should be a controlled substance
(These are the (cough) notes I took during while listening to a speech so wildly dull I thought it must numb the speaker's teeth going out. Regret to state it didn't inspire the room itself to attack--but if it had, this is how it would have happened. )
"The arms of the chandeliers began to bend down. Their ornamental leaves were twisting downwards, brass wilting. Kate reached for a bronze pencil, broke it in half, and surreptitiously used a rubber band to sling it toward one of the wide glass arrowheads dangling from the chandeliers' curves. The pencil scraped a gauge through the arrowhead, which seemed to have softened into stiff clear jelly.
One chandelier curved all its arms up to the ceiling at once, and jammed its bulbs into the ceiling with decision. It hunched close to its setting and then pushed strongly downwards, ripping its chain free of the molding with a shower of plaster dust. It now looked very much like a mobile hasta plant.
Meanwhile, the sconces on the wall extended their arms to the furthest stretch possible, and began firing lightbulbs at the speaker. The bulbs stayed in the air, which did not surprise Kate as much as it should have.
Kate unwrapped a translucent mint lozenge with the words "Perugina" written on it in raised letters. She turned it on its side and pressed firmly, and the lozenge melted into the desk."
(And the speech ended, and we were all set loose to sip coffee and swap business cards.)
"The arms of the chandeliers began to bend down. Their ornamental leaves were twisting downwards, brass wilting. Kate reached for a bronze pencil, broke it in half, and surreptitiously used a rubber band to sling it toward one of the wide glass arrowheads dangling from the chandeliers' curves. The pencil scraped a gauge through the arrowhead, which seemed to have softened into stiff clear jelly.
One chandelier curved all its arms up to the ceiling at once, and jammed its bulbs into the ceiling with decision. It hunched close to its setting and then pushed strongly downwards, ripping its chain free of the molding with a shower of plaster dust. It now looked very much like a mobile hasta plant.
Meanwhile, the sconces on the wall extended their arms to the furthest stretch possible, and began firing lightbulbs at the speaker. The bulbs stayed in the air, which did not surprise Kate as much as it should have.
Kate unwrapped a translucent mint lozenge with the words "Perugina" written on it in raised letters. She turned it on its side and pressed firmly, and the lozenge melted into the desk."
(And the speech ended, and we were all set loose to sip coffee and swap business cards.)