Creative Eavesdropping - ZEFRANK.COM

Brynn · 07-16-2005, 06:24 PM

Listen for as long as you dare, remember as much as you can, paraphrase or invent only as absolutely necessary to make it cohesive, but keep it rooted in the reality of the actual overheard conversation.

Link it to any post that comes before if it seems to fit into some kind of narrative, but feel free to introduce new overheard conversations all on their own. You may introduce new overheard characters or take old conversational fragments into new directions with newly eavesdropped material as you are inspired.
Provide original location, but feel free to change the location for a new "borrowed conversation" as you might require for your own purposes.

Ideally, the overall effect is a flowing, cinematic one of following one or more characters for a ways until it hits a wall and a new interesting one interacts and takes over, but don't hesitate to post overheard fragments in isolation to be used later. The real creativity will come from editing together at any point disparate posts into a narrative flow.

This may or may not work, but at the very least it's a way to warm up if you're experiencing writer's block.

I'll kick it off.

(overheard on the bus)
Woman: I would think that in a polyglot situation like that...
Man: Oooooh. "Polyglot." Someone's had her coffee this morning!
Woman: ...that it would be confusing for...
Man: You don't like me very much this morning, do you?
Woman: Here are the comics. Read them.

venusupnorth · 07-16-2005, 06:34 PM

William Burroughs got his inspirations like that, it's very genius. I usually go off into nature with no source of communication to achieve this state of mind. After being alone for 4 days and doing paintings out in the lava fields my friends show up and inspire more.

I think Zero just posted a site a week ago that is inspired by this kind of thinking..........hold on where is the link?
http://languageisavirus.com/

Brynn · 07-20-2005, 06:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by venusupnorth

William Burroughs got his inspirations like that, it's very genius. I usually go off into nature with no source of communication to achieve this state of mind. After being alone for 4 days and doing paintings out in the lava fields my friends show up and inspire more.

I think Zero just posted a site a week ago that is inspired by this kind of thinking..........hold on where is the link?
http://languageisavirus.com/

What a cool site!

trisherina · 07-30-2005, 02:54 PM

"I just don't want to be trapped, TRAPPED IN THERE." (jerks wheelchair away)
"Just be graceful, hon."
"Can we play bocce?"
"No, no, just sit and watch the fire, it's too dark, everyone settle down, I've got those Japanese golfers and half of them are sick."
"Where's your little dog?"
"She's inside, it's okay, she had a lot of exercise."
(annoyed shrug)
"I tell ya, I thought I was putting in an Olympic swimming pool when we opened up that septic field."
"Oh yeah, the septic field."
"I deal with this one company, called Monster?"
"I wear them in the parking lot, I wear them on the beach, I wear them in the water, I wear them in the car. People tell me there's rocks but I wouldn't know."
"Buddy, don't shine your flashlight in people's windows, 'k?"
"Everybody wants them. That's why I do so well."
"It sounds like you've been around a bit."
"If you could build it all over again, what would you change?"
"You go as if you're going to the United States."
"Now that my kids are older, they help out a bit."
"Yeah, well, I imagine mine could too."
"I tell you, putting in that septic field last summer, I know more than I ever wanted to know."
"It took me about three quarters of the first book to, you know, really get into it, and then I was hooked."
"She hasn't been back there for another sleepover."
"But I don't want to outgrow you!"

Scoop · 08-02-2005, 09:36 PM

(New guy here. Hi to all. Great site and interesting posts!!)

I am in line for a flight to Los Angeles from San Francisco in the Year of Our Lord Nineteen Hundred and Seventy Eight. The man directly in front of me speaks to the airline personnel sotto voce:

"Would you mind seating me first? I'm William Shatner."

"Of course not sir." Shatner moves off. Then, to her partner: "Who's William Shatner?"

"Oh, he's an actor. Was that him? He's on Star Trek."

"Oh, that's why I don't know him then. Never watch it."

I am checked in and go off to find a seat. In the far corner of the airport lounge sits WS, his trenchcoat collar up, his hat pulled down and a newspaper up in front of his face. If people recognize him, which is near impossible by the camouflage he has erected, they don't show it. Realizing this, WS lowers the newspaper a bit, placing his lower face into view. . .a bold move. Still. Nothing. Zero recognition happening.

To a star, this is worse than being recognized. Not being recognized. I say "star." We have to remember that we are talking about William Shatner.

Eventually it is time to board our flight to LAX. Desperate now, WS is loaded into the plane first, just like he wanted. He takes the very first aisle seat and has removed all camouflaging items -- collar and newspaper down, hat brim up -- and he is shamelessly making eye contact with every single passenger that boards the plane.

No one recognizes him. And he looks like he's ready to chat now. In a few years, he'll be turning down Trekkie conventions. But for now, the show is over and he's afraid he's a forgotten man.

Still no recognition. No one even sits next to him. It will be 20 years before his career is revived by a dot.com commercial and he manages a neat second act as a sight gag.

Brynn · 08-04-2005, 06:36 AM

(wince) My husband reports that W.S. and a fawning producer type were very loud and rude to an entire restaurant in a tiny town in Baja.
Which reminds me of a Richard Dreyfus story concerning a pilfered chinese chicken salad (the last one) that he jumped line for and made off with just as someone else was reaching for it.

But I digress. Welcome Scoop!

Overheard in office:
"What are you doing?"
"I'm trying to see into his office."
"Why?"
"Because they didn't invite me into the meeting and I don't know why."

On bus:
"But is that infected? It's beginning to look like cellulitus!"
"Right. Sure. You're going to lose your hand because of a paper cut."
"It could happen. Under the right conditions."
"Did it happen at work? If it happened at work and your hand falls off, you can get worker's comp."
"Yesssss!"
"You could sue the paper company. 'But your honor, I had no idea that paper could cause a wound like that. There was no warning on it."
"Yeah. The ultimate Stupid Lawsuit."
" 'When we play rock paper scissors, we all know that you can get hurt by the rock, and the scissors of course can cut you, but what about the paper???' "

Brynn · 07-16-2005, 06:49 PM

(overheard in a law office coffee break area)

Good-Looking Cocky Lawyer: She's hot.
Intern: Hmmm.
Good-Looking Cocky Lawyer: I was going to ask her out, but she blew off her bagel club obligation.
Intern: Her bagel club "obligation"??
GLCL: When you take a bagel on Fridays, you are obligated to join the bagel club and take a turn bringing in a dozen bagels the following month.
Intern: (laughing) I didn't know that.
GLCL: Then you're -
Intern: I never bring in a dozen bagels.
GLCL: - then you're an asshole.
Intern: I enjoy bagels. That doesn't make me an asshole. An asshole is someone who thinks someone's hot but they won't ask her out because she didn't fulfill her bagel club obligation.
GLCL: They've got to be good bagels too. Not Lender's frozen s**t bagels. Fresh ones.
Intern: Hot from the oven ones.

venusupnorth · 07-16-2005, 06:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brynn

(overheard in a law office coffee break area)

Good-Looking Cocky Lawyer: She's hot.
Intern: Hmmm.
Good-Looking Cocky Lawyer: I was going to ask her out, but she blew off her bagel club obligation.
Intern: Her bagel club "obligation"??
GLCL: When you take a bagel on Fridays, you are obligated to join the bagel club and take a turn bringing in a dozen bagels the following month.
Intern: (laughing) I didn't know that.
GLCL: Then you're -
Intern: I never bring in a dozen bagels.
GLCL: - then you're an asshole.
Intern: I enjoy bagels. That doesn't make me an asshole. An asshole is someone who thinks someone's hot but they won't ask her out because she didn't fulfill her bagel club obligation.
GLCL: They've got to be good bagels too. Not Lender's frozen s**t bagels. Fresh ones.
Intern: Hot from the oven ones.

Did you just make that up? You're from NY then. I lived in Ny and only New Yorkers talk about bagels like that.

-Who's in left field?
-who's in right field?
-Who cares, do you want cream cheese with that?
-I told you he was cheating, just look at the way he sneaks into 3rd base!

Brynn · 07-16-2005, 07:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by venusupnorth

Did you just make that up? You're from NY then. I lived in Ny and only New Yorkers talk about bagels like that.

I lived in Manhatten for a short time as an aspiring actress in my twenties, but I actually overheard this in a law office in Century City. There are a lot of NYC transplants in Los Angeles who are religious about their bagels, and you can find decent ones in L.A. because of that. Therefore, there are a lot of non-NYC bagel converts there who used to eat Lender's and now see the light. Here in Potland (sic), we have Noah's Bagels, which taste like the real thing.

Did I mention that any overheard conversation is fair game? That means that conversations on this board and even comments on this thread can also be gleaned for this thread's purposes. That may appeal to the incestuously minded amongst us

.

venusupnorth · 07-16-2005, 07:17 PM

Yeah hot bagles from the oven with a smell of fresh onions!

The chick with the attitude walks back in the office and finds out that she missed out on a good catch, looks around and gets nervous. He knew some sh*t about her but?

Brynn · 07-16-2005, 06:59 PM

Scene: a law office coffee break area. Two Men and a Woman

Woman: I would think that in a polyglot situation like that...
Good-Looking Cocky Lawyer: Oooooh. "Polyglot." Someone's had her coffee this morning!
Woman: ...that it would be confusing for...
GLCL: You don't like me very much this morning, do you?
Woman: Here are the comics. Read them.
(she walks out)
Intern (Watches her go. Turns to GLCL) William Burroughs got his inspirations like that, it's very genius. I usually go off into nature with no source of communication to achieve this state of mind. After being alone for 4 days and doing paintings out in the lava fields my friends show up and inspire more.
Good-Looking Cocky Lawyer: She's hot.
Intern: Hmmm.
Good-Looking Cocky Lawyer: I was going to ask her out, but she blew off her bagel club obligation.
Intern: Her bagel club "obligation"??
GLCL: When you take a bagel on Fridays, you are obligated to join the bagel club and take a turn bringing in a dozen bagels the following month.
Intern: (laughing) I didn't know that.
GLCL: Then you're -
Intern: I never bring in a dozen bagels.
GLCL: - then you're an asshole.
Intern: I enjoy bagels. That doesn't make me an asshole. An asshole is someone who thinks someone's hot but they won't ask her out because she didn't fulfill her bagel club obligation.
GLCL: They've got to be good bagels too. Not Lender's frozen s**t bagels. Fresh ones.
Intern: Hot from the oven ones.

07-16-2005, 06:24 PM	#1
Brynn constantly amazed Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: in the labyrinth of shared happiness Posts: 6,206	Creative Eavesdropping Listen for as long as you dare, remember as much as you can, paraphrase or invent only as absolutely necessary to make it cohesive, but keep it rooted in the reality of the actual overheard conversation. Link it to any post that comes before if it seems to fit into some kind of narrative, but feel free to introduce new overheard conversations all on their own. You may introduce new overheard characters or take old conversational fragments into new directions with newly eavesdropped material as you are inspired. Provide original location, but feel free to change the location for a new "borrowed conversation" as you might require for your own purposes. Ideally, the overall effect is a flowing, cinematic one of following one or more characters for a ways until it hits a wall and a new interesting one interacts and takes over, but don't hesitate to post overheard fragments in isolation to be used later. The real creativity will come from editing together at any point disparate posts into a narrative flow. This may or may not work, but at the very least it's a way to warm up if you're experiencing writer's block. I'll kick it off. (overheard on the bus) Woman: I would think that in a polyglot situation like that... Man: Oooooh. "Polyglot." Someone's had her coffee this morning! Woman: ...that it would be confusing for... Man: You don't like me very much this morning, do you? Woman: Here are the comics. Read them.

07-16-2005, 06:34 PM	#2
venusupnorth I'm leaving tomorrow! Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: The Zoo Posts: 726	William Burroughs got his inspirations like that, it's very genius. I usually go off into nature with no source of communication to achieve this state of mind. After being alone for 4 days and doing paintings out in the lava fields my friends show up and inspire more. I think Zero just posted a site a week ago that is inspired by this kind of thinking..........hold on where is the link? http://languageisavirus.com/ __________________ "What you risk reveals what you value." —Jeanette Winterson

07-30-2005, 02:54 PM	#4
trisherina meretricious dilettante Join Date: Jan 2003 Posts: 11,068	"I just don't want to be trapped, TRAPPED IN THERE." (jerks wheelchair away) "Just be graceful, hon." "Can we play bocce?" "No, no, just sit and watch the fire, it's too dark, everyone settle down, I've got those Japanese golfers and half of them are sick." "Where's your little dog?" "She's inside, it's okay, she had a lot of exercise." (annoyed shrug) "I tell ya, I thought I was putting in an Olympic swimming pool when we opened up that septic field." "Oh yeah, the septic field." "I deal with this one company, called Monster?" "I wear them in the parking lot, I wear them on the beach, I wear them in the water, I wear them in the car. People tell me there's rocks but I wouldn't know." "Buddy, don't shine your flashlight in people's windows, 'k?" "Everybody wants them. That's why I do so well." "It sounds like you've been around a bit." "If you could build it all over again, what would you change?" "You go as if you're going to the United States." "Now that my kids are older, they help out a bit." "Yeah, well, I imagine mine could too." "I tell you, putting in that septic field last summer, I know more than I ever wanted to know." "It took me about three quarters of the first book to, you know, really get into it, and then I was hooked." "She hasn't been back there for another sleepover." "But I don't want to outgrow you!" __________________ Because how we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. -- Annie Dillard

08-02-2005, 09:36 PM	#5
Scoop Registered User Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 1	"Hello. I'm William Shatner." (New guy here. Hi to all. Great site and interesting posts!!) I am in line for a flight to Los Angeles from San Francisco in the Year of Our Lord Nineteen Hundred and Seventy Eight. The man directly in front of me speaks to the airline personnel sotto voce: "Would you mind seating me first? I'm William Shatner." "Of course not sir." Shatner moves off. Then, to her partner: "Who's William Shatner?" "Oh, he's an actor. Was that him? He's on Star Trek." "Oh, that's why I don't know him then. Never watch it." I am checked in and go off to find a seat. In the far corner of the airport lounge sits WS, his trenchcoat collar up, his hat pulled down and a newspaper up in front of his face. If people recognize him, which is near impossible by the camouflage he has erected, they don't show it. Realizing this, WS lowers the newspaper a bit, placing his lower face into view. . .a bold move. Still. Nothing. Zero recognition happening. To a star, this is worse than being recognized. Not being recognized. I say "star." We have to remember that we are talking about William Shatner. Eventually it is time to board our flight to LAX. Desperate now, WS is loaded into the plane first, just like he wanted. He takes the very first aisle seat and has removed all camouflaging items -- collar and newspaper down, hat brim up -- and he is shamelessly making eye contact with every single passenger that boards the plane. No one recognizes him. And he looks like he's ready to chat now. In a few years, he'll be turning down Trekkie conventions. But for now, the show is over and he's afraid he's a forgotten man. Still no recognition. No one even sits next to him. It will be 20 years before his career is revived by a dot.com commercial and he manages a neat second act as a sight gag.

07-16-2005, 07:17 PM	#10
venusupnorth I'm leaving tomorrow! Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: The Zoo Posts: 726	Yeah hot bagles from the oven with a smell of fresh onions! The chick with the attitude walks back in the office and finds out that she missed out on a good catch, looks around and gets nervous. He knew some sht about her but? __________________ "What you risk reveals what you value."* —Jeanette Winterson

08-04-2005, 06:36 AM	#6
Brynn constantly amazed Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: in the labyrinth of shared happiness Posts: 6,206	(wince) My husband reports that W.S. and a fawning producer type were very loud and rude to an entire restaurant in a tiny town in Baja. Which reminds me of a Richard Dreyfus story concerning a pilfered chinese chicken salad (the last one) that he jumped line for and made off with just as someone else was reaching for it. But I digress. Welcome Scoop! Overheard in office: "What are you doing?" "I'm trying to see into his office." "Why?" "Because they didn't invite me into the meeting and I don't know why." On bus: "But is that infected? It's beginning to look like cellulitus!" "Right. Sure. You're going to lose your hand because of a paper cut." "It could happen. Under the right conditions." "Did it happen at work? If it happened at work and your hand falls off, you can get worker's comp." "Yesssss!" "You could sue the paper company. 'But your honor, I had no idea that paper could cause a wound like that. There was no warning on it." "Yeah. The ultimate Stupid Lawsuit." " 'When we play rock paper scissors, we all know that you can get hurt by the rock, and the scissors of course can cut you, but what about the paper???' "

07-16-2005, 06:49 PM	#7
Brynn constantly amazed Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: in the labyrinth of shared happiness Posts: 6,206	(overheard in a law office coffee break area) Good-Looking Cocky Lawyer: She's hot. Intern: Hmmm. Good-Looking Cocky Lawyer: I was going to ask her out, but she blew off her bagel club obligation. Intern: Her bagel club "obligation"?? GLCL: When you take a bagel on Fridays, you are obligated to join the bagel club and take a turn bringing in a dozen bagels the following month. Intern: (laughing) I didn't know that. GLCL: Then you're - Intern: I never bring in a dozen bagels. GLCL: - then you're an asshole. Intern: I enjoy bagels. That doesn't make me an asshole. An asshole is someone who thinks someone's hot but they won't ask her out because she didn't fulfill her bagel club obligation. GLCL: They've got to be good bagels too. Not Lender's frozen st bagels. Fresh ones. Intern**: Hot from the oven ones.

07-16-2005, 06:59 PM	#11
Brynn constantly amazed Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: in the labyrinth of shared happiness Posts: 6,206	Scene: a law office coffee break area. Two Men and a Woman Woman: I would think that in a polyglot situation like that... Good-Looking Cocky Lawyer: Oooooh. "Polyglot." Someone's had her coffee this morning! Woman: ...that it would be confusing for... GLCL: You don't like me very much this morning, do you? Woman: Here are the comics. Read them. (she walks out) Intern (Watches her go. Turns to GLCL) William Burroughs got his inspirations like that, it's very genius. I usually go off into nature with no source of communication to achieve this state of mind. After being alone for 4 days and doing paintings out in the lava fields my friends show up and inspire more. Good-Looking Cocky Lawyer: She's hot. Intern: Hmmm. Good-Looking Cocky Lawyer: I was going to ask her out, but she blew off her bagel club obligation. Intern: Her bagel club "obligation"?? GLCL: When you take a bagel on Fridays, you are obligated to join the bagel club and take a turn bringing in a dozen bagels the following month. Intern: (laughing) I didn't know that. GLCL: Then you're - Intern: I never bring in a dozen bagels. GLCL: - then you're an asshole. Intern: I enjoy bagels. That doesn't make me an asshole. An asshole is someone who thinks someone's hot but they won't ask her out because she didn't fulfill her bagel club obligation. GLCL: They've got to be good bagels too. Not Lender's frozen st bagels. Fresh ones. Intern**: Hot from the oven ones.

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes	Rate This Thread
Switch to Linear Mode Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode	Rate This Thread: