Favorite Things

Places
Rumson and Sea Bright
A high Manhattan rooftop
Rhode Island in the summer
Maine in the fall
The Oregon coast
Driving over the Golden Gate Bridge
Kaua'i, Mau'i and the Big Island
Eire
France

Books
Too many for this page. Go to my book list.

Words
imbue
inure
pith
heft
gird
dint
ilk
ink
interstices
interpellate
interpolate
hither/thither/whither
hence/thence/whence
vernacular
patois
psychopomp
umami
spaghetti
woof

Fonts
Perpetua
Lucida Console

Fabrics
Cross-dyed dupioni silk
Corduroy

Tartans
Reid 1939 Modern
Reid of Straloch Modern
Reid Green Modern
Buchanan

Pattern
Paisley

Music
Duran Duran, especially "Girls on Film," "New Religion," "Hold Back the Rain," "Planet Earth"
Prince, Bruce Springsteen, Peter Gabriel, INXS, The Police, U2, Steely Dan, Fleetwood Mac, The Pretenders, Joe Jackson, The Eurythmics, ABC, The Who, John Denver....

Kid Stuff
Harry Potter
The "Jenny" series of cat stories by Esther Averill
Sesame Street
The Electric Company

Deities
Isis
Thor
Ilona Ann Coggswater
The Flying Spaghetti Monster

TV Shows
Frasier
News Radio
3rd Rock from the Sun
The Daily Show
The Simpsons
The Sopranos
Deadwood
Rome
The Carol Burnett Show
The Muppet Show

TV Quotation
"Well, if you have to go to school on the West Coast...." (Frasier)

Comedians
Jon Stewart
Lewis Black

Painter
Raoul Dufy

Other Artists
Dame Maggie Smith
Helen Thomas
Christopher Reeve
Virginia Woolf
Helen Mirren
Rebecca Pidgeon
Bruce Springsteen
Dame Agatha Christie

Famous People I've Met
Peter Yarrow
Gloria Steinem
Bruce Springsteen

Sports to Play
Soccer
Volleyball
Tetherball
Dodgeball
Bowling

Sports to Watch
Hockey (live)
Figure skating

Jewelry
Ceylon sapphire
Blue topaz
Garnet
Heavy yellow-gold Italian bracelets
White gold
Palladium

Places to Get Food
Lalime's in Albany
T. Rex in Berkeley
The Cheese Board in Berkeley
Bay Wolf in Oakland
La Calaca Loca in Oakland
Chenery Park in San Francisco
Don Ramon's in San Francisco
Fog City Diner in San Francisco
Zankou Chicken all over L.A.
Barney's Bagels in Pawtucket
The Modern Diner in Pawtucket
Ocean Coffee Roasters all over Rhode Island
Kabob and Curry in Providence
Dali in Cambridge
Butler's Deli in Rumson
Barnacle Bill's in Rumson
Edie's Luncheonette in Little Silver
The Pizza Company in Little Silver
Casa Comida in Long Branch
Piedmont Grocery in Oakland
Trader Joe's

Foods
Toast
French toast with maple syrup and crisp bacon
Spaghetti and meatballs (all covered with cheese)
Noodles with homemade buttery croutons and gravy
Chicken Cordon Bleu
Filet mignon, well done
Baked potato
Tart, juicy apples (Stayman Winesap, Pippin, Gala, Jonagold, Pink Lady)
Cheese*
Peanut butter and jelly
Raisin bran
Bialys
Bagels from the eastern seaboard
Chicken tortilla soup
New Jersey submarine sandwiches
Croque Monsieur
Buttered popcorn, made in a pot on the stove, with a pinch of sage
"Ranch"
Ice cream with homemade hot fudge sauce
Cheesecake
Key lime pie
The sublime, two-layer chocolate and malt crème brûlée at Lalime's
Fran's salted caramels
Biscotti dipped in red wine

*Cheeses
Chabichou
Mt. Tam
La Tur
St. Andre
Le Berger Rocastin
Velveeta in a grilled cheese sandwich

Beverages
Coffee
Milk
Chocolate milk
Buttermilk
Apple cider
Seltzer
Bourbon chai (i.e., chai with a shot of bourbon)
Sidecar
Manhattan
Margarita
Burgundy
Champagne

Ineobriologisms
Rotundra: Shouted confidently by Delia during a heated Boggle match, this high-score word may refer to the capitol building in Juneau.
Storch: A substance used to thicken sauces and gravies, storch is more commonly known as starch or flour, but we will never know which one Jen meant. P.S. It's a lot cheaper to get drunk after you've donated blood.
Melmalita: Drunken Phi Psi guy spotted a woman he had been introduced to earlier in the party, and lurching across the room called out a hearty "Melmalita!" Carmelita had always wanted a nickname, and finally her wish came true. (Mel-muh! Mel-muh!)

Cosmetics
Everyday
Zit concealer: Almay Skin-Smoothing with Kinetin in Light
Lip gloss: Burt's Bees in Watermelon
Powder: Corn Silk Loose Powder in No Color
Special Occasion
Foundation: Bare Escentuals in Light (I'm a convert to powder foundation - it feels like nothing, only smoother!)
Powder: Bare Escentuals Mineral Veil
Blush: Bare Escentuals in Soft Focus Glee
Lipliner: Max Factor in Nude (wear with lip gloss)
Eyeliner: Revlon Colorstay in Taupe
Eyeshadow: Almay Beyond Powder in Bronzed
Dark circle concealer: Bare Escentuals Summer Bisque
Mascara: Maybelline Great Lash in Brown/Black
Mascara for Photos: Lancôme Définicils Waterproof in Black

Scents
Vera Wang
Issey Miyake
Colors de Benetton
Satsuma (The Body Shop)
That shrubbery on Hope St. that I used to walk past
Lavande Ambree (L'Occitane) - in a Proustian moment I was transported to the beach and Grandma

Candy
Scharffen Berger milk chocolate
Godiva cranberry truffle
Butter toffee
Salted caramel
Fruit slices
Sour Patch Kids
Licorice (red or black)

A.M. Requirements
Snooze
Shower
Quiet
Coffee
Something to soak up the coffee

Shoes
Clarks
New Balance
Tall sandals

Outfit
Casual: blue jeans/black top
Dress: I have a thing for velour and rhinestones

Least Favorite Things
Getting out of bed
Mayonnaise
Searching for flights online
Receiving a jury duty notice (not the actual jury duty, but the month of not knowing)
Pants that fit funny
Term papers - my own and my students'
California "bagels" - especially from chain stores with "New York" in their name that try to sell you a breakfast "bagel" with turkey sausage and cheese on it and yet still have the nerve to use the word "schmear" on their menu
Ordering a sandwich at the Safeway deli (why are there no normal delis in California?): having to read the menu description of the sandwich to the employee and then having to babysit the sandwich-making process to ensure no banned substances (i.e., mayo) sneak onto the sandwich despite my preemptive admonitions and despite said substance's absence from Safeway's official description of said sandwich