new sitcom idea: 18 yo chinese ccp spy joining an SF defense startup and realizing no one has actually done any work because they are too busy going to parties and chasing social clout, so she has to create all of the tech herself before she can send it back home
Years ago I read a cute memoir by an Aussie who married a Frenchman and moved to Paris. It was like a survival guide. There was a chapter on dinner parties.
She said that in Paris, at a dinner party, you must have an opinion. It didn't matter what your opinion on a topic was; you must have one and you must be prepared to argue it. It was better to have a crazy or terrible opinion than none. Only a boring guest would have no opinion.
Maybe there's no dinner parties because we're not allowed to disagree with friends, and then what's the point.
One trick I learned from Tokyo that helps for understanding any city: when you come across a charming small biz in a sea of generic chains, ask them about their relationship with their landlord. For example, this is the fantastic Alabaster Bookshop, near Union Square in NYC...
It will always be insane to me how the Michelin model of going into Asian countries entirely revolves around giving 1 star to some kind of "street food" for the free local press, while giving 3 stars almost exclusively to French restaurants, and people just go along with it.
A few weeks ago, there were a couple of popular tweets declaring that the "mad umbrella shop" and "mad sailor shop" in London had survived the pandemic.
It is with regret that I report that the "mad sailor shop", Arthur Beale's, is closing, one of the oldest shops in London.