Quote of the Day

The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed. - Carl Jung

That Rascally Clark

I went to Portofino's Restaurant and Ocean Club tonight with Daniel for dinner. Wesley Clark was supposed to be there for a kick-off reception for his visit to Memphis over the next couple of days. I got info that he would be arriving around 6PM. I went to the restaurant and was told by someone in his group that it would be more like 8, so we sat down and had dinner. Then we moved to the bar and watched the returns for the primaries in Oklahoma, Arizona, South Carolina, Missouri, Arizona, New Mexico and North Dakota. The minutes kept slipping by and still no Clark. One of his aides came and told me right as I was about to leave that he was sure to be there around 9, so I called the station to let them know and was told a photog was on the way. Matt got there and shot the jubilation of the crowd as Clark was announced the winner in Oklahoma. Now, we were being told he would arrive around 10:30. As we sat watching the rest of the returns come in, we finally realized that we were being taken when Clark was shown on television giving a victory speech live in Oklahoma.



[Listening to: Driving Sideways - Aimee Mann - Magnolia Soundtrack]

Quote of the Day

The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function. --F. Scott Fitzgerald

So New York

From: THE CIRCULAR FILE AT THE METROPOLITAN DIARY

Dear Diary:

I was on the crosstown bus the other morning when a mother, attempting to soothe the fidgety baby in her lap, started softly singing "The Wheels on the Bus." That, of course, is the children's song in which "the wheels on the bus go 'round and 'round," followed by other verses in which, for example, "the wipers on the bus go swish, swish, swish."

Hardly after the mother started into the second verse, a smartly dressed elderly gentleman joined in to sing "the doors on the bus go open and shut." Soon, a half-dozen of us in the back of the M86 were serenading the now-delighted baby, our impromptu chorus reflecting the human panorama of New York City in all its glorious diversity.

Before we could launch into the next stanza, a woman of a certain age leaned toward the mother, holding up her hand to get our attention for what she had to say. "Shut up!" she shrieked. "It's bad enough I have to go to chemotherapy today. Do I have to listen to you assholes, too?"

There was an awkward silence. Then the whole bus burst into applause.

-- Declan O'Toole


[Listening to: Slow Like Honey - Fiona Apple - Tidal]