overheard in ann arbor

how quickly today came up. we've been out skiing around the field but i've promised myself i'll post something here on fridays. so here it is, blog friends.

a few nights ago, i went to zingerman's cafe with my friend corinne. we were talking about--what else?--philosophy. she mentioned something about kant's demanding, inflexible standards for morality. a middle aged, down-coated, bearded guy passed by our table and said, "i couldn't help overhearing your conversation. thank god immanuel kant is dead."

this made me think of an exchange i overheard on the street between two white american female graduate student types:

"have you read his poetry?" asks one.

"no, i haven't. of course, i would have to read it translated into farsi."

"oh, i understand. nothing is worse than reading kurdish poetry in a farsi translation."

and, since i don't get out much, may i say that i was taken aback that night when corinne ordered a green tea latte? i didn't realize that there was such a thing. east meets west? japan meets italy? what would tony soprano say? well, if green tea ice cream is good, why not green tea latte? i've tried it now elsewhere and it was pretty good, maybe a little too sweet.