I did not know that CYG (and earlier, that Shyam, too) were family to you, Shoba!
Just read the piece you linked in your email - it is heartwarming and reads like an RK Narayan story - this is journalism with quite another ethic and with a lovely latent sense of humour! Apropos the question at hand - I chose my work, am invested in emotionally and intellectually, and love my work enough to answer the question “what do you do” usually with reasonable satisfaction.
Jahnavi
Please excuse brevity or typos. Sent from a mobile device. Wow, Gopi-anna. Don't know if you are seeing all these responses to your question.
For those who don't know, Gopi-anna (first cousin to me and my brother, Shyam who I think is also on this list) wrote a fantastic series on "In the shoes of a...." You can read a sample here
His book, Travels with a Fish is hilarious and features his equally legendary brother Ramu Narayan-- musician and creator of jingles. So that's what I do-- I flex on Silk about relatives :)
Send Silklist mailing list submissions to
[email protected]
To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit
https://mailman.panix.com/listinfo.cgi/silklist
or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to
[email protected]
You can reach the person managing the list at
[email protected]
When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
than "Re: Contents of Silklist digest..."
Today's Topics:
1. Re: "what do you do?" (Yeddanapudi Radhika)
2. Re: "what do you do?" (Heather Madrone)
3. Re: "what do you do?" (Bruce Metcalf)
4. Re: "what do you do?" (Jon Lebkowsky)
5. Re: "what do you do?" (Jeremy Bornstein)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Wed, 9 Oct 2024 10:16:50 -0700
From: Yeddanapudi Radhika <[email protected]>
To: Intelligent conversation <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [Silk] "what do you do?"
Message-ID:
<CAPg_TvOdLNcXxNJZ9CvfoxD9p=SKVAKEAcT=[email protected]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
My standard answer to the question about where I am from has been (since
1993): Planet Earth. And you?
El mi?., 9 oct. 2024 10:09 a. m., Rajesh Kasturirangan via Silklist <
[email protected]> escribi?:
> I don?t mind the ?what do you do? question. I make up an answer that?s
> both true and contextually relevant. What bugs me a lot more is ?where are
> you from?? - often with the connotation of ?where are you *really* from.?
> To which I give a nonsensical response - these days it?s Alpha Centauri.
> On Oct 9, 2024 at 1:00?PM -0400, Christopher A Kantarjiev via Silklist <
> [email protected]>, wrote:
>
> I like it!
>
> On 10/9/24 7:56 AM, Hari Shenoy via Silklist wrote:
>
> In recent times I've responded with - "I suppose you asked me what I do
> to earn my paycheck, and I will tell you once you follow me on Spotify"
> and following that humbleflex, the conversation goes off the rails.
>
> On Wed, Oct 9, 2024 at 3:50?PM Chris Kantarjiev via Silklist
> <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
>
>
>
> On Tue, Oct 8, 2024 at 1:43?PM Udhay Shankar N via Silklist <
>
> [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>>
>
> wrote:
>
>
> This, the most banal of all conversational opening lines, is
>
> something I
>
> discourage at the meetups I organise. So it was interesting to see
> silklister CY Gopinath's take.
>
>
> https://www.mid-day.com/news/opinion/article/and-you-do-exactly-
>
> what-sir-23407241 <https://www.mid-day.com/news/opinion/article/and-
> you-do-exactly-what-sir-23407241>
>
>
>
> Depending on the context, I might reply with my actual work
> situation, but more often I'll say one of
>
> I'm a recovering British car addict
> I'm an aspiring furniture maker
> I ski as much as possible
>
> Those are much more interesting conversational gambits.
> --
> Silklist mailing list
> [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
> https://mailman.panix.com/listinfo.cgi/silklist <https://
> mailman.panix.com/listinfo.cgi/silklist>
>
>
>
> --
> Silklist mailing list
> [email protected]
> https://mailman.panix.com/listinfo.cgi/silklist
>
> --
> Silklist mailing list
> [email protected]
> https://mailman.panix.com/listinfo.cgi/silklist
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://mailman.panix.com/pipermail/silklist/attachments/20241009/80eaf7de/attachment.htm>
------------------------------
Message: 2
Date: Wed, 9 Oct 2024 10:39:29 -0700
From: Heather Madrone <[email protected]>
To: Intelligent conversation <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [Silk] "what do you do?"
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed
I'm sensitive to minor differences in northern Californian accents and
speech patterns.
I was chatting with a young man whose speech screamed "San Francisco" to
me, so I asked him where he was from.
He asked me if I was asking where he was /really/ from.
I was horrified, and clarified that I thought he sounded like he grew up
in San Francisco. Close; he was from the north part of the Peninsula.
The question "Where are you /really/ from?" could be an interesting one
if it wasn't overlaid with xenophobia. Many people move around a lot as
kids, and their birthplaces or early childhood homes might not feel like
home to them. Or they might have multiple places that feel like home.
Rajesh Kasturirangan via Silklist wrote on 10/9/24 10:08 AM:
> I don?t mind the ?what do you do? question. I make up an answer that?s
> both true and contextually relevant. What bugs me a lot more is ?where
> are you from?? - often with the connotation of ?where are you
> /really/?from.? To which I give a nonsensical response - these days it?s
> Alpha Centauri.
------------------------------
Message: 3
Date: Wed, 9 Oct 2024 14:32:34 -0400
From: Bruce Metcalf <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Silk] "what do you do?"
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed
Greets,
One of the (few) advantages of advancing age (I'm now in my eighth
decade) is that one gets this question much less often. Far more common
among people of my vintage is, "What are you up to these days?" This
opens the door to work answers, medical answers, play answers, and
general mischief!
Plus, these days what I do the most of is take care of my disabled wife.
That's usually enough to divert the conversation. When it's not, it
usually degenerates into an "organ recital", which is where I give
myself permission to disengage.
Cheers,
/ Bruce /
------------------------------
Message: 4
Date: Wed, 9 Oct 2024 15:39:15 -0500
From: Jon Lebkowsky <[email protected]>
To: [email protected], Intelligent conversation
<[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [Silk] "what do you do?"
Message-ID:
<captdpcr_cwyqszehxwi8it-k_vpnmdn6y_zhqt-gpq04abs...@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
When asked what I do, I sometimes answer that I transform energy...
Jon Lebkowsky (@jonl)
Cofounder and Cohost, Plutopia News Network <https://plutopia.io>
Website <https://weblogsky.com> | Twitter <http://twitter.com/jonl> |
LinkedIn <http://www.linkedin.com/in/jonlebkowsky> | Facebook
<http://www.facebook.com/jonlebkowsky> | Tumblr
<http://weblogsky.tumblr.com/> | Wikipedia
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Lebkowsky>
On Wed, Oct 9, 2024 at 1:33?PM Bruce Metcalf via Silklist <
[email protected]> wrote:
> Greets,
>
> One of the (few) advantages of advancing age (I'm now in my eighth
> decade) is that one gets this question much less often. Far more common
> among people of my vintage is, "What are you up to these days?" This
> opens the door to work answers, medical answers, play answers, and
> general mischief!
>
> Plus, these days what I do the most of is take care of my disabled wife.
> That's usually enough to divert the conversation. When it's not, it
> usually degenerates into an "organ recital", which is where I give
> myself permission to disengage.
>
> Cheers,
> / Bruce /
>
> --
> Silklist mailing list
> [email protected]
> https://mailman.panix.com/listinfo.cgi/silklist
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://mailman.panix.com/pipermail/silklist/attachments/20241009/f8a4086a/attachment.htm>
------------------------------
Message: 5
Date: Thu, 10 Oct 2024 11:20:33 +1100
From: Jeremy Bornstein <[email protected]>
To: Intelligent conversation <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [Silk] "what do you do?"
Message-ID:
<[email protected]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
Online bios of mine used to sometimes say things like "Observer from
the Galactic Federation, visiting to evaluate Earth's membership
application. Don't fuck it up." With which, unsurprisingly, nobody ever
engaged.
In response to being asked what I "do," in person I am likely to reply
"computers," (or "IT" in Australia), if I want to talk about something
else. Because really, who wants to actually talk about that stuff most
of the time?
But really, lately, I have been avoiding the question by being present
at a minimum of actual physical encounters! That works pretty well.
I agree that it's much more fun to discuss things about which people
are actually passionate. But sometimes we need to do a little work to
find out what those things are in a socially acceptable way and it
starts with professions. I'm okay with that. I do love learning about
almost anything if someone else is excited about it! And probably most
of us are similar that way.
Jeremy
P.S. I just pulled up Thought Brownie and will give it a listen, seems
promising, thanks Hari!
P.P.S. I also make a lot of music.
:)?https://jeremy.org/music/The%20Jeremy%20Bornstein%20Trio/
On Wed, 2024-10-09 at 10:16 -0700, Yeddanapudi Radhika via Silklist
wrote:
> My standard answer to the question about where I am from has been
> (since 1993): Planet Earth. And you?
>
> El mi?., 9 oct. 2024 10:09 a. m., Rajesh Kasturirangan via Silklist
> <[email protected]> escribi?:
> >
> >
> > I don?t mind the ?what do you do? question. I make up an answer
> > that?s both true and contextually relevant. What bugs me a lot more
> > is ?where are you from?? - often with the connotation of ?where are
> > you?really?from.? To which I give a nonsensical response - these
> > days it?s Alpha Centauri.?
> > On Oct 9, 2024 at 1:00?PM -0400, Christopher A Kantarjiev via
> > Silklist <[email protected]>, wrote:
> > > I like it!
> > >
> > > On 10/9/24 7:56 AM, Hari Shenoy via Silklist wrote:
> > > > In recent times I've responded?with - "I suppose you asked me
> > > > what I do
> > > > to earn my paycheck, and I will tell you once you follow me on
> > > > Spotify"
> > > > and following that humbleflex, the conversation goes off the
> > > > rails.
> > > >
> > > > On Wed, Oct 9, 2024 at 3:50?PM Chris Kantarjiev via Silklist
> > > > <[email protected]
> > > > <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > On Tue, Oct 8, 2024 at 1:43?PM Udhay Shankar N via Silklist <
> > > > > [email protected]
> > > > > <mailto:[email protected]>>
> > > > wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > > This, the most banal of all conversational opening lines,
> > > > > > is
> > > > something I
> > > > > > discourage at the meetups I organise. So it was interesting
> > > > > > to see
> > > > > > silklister CY Gopinath's take.
> > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > https://www.mid-day.com/news/opinion/article/and-you-do-exactly-
> > > > what-sir-23407241
> > > > <https://www.mid-day.com/news/opinion/article/and-
> > > > you-do-exactly-what-sir-23407241>
> > > > > >
> > > >
> > > > Depending on the context, I might reply with my actual work
> > > > situation, but more often I'll say one of
> > > >
> > > > I'm a recovering British car addict
> > > > I'm an aspiring furniture maker
> > > > I ski as much as possible
> > > >
> > > > Those are much more interesting conversational gambits.
> > > > --
> > > > Silklist mailing list
> > > > [email protected]
> > > > <mailto:[email protected]>
> > > > https://mailman.panix.com/listinfo.cgi/silklist <https://
> > > > mailman.panix.com/listinfo.cgi/silklist>
> > > >
> > > >
> > >
> > > --
> > > Silklist mailing list
> > > [email protected]
> > > https://mailman.panix.com/listinfo.cgi/silklist
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://mailman.panix.com/pipermail/silklist/attachments/20241010/00f8094b/attachment.htm>
------------------------------
Subject: Digest Footer
Silklist mailing list
[email protected]
https://mailman.panix.com/listinfo.cgi/silklist
------------------------------
End of Silklist Digest, Vol 19, Issue 10
****************************************
|
