Terrific story, Ms. Dee. I was there! What a fabulous trip, and great Dad. Lucky, lucky you.

Hi Carol, Love the gorgeous kitty avatar. Yes, I meant University of San Francisco, the Jesuit school. Wanted my son to go to Georgetown but he insisted on USF and it was a great place for him. I also took design, not fine arts, but in retrospective would have enjoyed that, too, loved all my rendering, drawing classes. You are so right. Learn to reign in creativity until a teacher sets that free.

Patsy, I so identify. Teachers (Nuns), my French aunt, Jackie Kennedy made such an impression on me, a natural Francophile, that my son went to HS in Aix-en-Provence, college here in San Francisco, and grad school in Paris (and worked at ABC News Paris for Jim Bitterman who he tremendously admired). He has dual US-French citizenship. And now I am moving there in a few months. One never knows when pull and follow a string where will end. I love the Ile St. Louis! Great memories of terrific times there.

USF, I just realized, might have something to do with Florida, and not University of San Francisco, the Jesuit school…sorry…

Amelie, So agree. Yes, Liz is every shade of wonderful and Heather Mallick, too [who said Palin was chosen to garner the white trash vote,] I read this somewhere else and enjoyed reading it again. She IS smug as are all her knuckel-draggin’ spiritual supporters/kin. That this is the VP selection says that McCain is TOTALLY unfit. Thanks for your great post, really appreciated it.

Ms Dee, To me they are nothing alike. Carmen Dell’Orefice is extremely classy, naturally elegant. Yellow $300K outfit. “Nuf said.

Hysterical, Liz! Thanks, we needed that. I saw Carmen Dell’Orefice once standing next to the doorman of a hotel under the canopy waiting for a car as I was walking in. Absolutely drop-jaw gorgeous, stunning, very graceful, looked as lightly boned as an exotic bird. Perfection. http://multimedia.hola.com/biografias/carmen-dell-orefice/83451-01.jpg

Excellent post, Tick.

When Obama is elected her services will not be required in WDC so she can return to blowin’ away wildlife from helicopters.

Blah, blah, blah.

Diana, BTW, new fave economic commentary site, Clusterstock.com part of Silicon Alley and the whole TechCrunch.Com crowd. Editor is Henry Blodget. So have to read it with that in mind but he is interesting and gets widely read. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Blodget

Exactly, Barbara. Women go out for mani/pedi/eyelash dye etc to get away from everyone….imagine two big sullen guys in black standing there glaring at their watches while you’re deciding on beigey-pink or firehouse red toenail polish, or french or sport manicure? That would take all the fun out of everything. That’s why Jackie always said she had sinus problems and went water skiing with John Glenn. A gal’s gotta do what a gal’s gotta do. [inserted Palinisms as a last hurrah…..since she’ll be splunking the tundra for moose before my next haircut.]

CO, Just because someone doesn’t want one particularly dreadful candidate, has no bearing whatsoever if they’d want to do it themselves. Mutually exclusive questions. I might not want a drunk steering the ocean liner I’m on through ice bergs….but that doesn’t mean I want to take command either. Not going to have to concern ourselves much long with Palin, if Troopergate doesn’t do her in, she’ll be gone, thank god, by Nov 4th.

Lauraite. LOL. It’s my shyness problem….am working on it. Ha. Channeling some snarky bygone b*****.

Many of ‘the elite’ impress me a lot because they didn’t start out that way. Steve Jobs slept on his friend’s dorm room floors, collected bottles so he could eat, and walked across town many miles once a week to have a meal at a church. Warren Buffett is the richest man on Earth but still lives in his humble home, Silda’s family had no money, Oprah ditto, etc. Oprah certainly wouldn’t have the same effect if she did her show in a stained bathrobe, smokin’ a ciggie, and drinking stale cold coffee out of a chipped cup.