexual couples is an older man with a younger woman.

This one infuriates me .  It makes women seem predatory and desperate.  However the women being called this have yet to complain to my knowledge.  I know I would be less than thrilled to be labeled in such a way.  Unless of course I was on a reality show vying for some young hotties attention. (Yeah right).

10. Bromance:  A close and affectionate platonic friendship between two men.  I.e. Brad Pitt and George Clooney. 

I think that this is one word that should never be uttered out loud.

11.  Metrosexual:  I.e. Ryan Seacrest.  This one is just a personal pet peeve. 

New Entries: As of July 5 2008

12.  Man-date:  Similar to bromance but spending time together a lot.

13.  Bump:  This refers to pregnant womens expanding womb, therefore bump diminishes the importance.

14.  Werd/Word:  It’s got to go, if you are over 30, you cant respond with werd, werd?

15.  Brangelina, Johniston, Beniffer, or any other comboname.  This is a serious pet peeve.

So now I invite you to add to this list, for this is by no means exhaustive.  I am sure you can think of a few that are worthy of a place on this list.  Share them, exorcise them from your vocabulary or just commiserate.

Contributed by readers:

1. Pop.” it is used to describe everything from curtains to eye makeup. Thank you Meander for adding this highly overused term by both magazines and tv shows when doing the make-over.  As in “the fake lashes make the models eyes really Pop!  I must assume there is an exclamation point after thats said.

2. Pwn:  am tired of people using “pwn”. It was a slandering of the word “own” in gaming by someone with a lazy pinky-finger. But really it just makes me want to punch my computer.

3. Peace out:

A co-worker constantly hits me with “peace out” as he leaves. I know most would quickly make the assumption of laid back hippie hood but no. This white boy is the product of an elite, upper class family and is firmly entrenched in the corporate world.

Him: “Peace Out, Megellen!”

Me: Bonne Soir, middle aged faux hippie.

Him: Easy on the karma there, M.

Me: Go hug an organic veggie while sucking down your Evian, rich boy.

 ps. I have been known to sign off IM with this.  Will have to rethink that. Veronica

I am a stumbleupon fan, it is my most used site. I received this from a fellow SU user terencechang

wow.. Lovely smile.

I happened to found your smile on the Happiness page.

Check out the blogger smiles I collected. I am hoping to get your great smile on the happiest blog in the world as well.

Interested?

Here are some of the blogger smiles.
http://www.smilemyday.com/

Thank you for taking time to smile!

So I went to the site and saw a lovely page with people smiling all over it. I didn’t think twice about participating and responded that I was in.

veronicaromm:

Thank you for your participation. Here is how it works.

I will grab your great smile and post on the site and link to your stumbleUpOn profile and the blog your list under your profile. I will need your answers about the following 5 easy questions.

1. Something about you and your blogs/sites.
2. Why were you smiling in the photo?
3. How would you find happiness and be happy?
4. What is the secret of your great smile?
5. What would you recommend people do to find happiness and be happy?

Looking forward to hearing from you! Have a great day!

So I did and this is the title and link on the piece they did on me.

Blogger Smile - Intereview - a great joker smile from the advice girl that make my day.