Friday, July 24, 2009

Travel Account, I: Eyeliner and the City


The word of the day today is vibe.
I used it as a verb a few nights ago while at an outing.
Blame it on extensive travel, I guess. I turn more colloquial during the summertime, apparently.

I remember the specific 'vibe' instance because I excused myself from my company, stepped into another area, and sent the following text, ‘I want you to know I just used 'heart' and 'vibe' as verbs.'

It’s rather bizarre to me how linguistic petpeeves get morphed into clichés but a good number of them have already.

Fastforward to a few days later. I found myself vibing very well again.
I was in a hypemodern store looking for an eyebrow pencil. It was a present for someone blonde. Very blonde. The blonde entity had a birthday hence the gesture.

The gentleman who came to my aid was very blonde himself and before you know it we were discussing Richard Florida’s book Who’s Your City? and got to cover such topics as urban living, the vibe of a city, travel, surfing, on the net and the ocean out in New Zealand, family, things of the realm of hobbies, eye color, personality traits, and of course, eye liners.

I’m a fan of eyeliners. It’s the one makeup item I find useful to my quotidian maintenance routine. Naturally, I’m inclined to finding most eyeliner-related info tidbits relevant.

Ergo, when he asked me how I was finding the city, I said, “Ah. Well, I dig its vibe, you know? I always have. Every time I find myself on a street I’ve already experienced, it somehow feels new and fresh. We vibe well, you know?
“OMG! Totally. Vibe. That’s it. That's the word.”

His eyes had a kind of sincerity I usually see in those I already know well. He oozed familiarity, the kind that genuine and sincere people do. That kind of familiarity is endemic to their natures, I think.

I usually get annoyed by unsolicited verbal attention when in a foreign land/city, but I rather enjoyed my repartee with the eyeliner specialist. How often does one come across an abroad-living Scott originally from Los Angeles with a flare for urban planning books, surfing, and, of course, eyeliners?

My iPhone tells me to rely on what the locals approve of and explore the new environs the way they do.

Like I’ll start ignoring my gadget of choice now while visiting a new land?

As if!






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5 comments:

Unknown said...

Ok, this is one of my favorite posts so far!
The ending especially.
"Like I......
As if!"
Ha!

Leave it to you to make a point on theory while discussing eyeliners for very blonde people....

Dana said...

I've long maintained that there's little of inconsequence when it comes to makeup chats. This just proves my point.
What brand/color eyeliner was it?
I'm in the market for one....

Dana said...

I've long maintained that there's little of inconsequence when it comes to makeup chats. This just proves my point.
What brand/color eyeliner was it?
I'm in the market for one....

JJ said...

Makes sense. I suppose the bigger the motropolis, the sounder the eyeliner input.

Anonymous said...

What expedited the immediate connection? Any clearly visible signs i.e., brands?
Of what color are the eyeliners blonde people go for these days?
Might be in the market for one myself...