Advice on name-dropping (tips for teens, part two)
This from a recent discussion with a famous man:
There is little to be gained from dropping the names of famous people into your daily conversations. No-one will be particularly impressed. Instead, try casually inserting the names of entirely un-famous people into your chatter; or at least, people who are famous only to you.
Of course, you will notice that the unfamous names that you drop soon take on an impressive aura of their own. People will generally pretend to know exactly who you’re talking about, and names will start to take on a life of their own, completely separate from the people they were once attached to.
As you can see, total obscurity is much more difficult to achieve (and much more admirable) than fame. The unobtrusiveness that comes with failure will increasingly come to be recognised as a real virtue.
Next week:
preparing to make a big impression in cities you’ll never to go to.
This is SO entirely true. I laughed really hard at this, because when I was in High school, I used this technique a lot to one-up any assholes I encountered. hah!
I once made up names of Japanese anime directors just to shut up this person who questioned my authority on anime. hahahah.
hello ross
thanks for the discus. tis unique, playful,& experimental all things that i like in music. i will be playing some of it on the worried waltz this sunday night. you can go to the wprb website to hear it live if you want to. please let me know if you play in nyc.
schtop
Glad you liked it! I’ll be tuned in on Sunday, as I usually am… The Worried Waltz is fantastic!
NYC — someday, hopefully.