- Blue hydrangea: We have a passion for it in my family.
- Bright white: I say "off-white" is "off."
- The store Shanghai Tang: I have my clothes made in Hong Kong, but I love Shanghai Tang in New York.
- Ribbons: When I was little, I got to pick my hair ribbon from my mother's collection that hung over her dressing-table mirror. I have an entire room of ribbons in my New York apartment.
- "Letters to a Young Poet" by Rainer Maria Rilke: It makes me happier than the Bible. It speaks to me, and it is why I became a writer.
- Chanel No. 5: It was my first perfume and I still wear it.
- Antique French Regency Carved Fruitwood Table with a marble top: This is where I write my books. I got it in Grasse, France, in 1963. It was $285 and I could hardly afford it. I had it recently appraised for $35,000.
- Scott Joplin: When my mother was dying she requested only peonies and Scott Joplin's music at her funeral.
- Porthault linen elbow pillow: I use it on an airplane on the armrest and it's great to prop up a book. It's the greatest little indulgence in the world.
- Ironing: I find it soothing to take something wrinkled and make it smooth. It feels anticipatory. It's what I do before a celebration. And nobody bothers me when I'm ironing.
And mine
- Hawaiian hibiscus. My mom grows them, colorful little pieces of the tropics in a part of the world that often goes without hues like those.
- French blue. The color of Nick's eyes, on a good day.
- Sox Appeal. There used to be locations all over the Twin Cities. Great store. I wore my "How's Your Sox Life?" t-shirt until it was threadbare.
- Necklaces, according to what I am told. Three people have informed me that I "have a lot of necklaces." Too many? The wrong ones? A notable phenomenon, anyway.
- "Going Blind" by Rainer Maria Rilke:
She sat just like the others at the table. [All love to H.M.S., for that and for everything.]
But on second glance, she seemed to hold her cup
a little differently as she picked it up.
She smiled once. It was almost painful.
And when they finished and it was time to stand
and slowly, as chance selected them, they left
and moved through many rooms (they talked and laughed),
I saw her. She was moving far behind
the others, absorbed, like someone who will soon
have to sing before a large assembly;
upon her eyes, which were radiant with joy,
light played as on the surface of a pool.
She followed slowly, taking a long time,
as though there were some obstacle in the way;
and yet: as though, once it was overcome,
she would be beyond all walking, and would fly. - "Heavenly" perfume from VS. Inexpensive and 'obvious', it is my favorite of my current selections.
- Hermes night tables from [f*cking] Ikea. They were cheap and easy to put together, and they are sturdy and they look like "real furniture." [No link because I'm still bitter about the whole Ikea experience, but they are growing on me a little bit. If they EVER managed to have an entire set of Poang chair/ottoman parts when I wanted to buy them, I would revise my opinion.]
- Maroon 5. You don't have to play it at my funeral, but I just really like their stuff.
- I am struggling to come up with something that I would call "the greatest little indulgence in the world." I suppose that depending upon one's perspective, much of what I do would be considered indulgent, although I would prefer to look at it as being parsimonious--I consider my options and choose to forgo one or two marginal options in order to get the best of one thing that I really do want, whether that is Republic of Tea or similar quality rather than a less well flavored tea that I would not enjoy as much, or the type of pens that write the best on the paper I prefer to use. Do I sound like a snob? I suppose that's the point of this '10 Favorite Things' exercise, so I shouldn't concern myself about it.
One thing that I pour money into without any real regard for budgeting is automatic car washing. I hate, hate, hate washing my car on my own, with the endless feeding of quarters and the wand that soaks my shoes and pants (and coat and gloves...) and the brush that always seems to be filled with chunks of someone else's goo. Even if it ends up costing a mint, I'd rather--in fact, I won't even think twice about choosing to--pop in a $5 to get the "double wash with underbody and 60-second dry". I stay in the car, I listen to the CD, I close my eyes and feel the car rocking all over hell, and I think, "Man, this is so much easier than the alternative." It's also cheaper than the $25+ that I could be paying for 'the works' at Ralph's, where there is a crew of smallish dudes scurrying around with rags, currying favor and begging tips. I do the Ralph's thing a couple of times a year because it makes the car look amazing and they do a better job of vacuuming than I could ever do, not to mention the way they clean the interior, even the little pouch around the gear shift lever. Yup, that's my dirty little secret indulgence: $5 car washes. I'm sooo bad. - I don't iron. If there is any household activity that I find soothing, it would be vacuuming, I guess. This apartment is so small, relatively speaking, that it takes almost no time, and when it's done, it looks like it's been done. That sense of accomplishment is key.
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