In the above quote, Ms Behebehani states that "just about anyone" can imagine wearing an Armani jacket. What does she mean when she says "just about"? Is she excluding:
dullards who do not have the necessary creativity or the towering
genius required to imagine wearing a jacket?
sweatshop workers (still alive and well and making far less than
minimum wage in SF!) who happily work in hellish conditions and consider
their just compensation not a living wage, but the chance to actually try
on designer jackets before Ms Behebehani gets her hands on them, and
therefore are relieved of the pressures of imagining such a treat?
ugly people who would never be in the same
social circles as Ms Behebehani and would rather spend their time sitting at home *imagining*
wearing entire outfits from Target?
Why does Ms Behebehani put "imagine" in italics?
she thinks it's a French word
she gets bored with newspaper fonts and wants to spice things up a bit.
it has three syllables. italics signal the reader to look certain
words up in the dictionary.
If a select section of the populace can, according to this statement, "at least" imagine wearing the Armani jackets, what can the rest of us do, "at most"? Is she inferring that others can:
. steal the jackets?
creep up behind Ms Behebehani at the Opera and
fondle her Armani jacket surreptitiously?
cut out pictures of Armani jackets from this fascinating interview in
the San Francisco Examiner magazine and paste pictures of our own heads
atop Armani jackets?
II. "If we withdraw the troops, there will be carnage. If we do not
withdraw the troops... the people will not elect me... We should find a
compromise that would suit everyone..."
- Boris Yeltsin
Why does Boris Yeltsin wear a picture of Richard Nixon in a locket around his neck? Do you know the Russian phrase for "Soul Brother"?
Do you think Mr. Yeltsin is really interested in a compromise? If you could paint a picture of this compromise, what would it look like? Would you paint dead people in this picture?
What do you think the word "everyone" means in this quote? (last word). Do you think that there has been some translation screw-up? Do you think "everyone" is a Russian word for "Boris"? Can you find out?
III. "He said his daughter had not been uncomfortable about his marriage
to a woman her age, saying she was 'elated' by their union."
- Associated Press,
writing about Bill Barnes Jr, father of an amnesiac runaway
17-year-old girl, found homeless on Manhattan streets in the middle of
winter.
Describe, in a page or less, the last time you were so elated that you ran away from home, traveled 1,000 miles with $100 in your pocket, abandoned your car and your luggage, sat outside on the street in one of the largest and most dangerous metropolitan areas in the middle of the coldest winter since 1907 and babbled incoherently.
Imagine that you're introducing your father to one of your closest high school friends. In the page below, tell how you would describe your father to that friend. Tell how you would describe your friend to your father. In the last paragraph, describe how you would feel when you find them in bed together. Use all of the following words at least once in this paragraph:
Imagine Mandy Behebehani, Boris Yeltsin and Bill Barnes, Jr. in the same room together. Imagine a conversation between them, based on the following topics: truth, reality and compassion. Estimate how long it would last:
6 hours during which each would speak the entire time and be fairly happy.
. 20 minutes, as they all meditate on thousands of 18 year old Chechnyan
girls wearing Armani jackets, peaceably voting for Boris Yeltsin. Mandy,
Boris and Bill finish the conversation with a strong desire for a cigarette.
Less than 3 minutes, if you put a dictionary in the same room with
them and asked them to look up the words "truth," "reality," and
"compassion." The dictionary would end up flung outside the window and
Boris, Mandy and Bill leave in a huff.