Today is certainly the day for letters and calls:

- to the reader who asked if “wiry” was a typo (in reference to the NYTimes story described in post below) that was meant to be “wired” – the answer is no;
- to my mother who has been calling all afternoon, probably wanting to know if I am literate enough to read the Times and to ask how come she did not know about the moonlighting thing – sorry, I’ll pick up the phone soon, I promise (she does not read the blog);
- to the Democratic campaign headquarters that confirmed my purchase of all sorts of Kerry paraphernalia, I want to ask – what good is a yard sign without the wire frame? I need it quickly, since my neighbor just put up his Bush/Chaney sign (he is outnumbered! Our block is looking red!);
- to the dean or chancellor or some such high-up official who asked that we not intimidate students by stating our political preferences, let me assure you that I never mention my political inclinations in class (we talk about pizza instead, see post below). Besides, some of my good friends are voting for Bush. Really. I’m having dinner with one tonight;
- To my favorite travel agent in the world – yes, I’ll still talk to you even though I am famous;
- To the sociology prof who asked if Apple followed me here from my own trips to the Big Apple: unfortunately no. I am a mere fleck of dust on the Apple landscape. I met him only once before this most recent visit to Madison. A couple of years ago, we were at a bar, Apple, Chef O and I, and it was loud, and Apple said to Chef O “I feel my Italian sucks” and she heard it as “would you feel my Italian socks?” Always up for an original idea, she reached over and... yes, well, it all ended in great mirth.

A law prof's notes:

FAQs by law students in class:
- Will it be on the exam?
- Could you repeat what you just said?
- When are your office hours again?
- Why can’t we have an open-book exam?
- Can I bring in my paper one hour late? One day? One week?

FAQs by me in class:
- Do you remember what the court said in (such-and-such a case)?
- Are you saying that you’d like to pass today?
- Are you saying anything at all?
- Are you alive?
- What’s so funny, over there in the back row?

Unususal Qs asked by students in class:
- Do you like us enough to buy us pizza?
- Would you mind if I brought my mom and dad to class?
- What’s a blog?
- Did you see Avenue Q (the New York Broadway show)?
- Can we have wine instead of beer at your party next week (we’re so sick of beer…)?

Unusual Qs asked by me in class (just this week!)(with answers!):
- Okay, okay, you’ll do. – who is a vegetarian? – two out of twenty four.
- Who read the NYTimes today? – one, but I don’t think he read it THAT carefully.
- If you saw a baby on the railroad tracks and an oncoming train, would you save the baby? – depends...
- Why are you waving your hand excitedly? – in support of beer over wine.
- Who remembers what it was like in Berkeley in the late sixties (this is a propos of the brutal murder of Tatiana Tarasoff in 1969, leading to the famous “duty to warn foreseeable victim” court decision)? How old are you all anyway? – not old enough to remember what it was like in Berkeley in the late sixties.

Thirty-fifth street pre-election diary*

35th and tenth: a place to take your broken yellow wheels 

I could work the “fix it” routine to death in this post. The NYTimes alone has themes today that talk of Kerry coming in from behind, repairing a campaign that has faltered more than once, etc.

When I came upon this taxi repair place in New York among the empty lots of far west 35th street, I thought it was quite fascinating. There it was, this bright yellow splotch of awning, with, indeed, a “broken” taxi in front. Had I a folding chair, I may have sat down to watch. That’s the kind of dumb thing I would do in NY. And you wonder why I found myself out of time to visit a museum on this trip to the city!

Fame

And so now we know who, from the NYTimes, came to Madison several Saturdays ago to write a story on our Farmers Market. The piece appears in the paper today (here) and it is a beautifully written (of course) tribute to the farmers who lug their produce into town each week.

For the impatient reader who never clicks to the links, let me at least quote the line that succinctly captures so many disparate threads that run through my life. Apple writes:

After checking the list, (Odessa) slipped it onto a clipboard and handed it to Nina Camic, a wiry, Polish-born law professor at the University of Wisconsin who moonlights as the restaurant's "forager" or farmers' market purchasing agent, filling a little red wagon as she works the stalls.

Wiry. Yeah, that’s okay too. And he did in the end leave out the “personal shopper” bit. Purchasing agent sounds much more classy.

(*see “forty-second street pre-election diary” post, September 22, for explanation of post title)