Down to Earth Dave’s Post of the Day–March 28

Salutations, Gentle Reader,

Happy Friday! Please note, though, that for the savvy real estate professional, this is the equivalent of Thursday or even Wednesday. With those rare exceptions when I’m visiting my wee one or involved with a seminar, I work weekends. Granted, I may wait until early afternoon on Sundays so as to recharge my spiritual batteries by a leisurely morning with the Pomeranians, a walking meditation in Central Park or along the mighty Hudson’s shore, or a service at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church.

The time I made up my mind that I was certainly going to move to New York was the first weekend of November, 2005. Within a year, I was here! During that visit, I bought some compilation CD’s at the Metropolitan Museum of Art gift shop. The CD’s had classic music with NYC themes. I better understand one of those songs, “Sunday in New York” much better now than I did then.     

Sundays in New York really are unlike the other days. For people who go to church, it’s because they want to be at church. Bistros and cafés bustle at Sunday brunch, which starts early and lingers late. Parents take children to the playgrounds, the latter creating those temporary relationships in the open-heart manner that only children really achieve. (Bless the child, who is far more capable of living in the present than any adult could hope to do.) Joggers jog. Walkers walk. Readers read. Snoozers snooze. Etc.

Alors, Gentle Reader, I offer you some original poems dedicated to New York, her buildings and people, and her beloved Sundays.

Mimosas are served!
A nosh of fruit and muffins.
More mimosas, please.

Laughter. Giggles, snorts.
Full bellied chuckles, snickers.
Happy children play.

Colossus of bones.
Hayden Planetarium.
Teddy on a horse.

Haunting, life-like eyes,
St Joan, defender of faith,
Captured–on canvas.

Candles on altar.
Candlelight in my conscience
Dispelling darkness.

Coffee and The Times
A dab of marmalade winks
French press elixir.

 

 

 

 

 

Should I ride my bike?
Or catch a flick in Chelsea?
Sunday in New York…

Remain calm, and speak well.
Be kind to yourself. Be kind to the planet and the future. Cause no suffering. Go Vegan!
David!

Down to Earth Dave’s Post of the Day–March 3

Salutations, Gentle Reader,

It took mere seconds for the response to hit social media.  John Travolta totally mangled Idina Menzel’s name at the Oscars last night, instead referring to her as Adela Dazeem.  As my friend and fellow actor Christina Cornevin noted on her Facebook timeline:  “You know you are a musical theatre nerd when you race to Facebook after Travolta butchered Idina’s name only to find your newsfeed flooded with irate comments…”  My timeline was flooding, but there are worse things than being a musical theatre nerd.  Actually, it was not Travolta’s first notable verbal faux pas.  At another ceremony he completely mispronounced Les Miserables.  Granted, not everyone has studied French, and some French pronunciations can be tricky, but Les Mis is a very well known musical that should be active within the vernacular of anyone within the entertainment industry.

Before the ceremony, The Captain and I had gone to a live taping of the Big Fat Vegan Radio Show with hostess Honey LaBronx and special guest Victoria Moran down in Chelsea.  He proceeded to run some errands before I headed over to Astoria to make us some dinner.   We ate, and as we were watching the Oscars, we heard Travolta’s gaffe and just turned towards one another with that look that friends can make that share an entire conversation without anything being spoken.  Finally, he broke the silence and said, “What did he just say?”  I said, “I don’t know, but it was not Idina Menzel.”  Cue:  Grab the iPhones and start the Facebook commentary.

Please understand, Gentle Reader, that I would never be snarky.  Well, almost never.  It actually provides the impetus for today’s addition to our rhetorical arsenal.

Today’s Word: MALAPROPISM

MALAPROPISM:  the act of using an incorrect word in place of one that is similar in pronunciation. The word comes from a character named Mrs. Malaprop in the play “The Rivals” by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. Malapropism is also referred to as Dogberryism, named after Officer Dogberry in Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing.” Both characters made these speech errors.

REAL ESTATE CONNECTION:  This is hardly unique to real estate.  The astute real estate professional is very guarded in what she/he says.  As Twain said, “It is better to remain silent and be considered a fool than to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt.”  Furthermore, the astute professional is very forgiving when clients mis-speak.  Correction is suitable, I believe, when it spares the one in error from detriment or embarrassment.  Where the concept is directly connected to real estate would be in real estate terminology.  To lean is not to face a lien.  To co-broke, especially when done not to go broke, has nothing to do with breaking anything.  And the beat goes on.

CHALLENGE: Avoid making malapropisms. Enjoy these…

Here are some examples of malapropisms:

• Mrs. Malaprop said, “Illiterate him quite from your memory” (obliterate) and “She’s as headstrong as an allegory” (alligator)
• Officer Dogberry said, “Our watch, sir, have indeed comprehended two auspicious persons” (apprehended two suspicious persons)
• Rainy weather can be hard on the sciences. (sinuses)
• Alice said she couldn’t eat crabs or any other crushed Asians. (crustaceans)
• I have no delusions to the past. (allusions)
• You could have knocked me over with a fender. (feather)
• You lead the way and we’ll precede. (proceed)
• Unfortunately, my affluence over my niece is very small. (influence)
• A rolling stone gathers no moths. (moss)
• Good punctuation means not to be late. (punctuality)
• Having one wife is called monotony. (monogamy)
• The flood damage was so bad they had to evaporate the city. (evacuate)
• Dad says the monster is just a pigment of my imagination. (figment)
• Everybody in the company has their own cuticle. (cubicle)
• Tom is the very pineapple of politeness. (pinnacle)
• I remember because I have photogenic memory. (photographic)
• Flying saucers are just an optical conclusion. (illusion)

Here are some examples of malapropisms made by well-known people:

• “The police are not here to create disorder, they’re here to preserve disorder.” – Richard Daley, former mayor of Chicago
• “He was a man of great statue.” – Thomas Menino, mayor of Boston
• “Texas has a lot of electrical votes.” (electoral votes) – Yogi Berra
• “Well, that was a cliff-dweller.” (cliff-hanger) – Wes Westrum
• “Be sure and put some of those neutrons on it.” (croutons) – Mike Smith
• “It’s got lots of installation.” (insulation) – Mike Smith speaking about a new coat
• “Create a little dysentery among the ranks.” (dissension) – Christopher Moltisanti from “The Sopranos”
• “This is unparalyzed in the state’s history.” (unparelled) – Gib Lewis, Texas Speaker of the House

These are examples of malapropisms spoken by Archie Bunker in “All in the Family”:

• “A witness shall not bear falsies against thy neighbor.”
• “The hookeries and massageries…the whole world is turning into a regular Sodom and Glocca Morra.”
• “Last will and tentacle…”
• “Patience is a virgin.” (virtue)
• “A menstrual show.” (minstrel)
• “Buy one of them battery operated transvestite radios.”
• “A woman doctor is only good for women’s problems…like your groinocology.”
• “I ain’t a man of carnival instinctuals like you.”
• “Irene Lorenzo, Queen of the Women’s Lubrication Movement.”
• “In her elastic stockings, next to her very close veins.”
• “In closing, I’d like to say Molotov!” (Mazel Tov)

These are examples of malapropisms made by former president George W. Bush:

• “It will take time to restore chaos and order.” 
• “The law I sign today directs new funds… to the task of collecting vital intelligence… on weapons of mass production.” 
• “They have miscalculated me as a leader.” 
• “I am mindful not only of preserving executive powers for myself, but for predecessors as well.” 
• “We need an energy bill that encourages consumption.” 
• “We cannot let terrorists and rogue nations hold this nation hostile or hold our allies hostile.”

Remain calm, and speak well.

Be kind to yourself.  Be kind to the planet and the future.  Cause no suffering.  Go Vegan!

David!

 

 

Down to Earth Dave’s Post of the Day–October 25

Salutations, Gentle Reader,

Yesterday, I accompanied a client to his lease signing.  He’s new not only to New York, but also the US, having accepted a job transfer from his native land in Europe here to New York.  One thing stood out to me:  along with his mother, who is in Europe, I am listed as one of his emergency contacts.  To know that in the process of finding this man a place to call home, we have established a relationship of trust at that level is humbling.

I had opportunity to be in Chelsea, Greenvwich Village, West Village, Gramercy Park, Flatiron and FiDi yesterday.  I still marvel at this city.  Therefore, Gentle Reader, I share the lyrics to one of my favorite Cole Porter songs:

“I Happen To Like New York”—Cole Porter

I happen to like New York, I happen to love this town

I like the city air, I like to drink of it

The more I see New York, the more I think of it

I like the sight and the sound and even the stink of it

I happen to like New York

 

I like to go to Battery Park and watch the liners booming in

I often ask myself why should it be that they come so far across the sea?

I suppose it’s because they all agree with me

They happen to like New York

 

Last Sunday afternoon I took a trip to Hackensack

But after I gave Hackensack the once over

I took the next train back

I happen to like New York

 

And oh, the Easter Show at the Music Hall

A perfect delight

And oh, pastrami on rye at the Carnegie Deli

There’s joy in each pie

 

And Madison Square for a Friday night fight

Or a walk along Broadway to gawk at the lights

And at Carnegie Hall where the atmosphere’s right

Life at the lights, at the night

 

I happen to like New York, I happen to love this burg

And when I have to give the world my last farewell

And the undertaker comes to ring my funeral bell

I don’t wanna go to heaven, don’t wanna go to hell

I happen to like New York, I happen to like New York

I happen to like New York

 

Remain calm, and speak well.

Excelsior!

David!