Sunday, May 31, 2009

I'm curious about the origin of the handshake snap.


1. I have a UPS tracking number for the proofs for Terminal Humming. I am doing a bad job not being nervous and excited about it all. Excited is good. Nervous--not so good.

2. It has not been sunny here since Memorial Day weekend. May and June here are the SoCal version of February: people are overwrought because they want it to be summer, they go swimming without wetsuits even though it's 65 degrees and the water is even colder, they drive worse than usual.

3. Being a woman in a microbrewery or bottle-shop is very similar to being a woman at an avant-garde jazz show, although the former is, admittedly, a much more social environment.

4. I'm not a skillfull handshake snapper yet, but I've only just started to get practice. Whenever someone goes in for the handshake snap with me, I kind of want to yell "whitey" at them, or at least have some third observer yell it at the both of us.

7 comments:

becca said...

One thing that's really fun is to give the fist-bump (you know, the one the Obamas "invented") and yell out "terrorism!" at the moment of bumpage.

K. Lorraine Graham said...

Hey Becca,

That's pretty hilarious--but given how close I live to Camp Pendelton, I'll have to be careful with that one, I think.

Finger snapping seems kind of old school...since when did it come back? Did it ever go away? Why are white people in San Diego county using it? I wonder about these things...

becca said...

You should totally post a video of what the San Diego county finger snap looks like -- now I'm really curious!

Unknown said...

Yes, I needed video for this as well, so looked one up. Sorry, didn't know how to post it - go to:

http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-give-a-homie-handshake

Women could get a bad fingernail scratch doing these - scary!

Some sun would be good.

tmorange said...

re 3., indeed the former is about the most specialized form of a-sociality one can find!

can't wait to see the book..

t.

Unknown said...

Lorraine! Colin Smith here! Took a blogging workshop not quite 2 weeks ago and am giving this Leave A Comment thing a whirl. You be the first human I try this toward.

Just wanted to say that it's what passes for normal in the world of human neurology to be "nervous" as well as "excited" about one's first book going out into the world. One's inner control freak kicks in to produce "nervous", but really they're very similar energy forms.

"Nervous" only becomes a problem with live readings, say. Say, your Book Launch maybe (big time), if you let the energy choke off your voice and render you self-conscious.

Where WILL a local launch happen, by the way? San Diego? Los Angeles?

Anywoot, fulsome congratulations on this, chum. I'm really pleased and happy for you!

Write me backchannel if you want, okay?,let me know you got this. Me, a little nervous about this tech thing I'm attempting. Hah!

Ryan W. said...

I think I know what you mean by handshake snap and am not sure it's cultural. I think it may just be biological. I'm always surprised at how well it works out, and it's not like it's ever premeditated.