Ode to A Short Attention Span
When I was a child, I had a fleeting glimpse of my future. My mother used to tell me to “pay attention” as my brain wandered off to something else. Little did I know that – according to Dave and Seth – I was training for my current gig.
My training went so well that when Amy says, “Brad, have you been listening to me?” I can repeat back the last few sentences that she’d said. This continues to be one of my favorite marital party tricks.
I did the same thing to my wife, unfortanately she got wise to it about 2 years ago so I can’t use it with the same effect… I had to perfect a new technique that required me to on-the-fly synthesize the last few sentences she said into a “what you were really talking about” riff. I figure I’m good through 2008 with this technique.
You need attentiondeficit.xml…
I was sooo waiting for you to break out in a rousing rendition of Pink Floyd. One word, PHEW… (Pink Floyd unequivocally gives me the heebie jeebies)
I’ll never forget the time I arrived at your apartment in NYC one night, and you came to the door. You were on the phone, but talked to me for a minute, which was not unusual, but soon I realized you were on TWO board calls already, and keeping up with each of them better than the other board members.
My other favorite BR-ADD story is when we were in Newport relaxing with Ilana, Warren et al and I suggested that we should spend five minutes discussing some business point. You had to fire up your laptop and answer emails at the same time before you could discuss it with me. To date I have not met anyone else who NEEDS to multitask.
The way most professors deal with this is a callousness about crying that shocks outside observers, particularly the watering pots who have an expectation that tears are going to be their capstone argument. ,