Persistent Distraction

Unauthorized Quotation #8

"Who's the old dude?"

--Comment left by a YouTube user on a clip showing Ryan Adams with Willie Nelson

                     

Unauthorized Quotation #7

                              
   

-- My dear (English) friend Gareth, seeking to verify the cultural accuracy of an American sitcom.

Unauthorized Quotation #6

                              

  -- Our intern, Sarah (translating from German)

Unauthorized Quotation #4

"There is absolutely no excuse for this."

--My friend and colleague Floyd, indicating the Nana Mouskouri CD on my desk

Unauthorized Quotation #3

"Do you have anything like these, but nice?"

-- An annoying customer at a shoe shop in The Hague

Unauthorized Quotation #2

"The short answer is no.  The long answer is nnnnnooooooooooooooooooo."

--My buddy Neil, responding to a long-since-forgotten question

Unauthorized Quotation #1

"Is this the line for the Tribe Called Quest show?"

  -- My friend Philip, arriving to join the queue of remarkably pale, largely thirtysomething Seattleites in line for a Billy Bragg concert, circa 1996