No one else on the FDR home tour was about to wet herself with excitement like I was. He sat in this room! That was his lamp! He pulled himself up this dumbwaiter! (He did– even long after electricity, both to keep himself in shape and to assure himself he could evacuate in case of fire.) Inside the house is neat– but you have to stay with your tour guide to make sure no one spits on the floor. Outside the house is even better.
Read More Houses and Graves10 Best Places 1. feet up on your desk at work at the end of a day you kicked ass 2. Notre Dame, Paris 3. the park on the first day the grass is green and it’s warm enough to lie down outside 4. Grand Central Terminal, New York City 5. across from a half-empty […]
Read More The 10 Best of Some Stuff, for No Particular TimeOn the Atlantic flight, my seatmate is actually Italian, Pisan. He works for a chain of fitness centers that are just expanding in Italy, and I rudely suggest that I thought European women didn’t exercise. The chain is like 24 Hour Fitness, or Curves, he explains. Yes, I’ve heard of them. Do I belong? I […]
Read More Rome IWhen I was eighteen, I could already drive a stick shift. Definitely. I had to learn to drive on a stick because that was the car my mom had. It was drive a stick or don’t drive. But I had never driven a European car– we had a Corolla. So at eighteen, I sat alone […]
Read More Borrowing the Car
Going On 