Update: After I released that comment my husband dragged home some of his cronies and a couple of them are politicos (not the website.) I made them snacks and tried to sober them up as best I could. (I made gruyère grilled cheese sandwiches; those will soak up an entire body’s worth of booze.)

It would be tough for Warren since she was elected Senator from MA while Patrick was the sitting Governor of MA. They probably know each other well and he probably did quite a bit to help her get elected. But maybe there’s some bad blood there since he is now nominally opposing her for the nomination.

You don’t have to be sober to give speeches. Have you ever been to a wedding where the toasts go a little off the rails?

As I suspected:

Two things:

They do?! I don’t suppose the Fales Library Special Collections are open to non-NYU-credentialed civilians are they? I suppose I should ask them myself.

I think that’s pretty rare but I’m sure it happens often enough in blended families where adult children’s parents divorce and one takes a much younger spouse. I just read today that Christie Brinkley’s ex, Peter Cook, at 60, just got engaged to a woman who’s 20. They have a daughter, Sailor (I reserve comment on the…

I have a present for you:

I’m not really either, but I’m not really defending these choices. “Poor X, Y happened and she’s feeling really down about it, and the baby is due any day now. I think we should all go over and sit with her--” “I have a better idea! Let’s all go to the club!” Of course it’s been a long time since I was 19, and I’m a…

This is not really equivalent but when Kurt Vonnegut died someone published a reminiscence in the late, lamented New York Press.

The People story reports that the new mother is 19 and was having “personal problems” (their quotes) so her friends thought a night out at Da Clurb would cheer her up. She did not drink alcohol, People dutifully reported.

Yes, and she is the best. She’s quoted all the time about food and nutrition and debunks dubious studies condemning one thing or praising the health benefits of another.

I miss The Toast so much. Sigh.

It’s how Private Eye refers to the Queen. It never fails to make me laugh.

That’s right, that’s exactly what it was. I worked in book publishing at the time (still do, but not in anyone’s editorial offices) and I remember when word spread that she was canceling the book club. The chances that she would pick one of your submissions were extremely low, her choice was like the Holy Grail, but…

“One Summer” is one of my favorite books of all time. I’ve read it cover to cover twice. Did you ever read Bryson’s “Home”? It’s a self-described “History of Domestic Life” but it is so, so much more. Another one I’ve read twice.

Oops, I accidentally flagged my own comment, instead of hitting edit. Oh well, I’ll blame it on Jonathan Franzen.

Baba! How have you been? I think of you often. We don’t see enough of you around these parts

Oh God, Jack and Jill. I hope stumbling upon this reference is not a portent of how my day is going to go.

There’s also what I call “the great flattening effect” within America. My husband and I don’t speak the way we did as kids. We’ve both adopted this unplaceable newscaster-ish accent. We have tons of friends here in New York and about half are natives of the metro area. As far as I can hear none speak with any…