Daniel Kitson

Somehow, managing to get over my World Cup mourning (I'm now on to 'Acceptance' stage), I have a late Valentine's day with the Boy. Here's the bouquet he surprised me with on Tuesday. Sadly, I think I'm against cut flowers now (trying to be more ethical and such), so these will be the last I will have. Boy's response: "Whew!" I'm getting cheaper and cheaper the longer he knows me.

A co-worker gave us her reservation to see a comedian, Daniel Kitson. We vaguely had heard his name, but we knew nothing about him. He was actually good, though he didn't say much that was funny. He just a lot of things that were true: humanity is cruel and vapid and we are encouraged to be this way. I think his show was a one-man revolution to encourage people to break off the shackles of indifference and self-centredness and embrace a more global view of life.

Anyway, there was an American girl in the audience who must have felt the same way. Every time he said something that she thought was interesting or she agreed with, she would 'Whoo!' in a typical American way. The amusing thing was that everyone could see that it was disconcerting to Kitson and he finally told her, very politely (as they do here), to shut up.

I, too, found her most annoying. Look, I agreed with the fellow as well, but that is not how things are done here. I guess I can't stand Americans who come here and think everyone will think they are cool because they are Americans, thereby behaving in a 'typically' American way: being loud. People take the piss out of us here all the time, more than Americans realise. Like if someone says something a bit stupid, then a British person would most likely affect an general American accent to respond. Something like, "Yeh, like, no duh." Or, "Ohmigod, you're, like, so stupid." (Whereas in the US in this situation, I would put on a southern accent)(Actually, when British put on an American accent, it's usually a 'valley girl' type; when Americans put on a British accent, it is usually vaguely posh and southern sounding)

But, I digress. The show wasn't really a 'Whoo!'-type show, so it was grating that she wasn't picking up on the context, despite watching the same show as everyone else. But, as I think about the annoying American bird more, I don't find her as irritating. I think it's natural for people to try to reach out and to respond to others that they like, say things that agree with, or care about. Which is what I guess she was doing. It's normal to try to make a connection with others.

I dunno. Something to marinate on.