Not so small talk

Now that Hanks is home, we can now resume our TNG marathons (yay!), and yesterday we quickly crammed in 2 episodes before dinnertime. 1 of those 2 episodes featured the android Data attempting to master the human skill of making small talk, which he took to with characteristic speed and ease. Observing Data chattering away with an equally loquacious Star Fleet officer, Commander Will Riker marveled, "How can 2 people talk about nothing for so long?"

Riker's statement reminded me of the previous evening, when I attended a dinner party at the Yaos along with my parents. We arrived roughly around 7:45 PM (thanks to us getting stupidly lost in the maze of twisting-turning streets that is Greenmeadows), and left close to 1:00 AM, but the night just flew by, thanks to good food, good wine, good company and good conversation. Of all the "kids" at the party, I was the only one in her twenties (ack), but I still got seated with the "teenagers" (there I was pretending to be young again ;p). I knew I would have no trouble talking with sisters Shereen and Sheridine, as our recent encounter in Cebu proved, but I was pleasantly surprised to find Sam Ang and her brother Matthew just as engaging to converse with. I don't know if it means that I am capable of adjusting my wavelength to that of an eighteen-year-old's, or I've just been lucky to be meeting unusually mature and articulate teens. I suspect it's more of the latter.

In any case, I thoroughly enjoyed the evening, and the many diverse topics of conversation we touched on, from movies to books to education to blogs to common acquaintances to coffee and dozens more I can't even recount. There were 3 particular things brought up that I would like to expound on, but I'll reserve them for future blog posts. For now, suffice it to say that I have learned that, given the right company, talking about "nothing" for so long isn't as difficult or dreary as it sounds.