Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Do

My publishers were throwing a party last night and they invited me. Was it a trap? Were they inviting me because they wanted me to be there or because they wanted to see how dedicated I am to writing this book?

"Oh yeah... you claim to be working hard... but you obviously have time to party, Mr Gorman."

In the end I decided to go. If it was a trap it was a silly one. If it slows down my writing they'll only have themselves to blame. Besides, it was a huge opportunity for smugness. Cyclists are a smug breed at the best of times but never more so than when there's a tube strike. You can grind to a halt if you like London... but there's nothing you can do to stop the cyclists. We will prevail. Lovely.


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11 comments:

  1. AnonymousSeptember 5, 2007 at 3:21 PM

    Don't get me wrong- cycling is good. But doesn't the strike mean you were at a party solely (in practice) for cycling authors?

    That sounds like a critical mass of smugness to me.

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  2. Dave GormanSeptember 5, 2007 at 5:05 PM

    Most people seemed to get there via the car/traffic-jam/stress route.

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  3. UnknownSeptember 5, 2007 at 5:25 PM

    I don't see how smugness can reach a 'critical mass' - its potential is infinite. I for one am yet to see a man hospitalised for anything remotely smugness-induced, other than perhaps the consequences of involving motorists in the expression of smugness (perhaps with rude hand gestures).

    In a city where many of the tube stations would be quicker to walk (let alone cycle) between, I think being the representative for cycling authors is a pretty good place to be.

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  4. SSeptember 5, 2007 at 5:28 PM

    Good on you for cycling Dave... although given this was a party and your have been known to have the odd tipple, I'm wondering if your journey home was a little wobblier than the commute there.

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  5. AnonymousSeptember 5, 2007 at 10:55 PM

    I hate to pull rank but I am a Doctor and can confirm that Smugness can indeed be fatal. It usually starts with a rubbing of hands and gleeful expression. Then the person implodes with self satisfaction and self congratulation. It's a horrible way to go because nobody feels sympathetic, just 'yeah, he deserved it the smug git..'

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  6. slennySeptember 6, 2007 at 2:50 AM

    There's a South Park episode, called Smug Alert, on this very topic.

    Not quite sure how factual it is, though.

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  7. AnonymousSeptember 7, 2007 at 1:09 AM

    take a laptop to the party.
    problem solved. no accusations.

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  8. AnonymousSeptember 7, 2007 at 5:21 PM

    Or just tell them it's research.

    Flick x

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  9. AnonymousSeptember 17, 2007 at 4:13 PM

    Glad you liked the food at HK

    Marco X

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  10. SSeptember 17, 2007 at 4:30 PM

    Like Marco, while I was flicking through the TV last night I spied a certain Dave Gorman acting as a food critic on Hell's Kitchen.

    Are you going to write a post about it? Or was it a fairly boring affair?

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  11. AnonymousSeptember 18, 2007 at 9:47 PM

    Hmmm ... a room full of smug AND sweaty cyclist ... lovely!

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