secret of life, dixie chicks, & eavesdropping

As to summations of 2006 and/or resolutions for 2007, I'd rather not indulge. I once cynically told KFR in our office that the secret of life is, in fact, low expectations. I neglected to tell him the second part. There's an adendum. Low expectations and high hopes are not mutually exclusive. Such is life. Embrace the messiness. Somewhere in the spectrum of low expectations and high hopes lies a "realistic" (or perhaps historically informed, depending on how you spend your days) view. Though it just occurred to me, perhaps I'm joining the party a bit late here, but you rarely hear anyone say they have high expectations and high hopes. Whatev.

On more entertaining topics, I went with some friends to the new documentary called "Shut Up and Sing" on the Dixie Chicks hullabaloo (read: Right-Wing shit storm) that resulted from a comment Natalie Maines made in London just as the war in Iraq started.**** I highly recommend it. The time leading up to the movie proved just as entertaining. Is it the low-lighting and comparative silence of waiting for movies to start that cause the hushed tones during pre-movie chats or is it the close proximity of strangers? Either way, our appropriately hushed-tone pre-movie conversation was the object of an eavesdropping. I'm not going to lie, I partake in selective conversation listening. Who doesn't? But this woman yesterday wasn't even trying to disguise her non-verbal participation in our conversation. She was slightly turned towards us, smiled or furrowed her brow when appropriate, and waited for punch lines with such bated breath... I was alternately amused, horrified, and embarrassed for all parties. Thank goodness she had the sense to finally interject her thoughts. Interestingly enough, there was no offered apology for the eavesdropping, a common (though perhaps stilted) transition into conversation with strangers. Eavesdropping etiquette... I wonder how Emily Post would have assessed the scenario.

**** {editor's note: the author apologizes for the length of that sentence.}