I’m feeling some emptiness now that two weeks have passed since the feast of March Madness, the Whittom-Siegel bracket challenge, and the lengthy limericks and community connections that come with all of it. I could use a little after-dinner reprise with others, if for no other reason than to keep me from the temptations of FanDuel and DraftKings. So, in that spirit, here’s the first Dunlin Challenge.
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A few weeks ago, the New York Times ran a story about Stuart Brand, the 82-year-old futurist. Some of you may have seen it. It was an intriguing piece about the man who created the Whole Earth Catalog, a set of ideas and tools for those young at heart searching for something alternative and enthralling. The Whole Earth Catalog was a unique platform for creativity, long before anyone conceived of a platform for creativity beyond a blank canvas or a sheet of music staff paper.
What the piece glossed over was that Brand later recognized how the Internet would change newspapers and journalism, along with everything else; how it would create new ways to make human connections. Brand saw the distinctive place that classified advertisements had in newspapers, a written form where an individual seeking connection could, in just a few words, tell a story and seek out someone to link up to. Sometimes these connections were of a rather ordinary sort – like renting a home, selling a car, or finding a new friend – and sometimes they were a bit more unusual.
There have been publications over the years where the classifieds were written with special charm and humor and that were quite beguiling. These ads were devilish bite-size reading pleasures, and for many of the publications, they were the dessert after one or more serious longform article main courses.
Brand was right, of course. The Internet indeed changed the role of classifieds and the making of connections. But the little, beguiling pleasures of classified ads can still be found in a few throwback publications. Here are few from a recent edition of the London Review of Books –
Manhattan artist, MF, 70s, seeks local man, any age, for friendship or romance. Ability to hold opposing ideas simultaneously in mind, conversational ability, and a sense of the absurd would work wonderfully and are offered in return. Nice counts too.
A charismatic, ageing French rock star will compose and record an original song for you, your Mom, your lover, or your pet in French, English or Franglais (recommended). US$200.
French professional, NYC, vigorous early 60s, stably married seeks equally stably married woman for mutually safe amitie amoureuse. Sense of humor a necessary ingredient.
No romance today. More pressing matters. Screen writer seeks television/theatrical agent for multiple project negotiations including book/movie deal of an electrifying – ne, gripping – story of an asexual man who meets fellow asexual woman and her many intense female friends.
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The challenge here is simple. Write a fictional classified advertisement of no more that 40 words that is striving for some meaningful interpersonal connection. Leave your entry as a comment.
Here’s my first effort –
Too long in the company of fictive intellectuals and supplicant law clerks, former appellate court judge, late-60s, male, graying, and newly self-aware, dreams of decisive courage to impact history, and seeks earthy muse to inspire it.
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