Sunday, February 05, 2006

Mirth always makes a person more attractive

No time for a long post right now, although I've got quite a few percolating.

But before I go out for a while, I must share with you this NY Times article on how it was that Salman Rushdie and new wife Padma Lakshmi got together.

No, this blog isn't adopting an "all Salman/Padma, all the time" format. At least, I don't think so. But there is something--ummm--something riveting about the story. The Times article details how the two first met, and how their romance developed.

They were both featured in a European magazine, Salman on the cover, Padma somewhere in the middle, with photos. When he saw the article on the winsome Padma, he thought, "If I ever meet this girl, my goose is cooked"--meaning, I believe, that he would be hopelessly smitten.

But when the two met in 1999 at a party on Liberty Island staged by Tina Brown, Salman remembered the article and floored Padma with his knowledge of her life and doings (men, take note: is this the way to a successful woman's heart?).

And Salman, re Padma? I'll let him speak for himself:

She is a mirthful person, which made her immediately more attractive.

Let us all pause for a moment of contemplation: so, her mirth made her more attractive, as though more attractiveness were necessary? Salman? Helloooo?

Padma describes the progression of the long-distance romance:

Over the next month they phoned each other frequently, sometimes five times a day. ''Salman is very charismatic,'' she said. ''I was taken with him before I could even admit it to myself.''

"Very charismatic"--that might be the understatement of the century. The guy must have written the book on charisma:

Because we hadn't spent any time together, it seemed ridiculous to think we were falling in love,'' Mr. Rushdie said. ''But we were.''

I'm not so sure the appearance of ridiculousness was from their relative lack of time together. But, be that as it may, the following description of Padma at their wedding does make her seem quite mirthful indeed:

Ms. Lakshmi wore a two-piece purple sari that left her torso bared from the sternum to well below her navel. So dazzling was her appearance that it caused an explosion of cheers and wolf whistles. Nearly convulsed with laughter as she walked down the aisle, Ms. Lakshmi swatted the heads of several guests with her hyacinth bouquet.

I'll leave the final word to wedding guest Steve Martin, who should know about the power of mirth:

'They have a very alive relationship,'' explained the comedian Steve Martin. ''And she finds him funny, which, trust me, is very important.''

I trust you, Steve, I do.

14 Comments:

At 3:58 PM, February 05, 2006, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Nearly convulsed with laughter as she walked down the aisle, Ms. Lakshmi swatted the heads of several guests with her hyacinth bouquet.

Now that's mirthful.

 
At 4:09 PM, February 05, 2006, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Am I suffering from some kind of early onset dementia, or did Rushdie marry another, nearly identical, babe a few years ago, and was she also wearing a midriff revealing wedding dress?

 
At 5:24 PM, February 05, 2006, Blogger neo-neocon said...

mizpants, I think you can relax. This wedding occurred about a year and a half ago; I just discovered it.

 
At 10:22 PM, February 05, 2006, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Charisma is a nice thing to have - it helps a lot when you want to get laid - but it isn't a good foundation for a long term relationship. It dazzles in the short term, but once the honeymoon is over, disappointment sets in as the person who wowed you once turns out to be a frail and falliable human, like everyone else.

Dissapointment inevitably turns to bitterness, and bitterness turns to divorce.

If you want a real relationship, don't do the research. Even if you could do everything right and knock her socks off, for God's sake, don't! Better to get her used to dating a mere human, right from the start.
If she can't stand hearing you make an ass of yourself in public, she won't be able to stand hearing what comes out of your ass on your honeymoon night while you sleep. Yes, everybody farts in their sleep, even women. If your partner can't tolerate your biological processes, you'll need either separate bedrooms or separate lives, and the former usually leads to the latter anyway.

 
At 10:48 PM, February 05, 2006, Blogger Charlie Martin said...

Personally, I can't think of anything I would like better than the kind of wedding where everyone was good enough friends for laughter and horseplay during the wedding.

 
At 11:40 PM, February 05, 2006, Blogger newc said...

Well, He DID ask for a HOT woman. He got what he asked for.

 
At 9:16 AM, February 06, 2006, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think distributing photos of Mr. and Mrs. R. could be a very powerful weapon against Islamic radicalism. "See what happens if you blaspheme the Prophet?"

 
At 10:46 AM, February 06, 2006, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Good one, Anonymous at 9:16!

 
At 3:49 PM, February 06, 2006, Anonymous Anonymous said...

"No, this blog isn't adopting an "all Salman/Padma, all the time" format."

Awww, c'mon! :)

After the one episode of Padma Lakshmi's cooking show on Food Network, I felt the need to campaign for "more Padma, more times". Unfortunately, I never really did anything effective during that campaign, like actually send something to Food Network about it. Come to think of it, I really didn't do much of anything other than brood over the fact that she hardly had any episodes.

Guess you can't call that a campaign, huh?

Anyone wanna start a Padma Lakshmi blog?

 
At 5:50 PM, February 06, 2006, Blogger Charlie Martin said...

It's not exactly a blog, but here's Pamda Lakshmi's offician website.

 
At 7:16 AM, February 07, 2006, Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Let us all pause for a moment of contemplation: so, her mirth made her more attractive, as though more attractiveness were necessary?
Actually, yes, Neo- Think of the opposite: A beautiful woman who is dumb as a stick and has no sense of humor or class suddenly isn't so attractive to me, at least in terms of someone I'd want to spend signifcant time with.
Anon 10:22pm 5Feb: Can't one have both charisma AND be grounded in reality? Must we really focus so much on the 'mere humanity' of our mates, and kill any notion we have that they might be a little more special than all the others of the opposite sex out there? True, you'd better be ready to deal with the nocturnal flatulence, but a little charisma is good too.

 
At 1:56 PM, February 07, 2006, Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Think of the opposite: A beautiful woman who is dumb as a stick and has no sense of humor or class..."

"**Cough**... Paris Hil..."
Friends grab ElMondo from behind and gag him before he says something he'll regret...

 
At 6:11 PM, February 08, 2006, Blogger neo-neocon said...

douglas: I agree that mirth makes a person more attractive (see title of post). I try to be pretty mirthful myself.

But what I meant was that Rushdie should have said that Padma's mirth made her "even more attractive, if such a thing were possible." Obviously, she's pretty attractive even without it.

 
At 2:55 PM, February 10, 2006, Blogger Ymarsakar said...

Well, if Salman were as good smithing with words as Neo, I think he might not have had a fatwa issued against him ; )

 

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