Auditioning for Romance

choi

Jenny Gorelick, Wanting More Than 'Thank You, Next!'  Auditioning for romance, friendship and acting roles has a lot in common — especially when it comes to hearing 'no.' New York Times, July 30, 2023, in the 'Modern Love' column of SundayStyles section (this is online subtitle; the print subtitle is devoid of the last clause (especially when it comes to hearing no), so reading the print first, I did not know what they have in common).
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/ ... thank-you-next.html

Note:
(a) Wanting More Than 'Thank You, Next!'
(i) "Thank u, Next." That is the title of Ariana Grande's 2019 song, whose lyrics included, "And one taught me pain * * * Thank you, next I'm so grateful for my ex. * * * [I am fine.] Plus, I met someone else
We're havin' better discussions
I know they say I move on too fast
But this one gon' last
'Cause her name is Ari"

That "Ari" was none other than herself (Ariana). "The word gon' does not exist; she invented it, likely to mean "going to" but there is no space for three syllables.
(ii)
(A) Alex Hopper, The Personal Meaning Behind Ariana Grande's 'Thank U, Next.' American Songwriter, Jan 25, 2023
https://americansongwriter.com/t ... andes-thank-u-next/
("Before the song was released, the pop princess had wrapped up a whirlwind few years full of engagements, break-ups, a bombing at one of her concerts")
(B) Ariana Grande
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariana_Grande
(1993- ; "On May 22, 2017, her concert at Manchester Arena [in England] was the target of a suicide bombing—a shrapnel-laden homemade bomb detonated by an Islamic extremist as people were leaving the arena. The Manchester Arena bombing caused 22 deaths and injured hundreds more")
is of Italian descent, on both parents.

(b) The print subtitle is "Auditioning for romance, friendship and acting roles has a lot in common." But the online subtitle is "Auditioning for romance, friendship and acting roles has a lot in common — especially when it comes to hearing 'no. " The addition disabuses me: I read pront first, but did not understand what is in common: hustle and bustle, huh?

(c) "Our first date started at a trendy wine bar drinking rosé. At our next bar, grinding to early 2000s throwbacks, he asked if I wanted to go home with him."
(i) rosé (n; borrowed from French (short for vin rosé), from [adjective] rosé "tinted with rose color, reddish, pink," from [French noun feminine] rose ROSE entry 2 + -é -ATE entry 3): "a light pink table wine made from red grapes by removing the skins after fermentation has begun"
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rosé
   
Modern English noun rose came from Old English rōse, from Latin rosa. In other words, modern English noun rose was not borrowed directly from French.
(ii) grind (vi): "5: to rotate the hips in an erotic manner"
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/grind
(iii) throwback (n): "one that is suggestive of or suited to an earlier time or style  <his manners were a throwback to a more polite era>"
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/throwback


(d) "Being an actor is a constant state of putting yourself out there, hoping to be loved and hearing 'no' a thousand times — * * * It's like dating but paid (hopefully) * * * He suggested L'Antica Pizzeria Da Michele, famous for being the restaurant from 'Eat, Pray, Love.' Not the original in Naples, Italy, where Julia Roberts fell in love with her margherita pizza, but the new franchise that had popped up in Hollywood."
(i)
(A) Do Performers Get Paid for Auditions? SAG•AFTRA, undated.
https://www.sagaftra.org/do-performers-get-paid-auditions
(B) SAG-AFTRA
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAG-AFTRA
is on strike.
(ii) Our Story. L'Antica Pizzeria da Michele (USA), undated
https://damicheleusa.com/about/
("L'Antica Pizzeria da Michele, the world-renowned Neapolitan pizzeria, debuted in the heart of Hollywood in 2019 as the first US location [two more have opened since, in Manhattan and Santa Barbara]. The restaurant's authentic Neapolitan pizza is made using the same centuries-old recipe, techniques, and Italian imported ingredients at its origin restaurant in Naples, established in 1870. Head Pizzaiolo Michele Rubini helms the famed pizzeria, that also serves many Italian and Mediterranean specialties. Guests who visit L’ Antica Pizzeria da Michele are welcomed into beautiful 'courtyards,' which serve as central gathering points for they can view pizzas being prepared in the restaurant's imported stone oven. * * * In Italy, L'Antica Pizzeria da Michele is a tiny shop that only sells two pizzas — Marinara or Margherita, and drew praise for its thin, flavorful pies long before Gilbert's nod in Eat Pray Love")
(iii) Italian-English dictionary:
* antico (adjective masculine; feminine antica; from Latin [adjective masculine] antīquus ancient): "ancient"
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/antico
   ^ Italian grammar
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_grammar
   (section 1 Article: l' can be used before both masculine and feminine, when whatever (noun, adjective etc) following it (article) starts with a vowel.
   ^ L'Antica Pizzeria Da Michele's 1870 founder was Michele Condurro (a man).
   ^ In Italian, preposition di (from Latin preposition dē) is "of." From the same Latin root is Italian preposition da, meaning "from."
* pizzaiolo (noun masculine; from pizza + [suffix] -aiolo [-er]): "pizza,aker"
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pizzaiolo
(iv) Eat, Pray, Love
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eat_Pray_Love
(an 2010 American film)
(v)
(A) Pizza Margherita
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pizza_Margherita
("in honor of Margherita of Savoy")
(B) Savoy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savoy
(section 2 History, section 2.1 Early history: name)
is a region that straddles France, Switzerland and (for the most part) Italy.
(vi) About four years ago, in a homeless shelter I read a nonfiction that talked about an American woman and a foreign man, neither of whom wanted to get married, plotting to have the wealthy man coming to live her in the for months, leave and repeated the cycle. The man seemed to come from a country whose citizens the United States granted visa-free tourist visit. One day, the man was detained by immigration agency for coming to US not as a tourist. Of course he was not. The woman went to airport to meet an immigration official, who suggested marriage. The woman thought she was being forced by American law. The bok was Elizabeth Gilbert, Committed; A skeptic makes peace with marriage. The book mentioned a previous best seller by the same author. So I checked out the author and the book. But the couple was divorced already. See Elizabeth Gilbert
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Gilbert
(section 4 Personal life)


(e) "I wanted to be chosen just once after a million embarrassments — telling a guy I was excited to see him, paying $200 to do a scene from 'Superstore' in front of 20 other hopefuls. I was depleted from putting everything out there and being rejected: by strangers, by Raya dates, even by my closest friend.   'Wait, you're there??? what,' he texted.   'Of course I was. I had been waiting for 45 minutes! I'm a New Yorker."
(i) superstore (disambiguation)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superstore_(disambiguation)
("A superstore, also called a big-box store * * *
Superstore can also refer to:
• Superstore (TV series), an NBC sitcom that premiered" 2015-2021)
(ii) But I do not know why she was "paying $200 to do" the audition. I thought she might be paid.
(iii) It takes me weeks to find out with confidence the characteristics of New Yorkers. The sitting New York City Mayor Eric Adams, is famously punctual. But what about ordinary New Yorkers> It turns out that they are, too.

Ask A Native New Yorker: Are New Yorkers Punctual? Gothamist, July 24, 2015.
https://gothamist.com/news/ask-a ... ew-yorkers-punctual

choi

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“wait, you’re there??? what,” he texted.

Of course I was. I had been waiting for 45 minutes! I’m a New Yorker — I had walked on a weird unwalkable street in a non-walking city! I had put on a skimpy top in a bathroom stall — I’m from New Jersey!

He texted, “I am so so so sorry. I feel awful.”

Not as awful as me. I was causing a scene — loud, heaving, crying alone in the restaurant, not unlike Julia Roberts. The owner came over to console me. He had doughnuts brought from the kitchen.

I was too tired to act like everything was OK, and the doughnuts gave me the strength to tell the truth, so I texted: “I was trying to be nice, but I am mad and my feelings are hurt.”

After I sent it, the owner, bartender and I waited. Nothing. He really did pick option two.

The next morning, I started over. I kept going — to bad dates, OK auditions and house parties with cinematic pools. “It,” whatever “it” is, didn’t happen. I went back home to New York, still full of my stupid, beautiful hope.

There are thousands of Nos, but they say it only takes one Yes. And I am worth a Yes.