1998 november 09

and now, a word from julie andrews...

ding dong, gingrich is dead!
tra la la, gingrich is dead!
ding dong, the wicked newt is dead!

okay, i don't really care that he is going to step down, it's just i've had the stupid song rolling around in my head most of the weekend and i thought maybe i could persuade some of you to sing along.

^v^ ^v^ ^v^ ^v^ ^v^ ^v^ ^v^ ^v^ ^v^ ^v^ ^v^ ^v^ ^v^ ^v^

in keeping with the theme of idiotic songs that get stuck in your head, today we will review some of claire's favorite things. there was no thunder storm last night, i was not forced to break out in song in a brave and musical attempt to allay my fears of loud noises and too much water. no, the song just magically appeared out of nowhere this morning as i was driving to the office. singing other songs and playing cd's have both failed to dislodge it from its very comfortable turntable in my brain; maybe bowing to its command of listing things will exorcise the rodgers and hammerstein demon.

favorite airline: virgin atlantic. i love airlines that give you little bags of stuff even if you are flying coach. they also have most excellent little blankets, one of which has magically found its way into my linen closet.

favorite coffee stand: cafe du monde, jackson square; new orleans, louisiana, usa. next time i'm there, i am going to make inquiries about the possibility of renting a table and just moving in. i am perfectly confident it is possible to survive on coffee and beignets alone.

favorite women to contemplate having sex with, if i were in fact going to have sex with a woman: nastassja kinski and sinead o'connor.

favorite museum: the tate gallery; london, england. this is a hard call as i simply adore museums and i am notoriously fickle. runners-up today include the van gogh museum in amsterdam, the netherlands [i didn't say the whole city sucked, just the staircases and cheap hotels], the phillips collection in washington, dc and sf moma.

favorite candy with which to damage dental work: jolly ranchers, followed closely by sugar babies.

favorite candy with which to court death: pixi-stix. everyone i know who spent at least part of their childhood in the united states has had a near death experience from inhaling the powdered sour sugar.

favorite obsession: peter buck. i firmly believe everyone should have one unreasonable obsession in their lives. sadly, peter buck's status has been steadily slipping ever since he named his twin daughters zoe and zelda. jean reno is currently making a strong run at the position.

favorite inlove: gene. i love a lot of people in an agape philos kind of way -- okay, not a lot, but more than two -- gene is the only one i am in love with.

favorite way to avoid doing real work: making lists.

simply remembering, claire