Swimming in Quicksand
A Daily Journal of Survival
By Carol Joynt

Jan 08 - March 08

Photos at Photos Central
Contact carol@nathansgeorgetown.com

SUNDAY, MAY 11 .... What a nice day, even with the monsoon. Actually, loved the monsoon (particularly since the roof was repaired). Would prefer to be on a boat in a sea, but settled for a highway in Virginia. After a morning of writing my column for NYSocialdiary.com, we got in the car for a wet drive to the west and Mother's Day supper at The Inn at Little Washington. We were treated by dear friend PATRICK O'CONNELL, the Inn's owner, who also was a witness at my wedding on this day many moons ago, and is Godfather to my son. Visits to the Inn always feel like a family occasion.

What made this day more special than other trips was that my son did the driving. I've let him drive us to New York and back - in good weather - and today was a chance to tackle highway miles in miserable weather. He's due to get his license in July and I'm trying to get him ready. I'm not a natural at this, but I have my own way. Since he got his permit I let him do all the driving when it's the two of us. From the start. When he got the permit he right away hassled me one quiet Sunday to "take me to a parking lot where I can drive." I said, "ok. let's get in the car." When we did I made him get in the driver's side and drive, much to his dismay. "What?" he asked? "I've not driven before."

"Well, you want to drive, don't you?" I said. "This is driving. You won't be driving in parking lots. You'll be driving on roads. So, let's drive." Which is what he did - and well enough - and what we've been doing since February. First the streets of Georgetown and northwest, then the parkways, then the highways. So, today in the heavy rain was an A.P. course. But as I said, "someday you will have to drive in awful rain and I may not be with you, and so here's your chance to try it out."

Dinner was scrumptious, as you would expect, and extra cozy, given the mess outside. Patrick's food is just better and better. After dinner he showed us the redecorating they are doing with the rooms, and they are lovely. More lovely than before.

Returned home to this very touching email from a new reader: "good evening, carol...i turned the t.v. on (early) for the bbc news but got distracted. in the kitchen, cabbage soup was simmering and granola was roasting and i kept getting calls from my progeny : a group in michigan, a daughter in seattle, a grandaughter in l.a. and another in tanzania (!) so i was not paying attention to the screen. but then, i picked up the sense of the whitehouse chronicles show and found the little bit that i actually experienced to be extremely interesting. i assumed from your poise and intelligent expression that you were an old hand. then i googled your name and read your blog. it's terrific. hard to believe that you're as old as you'd need to be to have been married thirty-one years ago. and it sounds as though you're an avid mother, which is meet and right. so congratulations on that and happy mother's day.
i'm a widow too but an ancient one. i miss my husband of nearly forty years still, after these sixteen years but it turns out that i really know how to enjoy life on my own too. and i quite enjoy thinking about him. i'm still a kansan but moved to arlington with him just two years before he died. i like living in the d.c. area. also, like traveling.
so glad to have discovered your blog and i hope that you'll put me on your mailing list. best regards"

Talk about "meet and right." What a delight. Welcome aboard on this night of foul weather. We're all in it together.

SATURDAY, MAY 10 ... The interview with RICHARD MOE, head of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, is now up on youtube, and you can watch it here.

Politics aside, can't help but have at least a passing interest in the nuptials happening today in Crawford, TX. I admire JENNA BUSH for not having her wedding at the White House. Every bride deserves to have her own wedding the way she wants it. Thirty one years ago tomorrow my husband and I got married at our 200 yr old house in Upperville, Va.

It was family and friends at half past 5 in the afternoon. No wedding planner. We did it ourselves. My gorgeous gown was by the British designer GINA FRATINI, but under it I wore the jazz sneakers I had on the night we met. The flowers were Lily of the Valley, Casablanca Lilies, white Tulips, and Stephanotis. We married in the living room, followed by a party right there of champagne, caviar, smoked salmon, foie gras, and cucumber and watercress sandwiches and a classic wedding cake. In the late evening, in a wild thunderstorm, we rolled into DC to spend the night at the new Four Seasons Hotel and then flew to Bermuda in the morning, which began almost an entire summer of honeymooning: Maine, New Orleans, a drive cross country. It was excellent.

However, when I marry again it will be in a church. I want to have one church wedding. And, of course, the long honeymoon. Next time, too, the fall rather than the spring. (I don't think this is happening immediately, alas.)

Enough about me. Congratulations and lots of bliss to all the many men and women who are taking their vows today. What fun. It is that time of year.

FRIDAY, MAY 9 ... I got an ego boost this morning. I was one of the panel on "White House Chronicle," the PBS TV talk show, at the invitation of its afffable hosts, LLEWELLYN KING and LINDA GASPARELLO. The invitation was very flattering.

I'm not conventional talk show material, because while I blithely run on here about a lot of things, in a national television interview - especially a panel format - I feel compelled to know what I'm talking about before I open my mouth. And, like most people, I don't always know what I'm talking about. But I gave it my best, despite nerves as a first timer. They started with Israel and Lebanon, a subject where I'm really a C student at best, and so I sort of mumbled a few words and said, lamely I think, "that Iraq matters most." Well, duh. After that I felt more comfortable. They gave a lot of attention to The Q&A Cafe, which was sweet. The program will air this evening at 6 pm on Channel 32, and again Sunday morning at 6:30 a.m. on 26 and 6:30 pm on 26. I know I'm correct about the channel 32 air time, and will revise later if i'm not correct about channel 26.

The other panelists were JOE MATHIEU of XM Radio and TERENCE SAMUEL of washingtonpost.com. They are old hands at appearing on the program.

Linda and Llewellyn had a nice spread of sandwiches from Gepetto. Remember Gepetto's? Used to be on M Street. Marvelous pizza. They generously let me head home with a doggy bag of two sandwiches, which I enjoyed with a glass of milk after deglazing my face of the inch of TV make-up. Now, I've begun to read DOUGLAS FEITH's book, "War and Decision." Oh, my my. I look forward to this interview next week.

PAT BUCHANAN this morning: "What Hillary and Begala are saying is politically incorrect, but it is also patently true. Hillary was describing what may now fairly be called the Hillary Democrats -- a.k.a. the ex-Reagan Democrats who did not vote for Obama and may defect to John McCain."

What Pat needs to add is that these same so-called "Hillary Democrats" are the very people whose sons and daughters are being shipped over for slaughter in Iraq and Afghanistan. When it gets down to it they are unlikely to vote for a man who is keen to keep the war churning up American soldiers and faith. Sure, right now they are caught in the thrall of a candidate who is rewriting her lyrics to sing a song they know - an old-school political game - but once there is a nominee, and the nominee has the same message (and likely more authentic) they will stick with the party.

No matter what, this is still the democrats election to lose. When the dust settles, the trend is still their way. What Hillary does risk with her "politically incorrect" race card, is the Clintons losing African Americans for all time.

THURSDAY, MAY 8 ... The lead headline on politico.com says: "OBAMA PLANS TO DECLARE VICTORY MAY 20." The second lead is: "CLINTON WON'T QUIT; OBAMA DOESN'T CARE." Both are fine. It's time Obama starts running for president against JOHN MCCAIN. Today, in my interview with RICHARD MOE at The Q&A Cafe, he would not touch whether HILLARY CLINTON and Obama should be on a ticket together, except to say he didn't think it would be that easy. I'd kinda like to see wholesale change, but at the same time I don't think GEORGE BUSH needs a third term.

What's troubling is the extent to which an extended tier of Clinton allies have become willing to sell their souls on behalf of Bill and Hill. There's long been a core group of acolytes who drank the Kool-Aid and will shape shift and poison everybody else's water simply in service of the Clintons. I know some of them well, but they aren't on TV. They're kept off camera, in the dark corners, hidden away, even by the Clintons, to do their devious deeds. Now, it's spread beyond that core group, and if you heard PAUL BEGALA's exchange with DONNA BRAZILE on CNN, you know what I'm talking about. It appears the chief Clinton tactic going forward will be the race card, which they've been flipping in their fingers since South Carolina. They are exploiting a new base of people who are challenged in age, world view, education, economics, and racial and religious tolerance. Hillary's got herself into bed with people she wouldn't have had an iced tea with six months ago, much less a shot and beer. It's amusing as a story, but not a resume to run the country.

The Moe interview will be up on youtube within 24 hours. Stay tuned.

EARLIER...Don't let the rain catch you hidin' ... join us today for The Q&A Cafe, where we'll talk preservation AND politics with RICHARD MOE, head of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, but also a man who was there at the birth of the modern vice presidency, as chief of staff to ice President WALTER MONDALE, and instrumental in matters involving debates and superdelegates. The doors open at noon. Thirty five dollars at the door covers food, soft beverages, tax and tip ... and a good time.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 7 ... A friend who knows his politics by experience and intuition - (full disclosure: yes, he's totally in the tank for BARACK OBAMA) - says we will now see a big movement of superdelegates coming out for Obama, that they were waiting for a green light like what got flashed last night out of North Carolina and Indiana. I wonder. I don't think HILLARY CLINTON gives up that easily, and that she and BILL CLINTON today will put the screws to the uncommitted. My friend acknowledges the Clintons do wield power and fear, but that, "like Hillary, the superdelegates have grown a pair, too."

The number one thing to do today: call JON MOSS and book a seat for tomorrow's Q&A Cafe with RICHARD MOE, head of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. As one keen observer pointed out, "preservation is not just old houses and old buildings, it's also pre-emptive." Which means, giving the hand to Walmart, when it threatens to kneecap the authentic small businesses of a rural town. Preservation also means looking out for our endangered places, and travel, too. They sponsor interesting trips to great places. Did you know they do travel? It's a vast preservation conspiracy, and please join us tomorrow to get the full scoop. Jon can be reached at 202.338.2000. Book also for DOUG FEITH, MARK PENN, TUCKER CARLSON and TED SORENSEN.

TUESDAY, MAY 6 ... I'm living in several histories tonight. There are the books I'm reading in preparation for future Q&A Cafe interviews: TED SORENSEN on his Kennedy years and beyond, DOUGLAS FEITH on the launch of the Iraq war, MARK PENN on the art of polling this country, while on TV I've watched BARACK OBAMA give a barn-burning victory speech in North Carolina and now wait for HILLARY CLINTON to give her speech in Indiana, where it's not yet clear who is the winner ... though it appears to be hers.

What a strange and interesting night in the democratic primary. It's completely different from what the main stream media predicted. It was to be Hillary's big night. She was expected to stomp Obama in Indiana and possibly edge him out in North Carolina. That didn't happen. BILL CLINTON hit just about every small town in North Carolina, where he was expected to turn the state around. But that didn't happen. We were told that JEREMIAH WRIGHT had done in Obama, but that didn't happen, either.

Hillary just said, "It's full speed on to the White House!" Is it? Maybe she knows something we don't know, but what else can she say tonight? It's got to be a tough night for her. Will they let the balloons and confetti fall from the rafters?

I hope out of this that some resolution is achieved. Or, do we just go on and on? It's an interesting process and that part I like. I like that the democractic candidates are getting vetted by each other with everything the republicans may throw at them (actually, Obama more than Clinton), but it does get wearying.

In the end, Hillary's speech sounds like a candidate who is about to pack it in. Am I the only one hearing that?

MONDAY, MAY 5 ... The release of DEBORAH JEANE PALFREY's suicide notes should put to rest any conspiracy theories about her being murdered. You can read them here. Unless the murderers plan a future writing screenplays, they read believably as her words. Few could craft more ordinary words, and it was their ordinariness that made them authentic and the situation only more pathetic. She was not a stupid person, but certainly powerless, or unversed in how to play a power game with what she had, and I'm not convinced she had anything that made her all that powerful. The media refer to her "elite call girl" service, but what we've seen of the list of clients so far is well below elite or powerful. They are the C class of Washington dreamers and schemers.

She got lost along the way. For the last time from me, there was nothing she did that warranted suicide, only that she got caught in the ebb tide of hopelessness. Prostitution is a business that meets a demand. It's generally a victimless crime. Being illegal is what makes it treacherous.

HAPPY CINCO DE MAYO. Grab yourself a friend and play hooky over margaritas and chips and salsa. The weather is perfect for a day of lazy imbibing, don't you think? Ah, but people don't really kick back like that anymore. We work work work, and then do a little more work, and then take our work with us wherever we go. I tell my son there was a time before cell phones and PDA's and laptops and WiFi when people would go to lunch - sometimes for longer than an hour - and actually talk to their luncheon companion throughout the meal without taking a phone call or responding to text messages or email. It's true. Once upon a time life was like that.

I'm no one to talk. Now that my son is home from Hogwarts and I'm back to full-time on-duty solo parenting, I keep the device at the ready, by my side, on the table, or where I can feel it buzz, when I'm out anywhere and everywhere. We communicate by text message because it is not obtrusive and is often brief and to the point. "What time?" as in when do you want to be picked up. "Now." Our messages usually are as simple as that. When it gets more complicated I text: "call me." Our most common communication is: "where r u?" He asks me. I ask him.

Apart from my son, I've reached the point where I try not to talk on the phone at all. Phone conversations are distracting, and I often forget what was discussed, or can't keep track of the relevant info. With email, I have it to go back to. Also, I can deal with email when I have time to focus on what's being said or requested. More than anything, I do not like to talk on cell phones. I do believe they cause cancer, or will cause cancer. They remind me of when everyone smoked cigarettes and believed it was no big deal, only to find out down the road that cigarettes cause cancer. Why are we so trusting regarding cell phones? I sat at dinner one evening with a well-respected physicist who explained what's happening right next to our precious brains during the transmission of a cell phone conversation. Seriously, if you heard what he had to say you would not put a cell phone next to your head ever again.

What he had to say has been backed up by doctors who I respect.

It alarms me when I see parents buy cell phones for very young children. It alarms me when I see my son talk on a cell phone. "Please don't," I beg. I want to believe using a bluetooth device makes it okay, but I'm not even sure about that. There are mixed opinions. So, text messaging is the solution.

SUNDAY, MAY 4 ... I came upon a good piece to read that pulls together a lot of the disparate parts of the Clinton campaign's efforts to obliterate BARACK OBAMA. It's by ROBERT PARRY and you can read it here.

Almost too gorgeous a weekend to think about politics, but I ask myself how much will I enjoy a beautiful weekend this time next year if certain individuals are in the White House? Actually, if certain individuals get the nomination and are elected, I will tune it all out. That will be my only means of survival.

Politics was on the table last night over dinner with friends at Cafe Milano, though we were such a mixed table it was more argument than conversation. Two at the table are independents and of the "anyone but Hillary or McCain" school, one is "anybody but Hillary or Obama" and one is, I think, just flat out for McCain. So, we went all over the place while enjoying an awesome breeze off the terrace, fresh pasta, lots of wine and a couple of rounds of limoncello, while friends stopped by the table and, with our vantage point, we watched a parade of notorious aging horndogs enter on the arms of girls so young it was a giggle. They don't see the humor but the rest of us do.

It felt like everybody in northwest was at Cafe Milano last night. I didn't know so many people could fit in the place. They just kept coming.

I also stopped by the Larry King Cardiac Foundation dinner at the Ritz Carlton downtown. My friends asked, "How could you?" after he cancelled our interview at the last minute earlier in the week. Oh, well. Somebody has to be the grown-up. Somebody has to take the high road. As it was, Larry did not say hello or even acknowledge me. Not one of the people involved in setting up the interview, or cancelling it, said a peep to me. That's just the way it is sometimes and you've gotta move on. I have.

It felt like everybody in northwest was at Cafe Milano last night. I didn't know so many people could fit in the place. They just kept coming.

SATURDAY, MAY 3 ... I find myself experiencing a lingering sadness in regard to the death of DEBORAH JEANE PALFREY. Now this is odd, because I met her only once, interviewed her only for 40 minutes. It hit me yesterday when MYRA MOFFETT phoned in from the Obama campaign in North Carolina and heard the news from me for the first time. She was stunned by it, and put it in a context that underscored the sadness: that it was only sex, that she was only 52, that she did it at her mother's home, and how alone in the world she must have felt.

Despair is a scary place to be. I've known it on and off for the past decade, and try to keep it at the gates. It's not always easy. I've not been charged or committed of a crime, but I did become the defendant in my husband's tax fraud case after he died and the IRS landed it on me. Yes, I was absolved of all guilt - and rightfully so - and was granted "Innocent Spouse" protection, but for a year I was at the center of a legal case that put me up against the federal government. It is as lonely a place as you'll ever be. You lose your mooring in the normal world. You feel marked. Even when certifiably innocent, you feel that others have written you off.

Scott Simon said something interesting about what happened to him when he became a father. He said he went from being a reporter to being a human being. In the years after my husband's death, when I had to deal with heartbreaking loss for myself and my son, inheriting a business in chaos and in which I was not versed, struggling to hold onto my job with Larry King Live, being a solo parent, and, most of all, the IRS, I most definitely went from being whatever I was to becoming a human being. Certainly a grown up. I felt it yesterday when CNN called to ask if I would come on one of their shows. It had to do with Palfrey, of course, but the angle was this. "What do you think about all this talk that she was murdered?"

It's the "all this talk" part that bothered me. Where's all this talk? Mostly at the cable TV networks, where they also beat to death the non-issues in the primary campaign. Only young people - or people who have lived a protected life - can ask questions like that with a straight face. And I suppose only the same type could go on TV and blather about who did it or how Palfrey died with faux authority. I said only that I did not think I was qualified. "I'm not the police," I said. I have no idea whether there's evidence of foul play. Is it possible? Anything's possible. But what harm was she to anybody now? Most if not all of the names are out. Why kill her now? She'd been convicted and presumably was out of money, options, and most of all, hope. But to analyze her death on TV - like some sort of authority because I intervewed her for 45 minutes - well, human beings don't do that. The only parts of Palfrey I can talk about are the parts that have to do with the substance of our interview. CNN didn't seem interested in that. Who knows. They moved on.

But, hopelessness. I've been so close to it, and I'm human enough to know I could be again. When you see it that close it burns like being too close to the sun, and you back away fast, scramblng on your heels and elbows if necessary. You get up and run away. You try not to look back. May 16, 2007 Palfrey sat at Nathans and talked to me with humor, hope and determination. Just short of a year later she is dead, and police say it was suicide. Indications are that when her mother, her only person in the world, went off to take a morning nap, Palfrey made a noose out of a cheap nylon rope, hitched it to a beam, climbed up a ladder and then kicked it away. Her mother woke up and found her hanging, and made a desperate call to 911. It was too late. Whatever she did, whatever laws she broke, whatever the circumstances, did not match that ending.

FRIDAY, MAY 2 ... New York Social Diary asked me to write a remembrance of DC Madam DEBORAH JEANE PALFREY. It is on the site today and available here.

TUESDAY, APRIL 29 ... Nice night out with my friend PATRICK GAVIN, who writes the Washington Examiner's "Yeas and Nays" column with JEFF DUFOUR. I know, people think we're out together all the time, because we have breakfast occasionally. But that's work. This was hellraising, which I needed after today. He seemed to need a dose, too. We ate at the bar at Nathans (him a burger, me pasta) and then had dessert at Cafe Milano and gossiped so unmercilessly that anybody who knows either one of us should feel their ears and short hairs burning. I always tell him stuff I shouldn't tell him. Just kidding; we talked only about our pets.

EARLIER... In my mind - and this is only my opinion - BARACK OBAMA is the singular rational person running for President. I want to have a chance to see what he would do for this country. When I hear him talk he makes me feel good about myself as an American. He makes me feel good about our political system, which is something I've not felt in decades. JOHN MCCAIN scares me. HILLARY CLINTON stresses me. McCain and Clinton could be running mates. She seems to become more like him. This is a long wind-up to say I thought Obama served back powerfully to JEREMIAH WRIGHT today at his news conference. Without being irrational or dramatic, he stated clearly what he feels about Wright's "rants." It was very emotionally mature and intellectually grounded, and lifted me up from the frustrations of my super crappy day.

URGENT. With deep apologies to the 80 or more people who have reservations for tomorrow: LARRY KING has cancelled his appearance at The Q&A Cafe. I'm heartsick, because Larry told me "yes" weeks and weeks and weeks ago, we picked this date because it was a sure thing - he would be in town for his annual Larry King Cardiac Foundation dinner - and still, a young man from CNN called me late yesterday to say "no can do." I tried for Thursday or Friday, and got the same "no can do." I did not hear from Larry, or his PR person, LINDA ROTH, who emailed that she couldn't help. I tried to book a couple of other comparable notables, but for one reason or another it could not be worked out. I tried and tried, but I'm sorry to say I failed. We will have no show tomorrow or this week. We're screwed.

The good news is this has happened only once before, with the former President of Spain, Jose Maria Aznar, and I guess in 7-plus years of doing shows, to have only two 11th hour cancellations is a fairly good record. Still it costs the restaurant money, it costs NC8 and DC Cable a fresh show during sweeps, robs some wait staff of a chance to work and get $$$, puts out a lot of people who made reservations.

MONDAY, APRIL 28 ... Attention Georgetowners!!! There was a particularly vicious mugging near the intersection of 31st and O Streets today at lunch time. According to witnesses - my housepainters - two young men came up behind a woman "in her late 20s or early 30s" and "grabbed her from behind, sprayed pepper spray in her face, punched her in the face, and then took her purse and ran." One of the painters went to assist the young woman, who was on the ground, and also cell phoned the police, while the other painter ran after the two men "who were young, teenagers maybe, African American, tall." He said they ran up 31st to P where a car was idling, "waiting for them," but when the driver saw they were being chased "the car took off. One of the kids ran east on P, the other ran west, and I could not keep up with them." The good news - if there is such a thing in a story like this - is that the mugger who had the purse dropped it on the ground before taking off.

The police showed up immediately, as well as an ambulance for the injured woman. The police told the painters that this type of mugging has been occurring in Georgetown, that "it follows the M.O." and that they are looking for these guys. So, keep your wits about you when out on the street. DON'T carry a hand bag, and be aware of who is on the street with you. Pepper spray is very debilitating. It will render you helpless, and temporarily blind.

Read all about the White House Correspondents dinner and the attendant goings on here from today's New York Social Diary.

SUNDAY, APRIL 27 ... Sitting here surfing through the weekly report I get on the website's traffic. Usually I look only at unique visitors, which has been inching up to a polite 600-700. That's the average. But this evening I looked deeper into some of the information and landed on the page that reports our demographics by countries. Here are some of the countries where we have readers - and a proud welcome to you all: Germany, Canada, Netherlands, Japan, China, France, Poland, Romania, Qatar, UK, Portugal, Norway, Antigua (yay; I used to live there); New Zealand, Brazil, Switzerland, Ireland and Finland. Some provide a dozen or more unique visitors, others only 2 or 3. Whatever. I'm grateful. Again, welcome to my world.

I will write about last night's insane White House Correspondents Dinner shortly, but at the moment just thinking of it makes me more exhausted. Got home close to 2 a.m. The most fun for me was having the company of my New York Social Diary colleagues, DAVID PATRICK COLUMBIA and JEFF HIRSCH. We covered it together as a social assault team, but often guffawing at the sight of some of unlikely celebrities and realizing our cluelessness when we had no idea the relevance of the "Jonas Brothers," and why their arrival prompted so much screaming from young women. My big thrill: seeing BRADLEY COOPER, who was a waiter in Georgetown while he was at G.U., and who went on to Hollywood stardom. What a cute young man, and tall, and polite. You know who else is authentically tall and good looking and nice? MICHAEL JOHNs, the Aussie singer who was recently booted from "American Idol." In a sea of men, he stood out. Oh, to be 19 again.

SATURDAY, APRIL 26... Georgetown could not be more crowded today. This year the house tour is all in one day rather than split over Saturday and Sunday. Thus, gridlock. But it's a beautiful day and so long as you are not dependent on a car, or if you have a parking space, all is well.

My New York Social Diary colleagues DAVID PATRICK COLUMBIA and JEFF HIRSCH are in town for the White House Correspondents Dinner tonight, but for the midday we did something decidedly more relevant to the sober side of Washington. We had a tour of Georgetown's Tudoe Place Museum with executive director LESLIE BUHLER and board president ELLEN CHARLES, followed by lunch in the mansion's conservatory. After that it was a tour of the Hillwood Museum, the mansion house that was home to Ellen's grandmother, MAJORIE MERRiWEATHER POST. It's on Linnean Avenue in norhtwest. These tours covered the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. Tonight will be a technicolor blast of the gawdaliciousness of our new century. I can't wait to see the WHCA through DPC's and JH's eyes. They'll think they walked onto the set of a game show. But fun. It should be amusing.

FRIDAY, APRIL 25 ... The interview I did yesterday with MICHAEL ISIKOFF and DAVID CORN is now up on youtube and you can watch it here. It will air tomorrow at 6 pm on NewsChannel 8 and Sunday at 11 pm on the same channel. Tonight at 8pm on DC Cable you can watch the interview with SCOTT SIMON, also on youtube.

White House Correspondents Association dinner weekend begins right now. Just writing that sentence makes me immediately exhausted. I attended my first in 1969, and have been regularly on and off for all these years since. Once upon a time it was a fairly elegant affair - the most sophisticated of all the journalism industry affairs - but now, as we know, it's become a sort of black tie circus of mixed nuts, followed my many competing after-parties. Bloomberg, Vanity Fair and Capitol File are the chief contenders this year. This is not the conventional wisdom, but I think the Cap File party could come out on top because A) it is at the Newseum B) there will be room to move around C) the food will be great and D) it will be different. Bloomberg has become impossible. The VF party is just a little too too too. At the end of the day, none of it matters a whole helluva lot, but some fun may be had.

THURSDAY, APRIL 24 ... Particularly lively interview today with MICHAEL ISIKOFF and DAVID CORN. Those two dear men were like journalists on Red Bull. It was all high energy. We covered many subjects, from MATT DRUDGE to GEORGE BUSH and lots in between. Read some of the coverage here. It will air Saturday and Sunday evening on NewsChannel 8 and next Friday on DC Cable. Tomorrow night at 8 on DC Cable will be the interview with SCOTT Simon.

Check out my column from today on NYSocialDiary. This column focuses on a night out last Saturday which began with dinner at Cafe Milano and ended at a dance party on the rooftop of the Kennedy Center. Read it here. Pics are mine, too.

Spent the evening at Nats stadium, watching the home team beat the Mets. It was a good game. Fortunate to be treated to tickets from a generous friend who has seats in the "Presidents Club." This is an amazing place to sit. True luxury. Awesome view. So close you can hear the ball smack into the glove. The stadium was filled (actually, except for the Presidents Club). Ate hot dogs, french fries, macaroni and cheese, peanuts, Cracker Jacks. What a menu.

TUESDAY, APRIL 22 ... On we go now with more of this treacherous democratic primary campaign. The Pennsylvania margin actually turned out, at 10:30 pm at least, to be better for BARACK OBAMA than predicted six weeks ago, before he got dragged through the mud by the Clintons, but still for HILLARY CLINTON it is a victory. We've been here before. Again and again. Him or her. Her or him. Him him. Her her.

They spent $20 million dollars and moved the bar only a little. It's a shame. I was at a hospital board meeting today where we talked meaningfully about the difference $10 million could make in an insurance underwrite program that would keep DC doctors from fleeing the city for better arrangements in the suburbs. Think of what a Philadelphia inner city school system could do with $10 million. It would be one thing if this money had been spent on a campaign that's about the issues that matter, but the Clintons won't let that happen. They keep pulling it down into the past, into old school politics, into the status quo, and basically, into the laps of the republican party. It's not that she should be Obama's vice president. She is suited more to be JOHN MCCAIN's vice president. (Did you read about his anger management issues in the WashPost? Just who we need answering that 3 a.m. phone call).

I've been in a bad mood all day, and maybe the dispiriting campaign is why. Or the email I got early this morning from someone who read ROGER MUDD's book, or a dispute with another person who I happen to like but who put a lot of pressure on me, or simply the fact that DC waste removal people didn't empty my garbage can - for the second week in a row! Or the rumor dumped on me that my landlords have signed a lease with Ann Taylor Loft. (Seriously hoping that's not true.) Who knows?

But on to brighter things. Like walking around and thinking what this zipcode was like when JOHN and ABIGAIL ADAMS were here. The HBO series resonates in the best way. Georgetown Cupcake has a new treat called LemonBerry and it's certainly uplifting. The weather is gorgeous. My son's team won their lacrosse game. I had an hour or two for writing today. A nice mention today in the Washington Examiner of the SCOTT SIMON interview. A new sponsor stepped up. Also, DC Cable asked me to host another Reporters Roundtable broadcast, and on this one - to be taped Thursday after The Q&A Cafe taping - we'll focus on what a new president will mean to Washington. Good subject. And, especially, I'm looking forward to talking with MICHAEL ISIKOFF and DAVID CORN on Thursday. So much to talk to them about. Like, for example, all the issues that are not being addressed in the campaign, so far.

MONDAY, APRIL 21 ... It's close to 11 p.m. In another 24 hours we'll be able to have our heads jammed with endless blather out of North Carolina and Indiana, but at least maybe we'll be getting closer to a finish line with the dem contest.

EARLIER...Please call JON MOSS today to make a reservation for Thursday's Q&A with MICHAEL ISIKOFF and DAVID CORN. These two journalists are great together, and it will be an entertaining interview, coming only a couple of days after the Pennsylvania democratic primary. Jon's number is 202.338.2000.

It amuses me that HILLARY CLINTON is now accusing BARACK OBAMA of going negative. After all, she is the one who injected bully politics into this campaign and who has treated her own party like fodder for a meat grinder. Many older journalists, and the young ones who are less analystical, are complicit with this strategy and often come across as if their stories are dictated by Clinton soldiers which, in some cases, they are - or nearly are.

The bigger frustration of this campaign, though, is to observe the far right as they try to bolster Hillary. It's transparent, of course, and occasionally laughably obvious - as when JOE SCARBOROUGH and PAT BUCHANAN wink at each other while hooting Hillary's praises. "She's tough. I love her. I love Hillary Clinton," they parrot, which is the same message coming from someone who passionately hates her, RICHARD MELLON SCAIFE, whose Pittsburgh Tribune-Review endorsed her. Don't believe for a second that this is a sincere gesture. The "right loves Hillary" movement is the biggest ruse of the campaign year, and clever politics on the part of the GOP, but sad to watch Hillary play along because, as we know, and as she has stated, she'll do anything.

At dinner the other night I sat next to a former republican cabinet secretary who said "more than anything" the republicans want Hillary to be the nominee. I mentioned that I'd heard lately that there had been a turn, and that in fact they were thinking Obama was beatable. "No, not at all. We'll have no problem against Hillary Against Obama, it will be tough." So, he said, he's rooting for Hillary in the democratic primaries, along with every talking head on FoxNews, RUSH limbaugh, and any right-leaning pundit who opens his or her mouth.

I wish right now I could read one of the books about the inside workings of these campaigns, because there will be many that flood the market after election day. There's so much we don't know, and won't know until it's after the fact. Sigh. That sort of patience is not my strong suit.

SATURDAY, APRIL 19 ... This is what's sweet: to walk down the street in the morning and have a neighbor say, "I watch your show. Good show." Or to arrive at The Palm for lunch and have TOMMY JACOMO say, "I'm addicted to your show." Or to stop into a service station in Rockville and have the owner, who is from Kenya, say, "I love watching your show." Or to be at a party and have two 20-something women come up and say, "we watch your show every Sunday night," or two have two older couples say, "we record it and don't miss a week," or to get an email from the marketing chief of a big corporation who writes, "I think your show has real star potential."

It's SO very very very encouraging. Now, if we could only find sponsors to underwrite our forward motion. (note: the marketing chief from the big corporation is looking to sponsor a piece of it.)

FRIDAY, APRIL 18 ... I had an interesting conversation today with a friend who will be a HILLARY CLINTON superdelegate if she makes it to the convention. He's committed to her and won't jump ship because, as he said, "in politics your word is all you've got." Still, he sees the momentum toward BARACK OBAMA, a prevailing national wind in favor of Obama, and he privately hopes HRC will step out so that he, and others who are committed to her, can get behind Obama...for the good of Obama, the party, and the country. "Can you imagine what will happen if McCain wins?" He groaned. But he's not gonna push Hillary, and he's with her all the way if that's what she wants.

He predicted that if fortune turns her way and she wins the White House, she and her husband, and their soldiers, will settle scores here like never before. Anybody who didn't back her may as well move out of town.

I know this much, and it's only me speaking for me, but I will be happy to see Pennsylvania done and behind us. Way too much attention given to the state. A nice state. Philadelphia is a great city. Bucks County is beautiful. The Amish country, too. Wonderful mushrooms. Beautiful farm land. Hard times in rural areas that are the fault of eight years of GEORGE BUSH. But the sentiments of Western Pennsylvania should not overwhelm the course of this election, or so many weeks of political discourse. The next time a string of presidential primaries are planned, the deciders should see that they clip along, without a long stretch like this between one and the next. It's been too destructive.

Tonight at 8 pm the LEONARD DOWNIE interview will air on DC Cable. Check it out. It was good. Tomorrow evening and Sunday the SCOTT SIMON interview airs on NewsChannel 8. It's good, too. Simon should be on youtube soon. When it is up I will post it here.

THURSDAY, APRIL 17 ...This morning, CHRIS MATTHEWS, of all people, had a moment of concise clarity in highlighting to idiotic JOE SCARBOROUGH what Obama is trying to achieve, something beyond contemporary politics, something new, something that isn't about constantly going back and forth at each other with negatives. Matthews said it better. Scarborough ignored him. The very bright CHUCK TODD piped in with the observation that HILLARY CLINTON is ready to "put her foot on his neck and go in for the kill." The image those words called to my mind were of OJ SIMPSON with his foot on the neck of NICOLE SIMPSON.

On a brighter note. Received this email today, the kind I love to get: Carol: Came across your blog researching two people who are dogsledders. Never did find them. Ann and George Cook. Anyhow just a note to say how much I enjoyed reading your blog, (not the taxes part however). Best wishes, Steve."

However they find me, searching for dogsledders or anything else, I'm delighted when they do. And I, too, didn't enjoy the taxes the part.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 16 ... The soundtrack of today, in Georgetown at least, is made of helicopters zig-zagging the sky, caravans of cop cars and motorcycles zooming through the streets, motorcycles (even a few that scarily backfired), and lots of cops and other security talking into their hands or on walkie talkies (I'm sure that's no longer their technical name). It's mixed in with the chirping birds, and the sounds of young children in their gardens, home early from playgroup, the tap tap and power drill of home renovation, and trucks grinding their gears out in the street, and all under a Delft blue sky. No. No Pope sightings, but 'copter and cop sounds are all Pope fanfare.

The way the local TV media, and even some of the nets, cover this Papal visit you'd think it was CARLA SARKOZY in town, with her husband, and his security, in tow. Where is the sober analysis of what this particular Pope espouses, and the fact some Catholics feel he has drop kicked the church deep into the end zone of the last century? What I see is sort of giddy "gee-whiz" coverage. But wait. I turned the TV off hours ago.

Oh, well. I'm finishing SCOTT SIMON's good book, studying up on Chicago, NPR, clearing the decks for debate watching tonight, and hoping some of you will call JON MOSS to book a seat for tomorrow's taping of The Q&A Cafe, featuring - Scott! 202.338.2000. In an ode to the book, we're serving our awesomely good chicken curry.

Here's from the Washington Post's review of Scott's book: "The rich multiculturalism of the American city is not a new phenomenon, and it has hardly gone unnoticed in recent fiction. Rarely, however, has it been depicted with such unabashed affection as in Windy City, a book spacious enough to accommodate a Chinese-Salvadoran wedding, a Baptist church service and a banquet at the Krivas Museum of Lithuanian Civilization."

TUESDAY, APRIL 15 ... With the DC Madam, DEBORAH JEANe PALFREY, back i nthe news today with a racketeering conviction, you may want to revisit her appearance at The Q&A Cafe here.

On local TV this morning, a young reporter began her preview of the Papal visit with, "Washington will set politics aside this week to focus on the Pope." Ha. Oh, sweet naive youth. The Pope, the Vatican, the constant message to the flock - all of it, politics. It may elude her because Vatican politics is played in a more closeted and nuanced fashion than here in our political system, but it is just as much a gut's ball game when the chasuble and miter are hung up for the day's off-camera work. She should google a few keywords like "pedophilia cover-up," "abortion," "fear of secularism." Or, I guess, read "The Thorn Birds." Or, try the newspaper.

My attention was more drawn to the New York Times lead story, with the headline: "REATAILING CHAINS CAUGHT IN A WAVE OF BANKRUPTCIES." This matters more to me because it reflects where I live, Georgetown, which - and, I know, I rant about this - was consumed by some standard and some sub-standard shopping mall chain stores over the last decade, at the expense of small businesses and sole proprietors. Many of these very chains are those cited in the Times story as A) being out of money and B) ready to close up shop. For example, closing in Georgetown are The Gap, Ann Taylor, Pottery Barn, among several others.

The foreboding is in this sentence: "Even retailers that can avoid bankruptcy are shutting down stores to preserve cash through what could be a long economic downturn." Georgetown is a vulnerable market.

Why this worries me is that, as a 30-year resident, the quality of our shopping is imperative. We made our cred on small and charming shops that were fashionable, interesting, quirky, catered to all ages and incomes and, especially, where an owner was usually on the premises. The first assault on these shops was the Georgetown Park Mall, which wiped out Wisconsin Avenue and made way for what most of us call "the blight." That same Mall is now mired in a feudal movie-of-the-week-worthy legal mess. The second wave was the last decade or so of rampant, un-edted leasing to big chains and even some discount stores. There needs to be supervised balance between the small stores and the big stores. Why? Because, as we see now, when times are tough only the little guy is lean enough and committed to muscling on. Chains don't invest in neighborhoods or communities; it's all about a bottom line that's examined in the office of a CFO in another city. When the going gets tough, the chains pack up and go.

The little guys unfairly got hit earlier this year when the BID (Business Improvement District), in a panic, came after back taxes from them because the big guys were beginning to falter. The BID knew the smaller stores would pay, because they plan to stay.

Who wants a commercial area with vacant, boarded up stores or, just as bad, more discount stores? One that's opening soon is called American Apparel, a specialist in cheap, disposable clothing, who were the focus of a recent Wall Street Journal report that cited "sexual harassment suits and high debt levels," as well as questionable accounting practices. How long will they last?

Our Georgetown leaders need to take a stronger stand on who gets a lease here, and perhaps consider a rule that for every chain they take as a tenant, a landlord should also make room for a small proprietor, and the chains should not be permitted to dominate M Street and Wisconsin Avenue. Mix it up. Landlords should be rewarded, too, for making these concessions, with breaks on property and other taxes. It's for the good of the community. A junky commercial area won't help property values in the residential area or attract shoppers. That's why this matters to everyone who has a stake in Georgetown - residents, business owners, landlords and visotors.

MONDAY, APRIL 14 ... Spent the fat part of this beautiful day resting my elbows on the counter of the Genius Bar in Clarendon, and if you think that means I was knocking back Boilermakers with a group of Mensa members then, obiviously, you don't speak Apple. For those of you who know the language, well, it was a laptop issue. I took SCOTT SIMON's novel with me and read about off the rails Chicago politics while waiting for my patient to be healed. I've got an issue with the desktop here at home, too, but one can manage only one computer crisis per day, plus get to the shrink, the market, deal with the lawyers, get the child to and from school, and walk the dog. I could do all this because the painfully hefty checks to the IRS and DC Treasurer were mailed last week, when there were only a dozen of us in line.

Come along to the opening night gala for the Newseum in my column today on New York Social Diary here. If you have the time, at the end of the column follow the link to an earlier piece I wrote on a preview tour the museum gave me back in the early winter.

We get emails from readers and viewers daily, but some stand out. Like this one, which speaks for itself: "I just spent two months in Iraq and now am trying to get out of this armpit of a country called Kuwait – where if the breeze blows just right, it smells like a big fart. But someone has to do it. It is the epicenter of corruption behind the Iraq contracting escapades.

Anyway, internet access is terrible, but please put me down for 2 for Douglas Feith."

Remember to phone JON MOSS today to make a reservation for this Thursday's Q&A Cafe, featuring SCOTT SIMON, the host of NPR's Weekend Edition. Scott has a political novel out, "Windy City," which takes place, you guessed it, in Chicago and is good reading against the backdrop of a very political year.

SUNDAY, APRIL 13... Oh, give me a break. What BARACK OBAMA said about life in small towns is essentially true, and that's why he's having to take heat on it. We're not allowed to have truth in campaigns, and when truth pops up it has to be pounded back down. It's not as profound and important as his race speech, but it has relevance, and if we as a country could begin to talk about some of these things - which get said all the time in non-public conversations - we would be ahead of the game.

What Obama said about race hits precisely on what the conversations are like that the races have with each other when not in mixed company, and the observations about rural people and their guns and churches, is what is thought and spoken by the people in charge on both sides of the aisle. The point is, if rural people feel lost, or ignored, or powerless, and therefore become more drawn to their religion, or guns, it's because the people who are running this country have essentially actually them.

Oh, wait. Abandoned them until they need their sons and daughters to go off to fight and die in Iraq and Afghanistan.

On this score, we have an addition to the spring line-up for The Q&A Cafe. Regardless of whether you reject or support the Iraq war, it's important to keep talking about it, because it will be the chief issue of the general election. To that end, I have booked for May 15th DOUGLAS FEITH, one of the most controversial Administration individuals involved with the Iraq war. DONALD RUMSFELD said this of Feith, "Doug Feith, of course, is without question, one of the most brilliant individuals in government. He is – he’s just a rare talent. And from my standpoint, working with him is always interesting. He’s been one of the really intellectual leaders in the administration in defense policy aspects of our work here."

There are others who take the opposite view of Feith. When I told TORIE CLARKE of the booking, she virtually roared, "how could you?" Well, as she knows, The Q&A Cafe is a big tent, and I'm committed to looking at all sides of this war, particularly since I'm fairly open here about my opposition. We've interviewed RICHARD PERLE and KENNETH ADELMAN in the past, and in two weeks we'll interview "Hubris" authors MICHAEL ISIKOFF and DAVID CORN, who stewed Feith in their book. So, yes, I want to interview Feith. At the Q&A Cafe we go toward the heat.

Also, Feith has a book out: "War and Decision - Inside the Pentagon at the Dawn of the War on Terrorism."

If the war matters to you, and if you vote, you'll want to be at the Isikoff-Corn Q&A, as well as at Feith.

SATURDAY, APRIL 12 ... The Q&A Cafe interview with LEONARD DOWNIE is up at youtube here. It also airs Saturday at 6pm on NewsChannel 8.

A happy week at The Wasington Post; not a happy week at CBS News.

I have no inside skinny on whether KATIE COURIC will stay or go at The CBS Evening News, where I was a writer for WALTER CRONKITE back in the day. I only know what I read, but it adds up. It's being put out there, and not shot down by CBS, as a prelude, I suppose, to the fact. What I do think is that blame shouldn't be put on KATIE COURIC, at least not most of it. She was offered a job and a salary that any person in her professional position would have jumped at. But what was superstardom in the morning didn't translate to the evening. Under RICK KAPLAN, the show is much better, but the audience was gone. The blame belongs chiefly with one person, LES MOONVES, who singlehandedly drove The CBS Evening News, and the news division as a whole, into the rocks. If Katie goes, Moonves should go, too, if not before.

What Katie Couric should do is follow the OPRAH WINFREY model. Yes, she could fill LARRY KING's chair at CNN - her best friend is Larry's executive producer - but why go back into the belly of the beast: being owned by a network? She could create and produce her own show, take it to syndication and the local stations, be her own boss, do what she does best, have fun, make loads of money, and sail on, not having to look back.

The Washington Nationals have a home game today. It's an afternoon game. I believe their first at the new stadium. If you haven't been, go. It's so much fun. If you have been, return. We'd be there but for a lacrosse game in the outer boros.

FRIDAY, APRIL 11...For you to do today: call JON MOSS to make a reservation for next Thursday's Q&A with SCOTT SIMON, the much lauded host of NPR's "Weekend Edition." You've likely been listening to him for years. Here's an opportunity to meet him in person. He's covered the war in Afghanistan, presidential elections, reported from Africa and Central America, and his work was recognized with a Peabody Award. He's written a number of books, including on baseball, and he has a new novel, "Windy City," which will be available at the Q&A for signing. C'mon. Call Jon. Get out your i-phone, tap 202.338.2000, and make a rez. Oh, any old phone will do.

Scott's full formal bio is here.

We made Drudge again, with the LEN DOWNIE interview at The Q&A Cafe. That's such a nifty thing to have happen. You'd be astounded what a gift it is to website traffic, sometimes boosting hits into the tens of thousands. Our little show - global. Well, on youtube we certainly are global. This blog, too. We have readers all over the planet. The largest number are here in the Washington area, of course, but there are readers in China, the Netherlands, the U.K., Latin America, France, as well as in many of the 50 states.

The story that made Drudge, by JEFF POOR, had nothing to do with the testy little chat between Downie and Washingtonian's HARRY JAFFE. It focused solely on what Downie had to say in the interview. To Jaffe's credit, he wrote a little email asking whether he would get "bounced" next time. No, I replied. Later, I got this email from him: "by the way, your interview skills are terrific. you managed to be tough at times, gentle at others. you oughtta turn pro..."

A compliment like that is so encouraging. We believe we do a good job, and I love to do interviews. But getting the word out is the challenge. And I'm always trying. For example, I contacted the head of programmng at WAMU, MARK MCDONALD, because so many people say "you should talk to WAMU, you should talk to WAMU." Well, he replied he would pass my name and creds on to producers there, but I heard nothing. I followed up, and still nothing. So, we keep pushing and hoping. I honestly believe a break will come. Don't know when, don't know from where, but if we keep doing what we do, and doing it well, and puttig ourselves out there, it has to happen.

Meanwhile, what I've heard on the street: Gap is leaving Georgetown. Ditto Ann Taylor, Sportszone, and Pottery Barn. What's coming in, American Apparel, a discount store, and Brooks Brothers (in the Pottery Barn location). M Street is in serious flux. There is a major legal dispute going on between ANTHONY LANIER and HERB MILLER over who owns the Georgetown Mall (something we never needed to begin with, but it's there, and so must be dealt with) and the case could go on in court for months and months and months. One question is whether the mall will get Nordstrom. Do we want Nordstrom in Georgetown? It feels so behind the curve and suburban. I live in Georgetown because I'm not suburban and don't want to be suburban and don't want to live in an environment that feels remotely suburban. I'm an urban/rural snob, and proud of it. And I can say that, because I grew up in the 'burbs, and could not wait to escape.

THURSDAY, APRIL 10 ... The Q&A with LEONARD DOWNIE went very well. He was as candid as he is apt to be, and certainly open to most of my questions. Tried to keep it wide- ranging. There were columnists in the room who cover the media beat, and I'm sure they hoped for more inside the newsroom probing, but I can't focus my interviews narrowly on lines of disucssion that are too "inside baseball." Thus, I didn't grill him on the controversial ombudsmen and the national editor and whether it hurt that STEVE COLL left and stuff like that, which interest me but probably not the general audience. We did talk about the Post's future, the new publisher, the relationship between the print and web site, the '08 campaign, DC-MD-VA, Mayor Fenty, Downie's novel, writing sex scenes for his novel, what he'll do after the Post, and, yes, what he thinks of local coverage of the Post, and more. All in all I was pleased. He was a good guest.

There was one bizarre moment, though, when Washingtonian writer HARRY JAFFE sort of jumped Downie at the end, accusing him of lying in the interview and confronting him about "why do you avoid me?" It was emotional and confrontational, very chest to chest, with me trying to wedge between them. Downie handled it gamely, but Jaffe was very worked up. None of that was on-camera, alas.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 9 ... Karma's always been a little bit of a mystery to me, but if it's what I think it is - a version of flow - my karma is not good today. I seem to be on the wrong side of people, at least The Metropolitan Club, and not meaning to be. And no one is returning my messages. On the other hand, I've received some really nice random and unexpected messages.

What rankles is the call from The Metropolitan Club, scolding me for taking photos within their excuslive confines, which were used to illustrate my NY Social Diary piece on the Washington "power lunch." They want to know whose guest I was at the time. First of all, I don't remember. I've been there a lot. I always have my camera with me. I'm always taking pictures. Second, even if I could remember I wouldn't say, because my host didn't know. My host, or hosts, were not accomplices in my crime. I acted alone, under cover of darkness ... as the photos show.

But I told the stern person who phoned, "the club did well in the piece." And it did. The piece was written with affection and appreciation, about every dining room that was mentioned. Besides, I love that the MC have creamed crab on toast points, a great mid-Atlantic recipe... not that they'll ever let me in the heavy front doors again. If you missed the piece, it's here.

EARLIER...Anybody who attends The Q&A Cafe, or dines at Nathans, for that matter, notices we have incredible photographs in the back room. They are the work of Pulitzer Prizewinner DAVID HUME KENNERLY, also a recent guest on the show. Politico.com has a good piece on David here. It focuses on his gorgeous coffee table book about GERALD FORD, which also was the subject of our interview.

The thing is, we did it without an audience, and, looking at it on youtube, and having experienced it while it happened, it is apparent to me the show is better with an audience. I am perhaps more comfortable without an audience, but - who the heck am I? - the show is better with an audience, and the priority is the show.

With the show in mind, we are formally in the market for sponsors. Would you like to be a sponsor of The Q&A Cafe? It will help us immeasurably, and our gratitude will be huge. We have a sponsor proposal letter which outlines what we want from you and what we offer in return, and if you are game you can contact me directly at: carol@nathansgeorgetown.com or phone JON MOSS at 202.338.2000, and we will promptly and happily send you a sponsor letter. Already we've received two generous pledges. The sponsor levels start at $100, and sky's the limit.

SUNDAY, APRIL 6 ... Burned my candle at both ends last night. Actually, may have burned both ends of a month's supply of candles. It had to do with some friends, a bottle of good Schramsberg, a vintage Antica Terra from Oregon, an 80s era Chateau D'Yquem, dinner at Nathans, five separate varieties of Starbucks, and a mixed dozen from Georgetown Cupcake. Slept till 10 this morning - an unheard of indulgence - and felt a lot less bummed about certain things. Just goes to show - sunshine can come from a variety of sources. Still, early to bed tonight and early to rise tomorrow.

The Sunday shows were okay not great. FF through most of the talk. It seems everyone is eager for the next primary to get here asap.

It's always funny what gets under our skin, isn't it? I mean, the other day I just burst into tears in the car. The music on the radio was ANTONIO CARLOS JOBIM, which reminded me of 1976, sitting at a cafe by the sea in Monte Carlo, loving the shimmer on the water, the smell of brine, the taste of my fish soup the glass of rose and, on the jukebox, was a samba so sweet it made my heart feel love and joy. The duffle bag I lived out of was beside me. I had no fixed address. No obligations. Only that day, that moment, that spot. One of my happiest memories of all time. So, when I heard his music it hit me: I may never get to Europe again! Not with the dollar as it is. That thought made my heart crumble, and thus the tears.

SATURDAY, APRIL 5 .... My bad big time. Or, why I need to not just own a calendar but also use the calendar.

Last night I got organized to go tonight to a big formal gala, only it turns out it WAS last night and not tonight.

Had the gown, shoes, jewelry, hair, make-up all organized. Only because a text with a friend did I realize my mistake. I wrote: "See you tonight." He wrote: "It was last night."

I was mortified. To think there was a place at the table with my name, that people were expecting me, and I was home, zoning in front of the tube, FFing throug the political chat shows.

FRIDAY, APRIL 4 ... Random thoughts: why does anybody - LARRY KING tonight - put Dr. Phil on the air? In my entire life I have listened to maybe 3 minutes of the man (making me, perhaps, not a worthy judge) but what comes out of his mouth sounds like shopping mall psychotheraphy. Duh. I answered my own question.

Second thought. We've got a slice of the Clintons tax returns. More to come. $109 mil in seven years. Clearly not "elites" scratch. BILL CLINTON made $50+ million on speeches? The two of them made another $40+ million on their books? And they tell us words don't mean anything? Whoa one big minute there, pardners. I'd like to have the dollar value of those words.

One more thought: what's with all the cop cars in residential Georgetown? All week I've spotted cop cars parked, idling, during the day at a variety of intersections. Is there something going on we need to know about? Actually, Thursday I came up to the intersection of 31st and O in my car just as a cop pulled her car into the intersection, slammed it into park, hopped out, and stopped some dude from mugging an old lady in front of Christ Church. Seriously. The lady had no idea what was happening. The guy was definitely sketchy. I thought, "Okay," put on my turn signal and got out of there, knowing, though, that it could be any of us.

Last thought: sweet email tonight from a reader of caroljoynt.com, responding to my email exchange with Mr. Mudd:

"Carol...Just got through reading your beautifully crafted and well written
email to Roger Mudd. Setting aside the harassment issue, if that's a sample of your prose, the man is a bigger fool than I thought possible! And believe me, that's saying something."

It was the vitamin my own self needed in the flow of a rocky day.

To all of you born under the sign of Cancer, here is our horoscope for tomorrow, but which I'm cashing in today: "Saturday, Apr 5th, 2008 -- You probably won't feel good about yourself if you cannot push past your own insecurities now. Of course you have to do what makes the most sense to you, but it's important that your actions also convey how considerate you are of other people's needs. Maintaining contact with your own vulnerability will probably offer you the best shot at getting what you want."

That's my daily routine: push past the (raging) insecurities. Oh, man. Bring it on.

MYRA MOFFETT would want me to report what I told her today: I've filled my crush vacancy. You know what I mean, don't you? It's vital in life to have a crush on someone. Makes no dif if you are married or solo. A good crush is a reason to put it on each day. A good crush spawns poetry and music. They can last a day or forever, or anything in between. I believe in them. The good news is my crushes always are on inappropriate men. The bad news is I never act on them. My last crush went on for 18 months, until he called and I accepted an invite to dinner. His wife was in the tropics, safely many air miles away. This was a month ago. Thus the crush vacancy. Now a "no vacancy."

Myra lamented, "I want a crush. I don't have a crush." I said, "Yes, you do. Obama."

EARLIER...No doubt I might be judged poory for this, but I get so bummed when people introduce me or I.D. me as the owner of Nathans. If it makes me seem ungrateful, that's not the point. God knows, Nathans is my son's and my only livelihood, and God knows I've opened my veins for the place for the last decade, given it all my savings, hustled in every way to keep it from sinking below the surface, and relentlessly sought advice and guidance from anyone and everyone on how to keep it afloat. But it's my late husband's place, his creation, his doing, his vision; the embodiment of him. I can take no credit for Nathans. It's Howard, not me. I'm only the caretaker. But I perk up when

THURSDAY, APRIL 3 ... For those of you who notice or care, sorry not to have a diary entry for the past 24 hours. You see, this is the week I was giving myself to take a little down time, but it hasn't worked out that way. In fact, I've been busier than in a normal work week. It's just this and that. Projects I said "yes" to a while back, people to catch up with, and a lotta lotta writing to do, for New York Social Diary and also drafting a letter to go to potential sponsors for The Q&A Cafe.

One of the projects was this morning, hosting a "Reporters Roundtable" for DC Cable, which we taped at their studios on Tilden Street. This was something new for me, and, happily, was fun. The new part was interviewing people - in this case, energy experts, officials and activists - in an actual TV studio rather than a bar, which included reading from prompter, hitting cues and also trying to make sense. I missed the audience we're accustomed to having at The Q&A Cafe. The audience makes a difference, and in a positive way. Still, this was interesting. Energy and gas prices are a tough subject to make human, even though the greatest impact is at the human level. It is an industry that teems with jargon.

From there to The Palm for lunch with Washington Post "Reliable Source" columnist AMY ARGETSINGER. This is a lunch we'd been planning since, I think, before Christmas. We broke bread, dished all kinds of subjects, and dished some more. The Palm is just the most buzzy place for lunch. Literally. It's loud. I like the booths in the back because there's a moderate chance of hearing each other. The "Larry King" table was claimed by a group from the Washington Nationals, including team president STAN KASTEN, sales chief CHRIS GARGANI, and market execs TOM WARD and STACEY MARTHALER. We had coffee together. They appeared to be still riding a justified high from Sunday's successful opening night at the new stadium. I, for one, can't wait to get back there for another night of baseball. I think we're fortunate to have this whole crew in DC. They glow with positive energy.

From the Palm to the Boathouse Restaurant on MacArthur Boulevard to meet DAVIS KENNEDY, editor and publisher of The Current Newspapers. We talked and drank Arnold Palmer's in this very attractive neighborhood pub, while a member of the staff stapled new college crew t-shirts to the walls. I'd like to return for a meal.

If you live in a DC neighborhood then you probably get a Current newspaper tossed on your doorstep once a week. They are the best source of news about your 'hood. I rely on the Georgetown Current to know what is going on around me. There's an interesting story behind the papers and Kennedy's ownership and you can read a good profile here from the Washington City Paper.

By the time we walked out of the Boathouse - almost 5 o'clock - it was raining heavily. By the time I was in the car five minutes later it was sleeting! The unfairness! I want sun and the 70s, not sleet.

Tuesday and Wednesday were a blur. I caught a Georgetown lacrosse game, and then lots of writing. I like writing. No. I love writing. But two days of it are draining. Also caught "Stop Loss." What a moving film. Everyone should see it. It's a harsh slap of reality. From everything I've read about it the story is rooted in reality, that tens of thousands of soldiers are returned to the Iraq war against their will, repeatedly, grinding them, and their families, to the depths of hopelessness, and with no compassion from their commanding officers or the government. It's insane. The war is criminal and we must get out of there, for the sake of these soldiers and our self-respect as a nation. But we know this, don't we? Let's make sure we shout it at the polls.

TUESDAY, APRIL 1 ... People often ask me exactly when is it that Nathans will close. Okay. The lease is up one year from today. So, this can be considered the beginning of the countdown to last call ... unless a miracle happens and the landlords bless the business with a new lease, which right now is not on the table, since they've told me they want Nathans out in order to put in a retail store.

MONDAY, MARCH 31 ... Democratic primary fatigue is becoming more than a possibility. I'm feeling it. It started when HILLARY CLINTON wore the shamrock scarf. It gained momentum with the Rev.Wright-Bosna Lie drama. Now, the "AL GORE will save the day" mania is taking it over the top. There's no way this "solution" makes sense. Sure, it could happen, but how would that show the democratic party as able to run the country? Unless we want four years of rule from a party in chaos. Nothing against Gore. He's a nice guy. But if the party would throw over the two candidates who have campaigned their butts off, what makes that party worthy of serious public consideration? The Gore alternative is whackier than ever. The Dems need another primary to happen pronto, and then several others rather quickly after that, and a resolution of who will be their candidate. The long primary run, and the long lull now between primaries, have not served the process, though there's no way anybody can say that BARACK OBAMA, if he is the nominee, hasn't been tested, vetted and proved his ability to take and survive hits.

EARLIER....I would imagine the Nationals are happy today's weather happened today and not yesterday. But otherwise, a good day for chillin' - as BILL CLINTON would recommend - and for all the spring flowers, cherry blossoms and the grass. I did some work, but I played hooky this afternoon to catch the new film, "21," which was a welcomed break from the routine. Isn't Vegas always a great break from the routine?

Breakfast this morning with PATRICK GAVIN at The Four Seasons, where they seem to be getting testy about our being there. I love having breakfast at The Four Seasons. It's a treat. The staff have told us they will get fired if they talk to us. Note to Four Seasons management: see Bill Clinton's advice. Then Nathans, then the shrink for some fine-tuning, and then a Tewaaraton Board meeting. We are in the midst of planning our annual awards dinner, where trophies are presented to the nation's top college and high school lacrosse players. It is to lacrosse what the Heisman is to football.

The dinner this year is at the American Indian Museum and it will be terrific. Great food, all the top laxers and coaches, plus a TV broadcast of the awards. The date is Thursday, May 29, and you can buy tickets here. If you've never been to the Indian Museum, here's a chance to enjoy it at an interesting event. Remember, lacrosse is a native American game, so the setting is perfect.

One project on my desk has been drafting a letter that will go out this week to those who we hope might consider sponsoring the Q&A Cafe. We're looking for reasonable sponsorship funds, and in return will provide a billboard credit on the TV show, such as you see on many public broadcasting programs. "This program is made possible through a generous contribution from YOUR NAME HERE." If we can get sponsors we will be able to go forward and keep the show on TV. Otherwise, we will certainly keep it on youtube.

SUNDAY, MARCH 30 ... Just home from opening night at the new Nationals Stadium where our home team beat the Atlanta Braves with a 9th inning homer at the hands of RYAN ZIMMERMAN. That put the "plus" in a bonafide A+ evening. Yes, there were epic long lines to get through security at the outset, thanks to the presence of PRESIDENT BUSH, but that won't be an issue at future games. Fans were patient, if frustrated, with the wait.

Inside, at least in our experience, it went smoothly. The workers were friendly if not yet entirely up to speed. Imagine starting out with a full house? We ordered food at our seats and it arrived quickly. The hot dogs were very good, and will be even better on a warm night, enabling them to stay warm. The fries were good, too, and the peanuts, but I wish the popcorn was freshly popped rather than in a sealed plastic bag. The grande nachos were tasty. We did not try the concessions in the concourse because the lines were so long. Again, I think that will be less of a problem on regular game nights.

We used the Diamond Club, which may be worth the $$$ splurge if you want the extra action of a bar, restaurant and convenient bathrooms. Plus, the seats are padded. A luxury, I know, but a good one on a cold night. We were cozy. Actually, it was warmer in the stadium than on the concourse. Was it the lights? Nah, not possible. Maybe it was the winter boots, the winter jeans, the three layers of fleeces, the gloves, the scarf. Or, perhaps, the jumping up and down.

What I remember the most is the happiness of the fans. Everyone had such a good time. There was a lot of joy, which is good for Washington. I look forward to my next game.

SATURDAY, MARCH 29 ...After absorbing an enormous portion of political news and updates, my main impression is: what if HILLARY CLINTON does end up becoming the next president? THAT will be the political story for the ages, because so many people have either come right out and asked her to get out of the race or gently hinted or talked in code. It's breathtaking, and equally so her balls out stubborn and countless pronouncements that she will march on. The same message is chanted by her loyal (and occasionally thug-like) corps of captains, lieutenants, and assorted other soldiers. I'm not sure whether it's healthy, but it's remarkable. It's also exhausting. Reading about her leaves me worn out. I wonder if those closest to her feel the same?

I don't have an opinion on what she should do. I do have concern about what this personality trait would mean in a president. I don't see it as toughness in a good sense. It's a certain kind of intransigence that is very Bush-like. Never say die sounds good on paper, just like "Die Hard" makes a good movie, but - as anyone who's ever run a company can tell you - is not always the wise course. There are ways to achieve goals through flexibility that aren't solely compromise. It has to do with being open, fluid and accomodating to change. Sometimes when people always are pushing, pushing, pushing, they completely miss the opening. That's what I've learned through all kinds of recent trials, and may not apply to the Clinton campaign. Toughness is not always a virtue, and vulnerability not always a flaw. There is a middle ground. It's called self-confident.

FRIDAY, MARCH 28 ...Since a number of people this week mentioned that Roger Mudd "smears" me in a new book about CBS News, I've decided to simply post an email exchange between Roger and me that occurred in July and which was initiated by him. These are past-tense days for me. Roger, never a friend, was a pain in my life for only a couple of years in the way back dark ages. He was forced on me and other staff of The CBS Evening News, where I was a writer, when he would fill-in for Walter Cronkite in the anchor chair. At the time I was 22, and he was at least twice my age. He was on me all the time, about my clothing, my writing, the people who spent time with me. He was in a close race to get Walter's job, a prize he desperately craved, and it broke him when he lost it to Dan Rather. So be it. Whatever transpired later for Dan, at the time he got the nod he was by leaps the more popular choice. Roger was a sourpuss not only to me, but because I was young and female he was able to pick on me. They were different times then. Had he behaved today the way he behaved toward me then I would have been able to bring a harassment suit and would have won. He caused hurt in my life when I was quite young, but rather than carry it with me I found resolve in knowing he would get his eventually, as he did. What goes round goes round and round and round... This is the email exchange, verbatim, as it happened. It's all I have to say on the matter, and I share it in honor of the late John Merriman, the broadcast's beloved editor, who would approve. I shared it with Cronkite, too, who understands.

July 19, 2007, 9:30 a.m.:

Good morning, Carol: It’s been so many years that I hope you remember me from our time on the Cronkite show. I’m finishing a book – a memoir told through a history of the great CBS Washington Bureau 1960-80 – and need your help. My memory is that Cronkite met you during the Calley trial, that you were working for UP at the time, he hired you as one of his evening news writers, that during the summer of ’73 when I was his substitute we did not get along, that you fought me on every suggested re-write, that it wasn’t because you couldn’t write because you could but that you thought I couldn’t, that it became contentious, that I asked Socolow to re-assign you whenever I substituted and that he did to the 12:24 p.m. My questions are these: Does that narrative square with your memory? Did you call Cronkite at the Vineyard to complain? If you did, what did you tell him? Did he respond? Did he call Socolow to find out what was going on? I can’t tell from your impressive web site whether you are gone for the summer or just your weekly q&a’s but if you get this e-mail I would love an answer before my deadline catches up with me. With kind regards, ROGER MUDD

July 19, 2007, 11:26 a.m.:

Roger:

Of my many memories about The CBS Evening News, among some of the clearest are those that have to do with you. We've probably both learned in life its the bumpy experiences that give a memory texture, and our relationship was all about bumpy. It's worth noting, though: I liked your writing. I was in awe of the way you wrote in a voice that was entirely your own. You had a down to earth, cut through the BS, both barrels loaded style that was, in the genre of TV news writing, a thing of beauty. Right now I can take myself back to my little chair and wedge of desk on the back corner of the anchor slot and see you sitting there in your collegiate, buttoned-down, DC mufti (your suits were a refreshing departure among the NY/CBS Savile Row culture), Merriman worried as you'd drum your fingers and scan a piece of my copy. What usually happened is that you'd set my version aside brusquely, stick a copy book in the typewriter, and do your own version, and it would be in a voice that was yours and it would be perfect. Merriman would gesture to me to get on with my work. Sadly, and with frustration, I could not get your voice in my head.

If there were times we argued I don't recall them. I think I was too scared of you to argue. If I did argue it shows a little bravery (or stupidity) that has faded from memory.

When I came to the CBS Evening News I'd already worked 4 years for United Press International in Washington and one year at Time Magazine. I'd covered the protest movement, politics, the space program and some back of the book stuff. I'd been in the middle of violent street demonstrations, on the McGovern campaign bus, at rocket launches and at movie premieres. I was also only just 22 years old. A lot of people assumed I worked some special angle to get the job, but it's not true. In my own way, I probably begged for it.

When I was at UPI, Walter appeared on the cover of "Look" Magazine. In the interview he called UPI "one of the finest vineyards in journalism." It made me so proud I sat down at my portable Hermes typewriter and wrote him a "thank you" fan letter. In it I mentioned my job, some of my assignments and that I hoped we'd meet someday. Three weeks later a letter came in for me in a CBS envelope. I almost fainted. It was from Walter Cronkite. He thanked me for my letter and said "if we're ever in the same place at the same time be sure to let me know."

A few months later we were both at Cape Kennedy for the Apollo 13 launch and I begged a CBS pr suit to "let Walter Cronkite know I'm here," as we stood outside the CBS News quonset hut studio. He was all "you're nuts, I can't do that," until my begging overwhelmed him. He went in and a few minutes later Walter himself walked out onto the gravel tarmac, his hand extended, smiling. He invited me in to watch the show, bought me a Coke after, sat on a curb and talked journalism with me, and said "keep in touch." When I moved to NY to work for Time, we had lunch. After that meal he said, "keep in touch." At the Apollo 17 launch, when I visited with Walter and Betsy at the CBS hut and told them I planned to quit Time "to travel cross country and find myself" (we talked that way back then), he said, "No. Call me when we all get back to NY. I may have an opening on the show and I'd like to get a person with wire service experience."

I called on a Monday, met with Socolow the next day, and was hired on the same Friday Michelle Clark was killed in a plane crash outside Chicago. My job would be "all else" writer. I was over the moon. My last day at Time I wanted to go to Hurley's to celebrate with friends, but that morning Time Inc announced they were folding Life Magazine, and I kept my mouth shut. It was impossible to be among those people and celebrate my going to the very industry that was the assumed murderer of Life.

Everyone on the show was suspicious of me. Who is she? Where did she come from? She's so young! On the other hand, I thought my being there made sense. Given my background, I didn't see me as unqualified. John Merriman, thankfully, felt the same way. He said, "I can show you the ropes and you'll make it, or I can ignore you and you'll sink like a rock. I'm going to help you." We became best friends.

That's how I started at The Evening News. A few crash and burn leads, a few living tel-ops written with seconds to go before air, and the staff began to embrace me. With the exception of Jimmy Clevenger, who would get drunk at The Slate and shout, "I know you're sleeping with Cronkite," but I'd ignore him. I'd tell Walter about the rumors. He'd laugh and say, "Do me a favor. Don't deny them."

You or Rather would show up sporadically to fill in for Walter and we'd all shift in our seats and get into the appropriate gear. Dan would show up all smiles and glad-handing, remember the names of every techs grand-kids, flirt with the Hinda Glasser posse, and was basically adored. You would arrive stern, serious, all business, somewhat aloof, friendly only with a few, and most people grumbled. They thought you were full of yourself, but still good at your job. It would be extreme to say no one liked you. Probably better to say they didn't know how to like you. They respected you, but the connection was not warm and fuzzy.

We didn't hit it off from the beginning. Hughes Rudd, a dear friend, would console me but was also direct. "Roger does not like you," he would tell me again and again. "He's not comfortable with you. He never will be." Merriman would say something similar but more diplomatically. Together Merriman and I would focus on the journalism and the writing and hope that would carry us along. Paul Greenberg and John Lane were of the mind that I just "try to get through it." But face it: you and I were oil and water. There was chemical imbalance. Nothing could bring us together.

My getting kicked off the show by you happened in the summer of Watergate, 1974. Walter announced he would be off for a huge chunk of the summer and you, not Rather, would be the anchor. At the outset of your tour of duty, on a routine afternoon, Merriman called me into a back office where the producers had their desks. He took me into a room and shut the door. "Roger wants you off the show," he said, "effective immediately." Too young to know better, I burst into tears. "Why?" I sobbed. "It's just not working," he said. "There's nothing I can do." He sat with me until I was well enough composed to return to our desks in the studio.

That evening I phoned Walter at home on Martha's Vineyard. He said, "Roger is doing this to you just to get at me." Again, of course, I sobbed. "Do you want me to get you back on the show?" he asked. "I can talk to Socolow." My heart was broken. "No," I said. "I don't want to do it that way. No. Roger doesn't want me, so be it." Again, I was too young to know how to play this game, and maybe that's for the better. Probably the only way to play it would have been to confront you directly and have it out, but I was scared of you.

I took off for the Outer Banks to lick my wounds. This is why I think it was during Watergate, because I was called back to Washington for the resignation. In fact, CBS had a plane held for me at Norfolk airport to get me to Washington. It was the first time I was reunited with Walter since being kicked off the show. Again, he said, "do you want me to do something?" Socolow may have asked me the same thing. I said, "No." After Nixon resigned, Walter returned to his holiday, you took the anchor chair, and I wrote the 12:24 or 12:25 for Douglas Edwards. Guess what? I got into it. I was working with a legend and I got folded into the mix of the newsroom. (They usually had a them/us attitude about the Cronkite show). I made friends. I had fun. Summer passed quietly. When summer ended, just like that I was back at my old desk, in my old job; back on the show.

The worst part of this whole story is that after John Merriman kicked me off the show for you, I didn't speak to him again. I blamed him. He was one of my best friends and I cut him out. Before that we talked constantly across our TV version of a "partners desk." We went to plays and concerts together. Had dinner together. Ate hotdogs from the Sabrett's wagon together. Argued and made up and argued some more. I adored him. On September 11 1974, his Eastern flight crashed on approach to Charleston airport. He was on his way home to see his mother in Marion. I still feel heartache over losing John without having made up. Later I drove to Marion to visit with his mother and to share some memories.

For the next year, whenever it was announced that Walter would be off and you would be the substitute, I would march into Greenberg's office. "You have to get a pool writer to fill in for me." He'd ask, "Why?" I'd say, "Cause Roger's coming." He'd nod his head. For however long you were subbing, I'd be rotated out to the Edwards show. Doug would look up, "Oh, you again? Roger must be here." Then one day it went down differently. Greenberg and John Lane were crashing the show. It was late. Walter's departure the next day was something sudden. I said to both men, "Roger's coming tomorrow. You have to get a pool writer." John Lane barked, "Why?" I said, "Roger's coming." Greenberg said, "Fuck Roger. You're doing the show."

After that I was never exiled again and somehow you and I resumed working together.

This is what I remember. No doubt there are holes. We mellow with age. I've always admired your work. Sometimes I find myself wishing we'd found a way to be friends.

Carol

PS:

Having had my say, Roger, I should add that it's entirely possible, given my age, there were times I behaved like a defensive/spoiled brat. Entirely possible... only erased from memory.

July 19, 2007, 3:15 pm:

Carol: I've just returned from our monthly Ink-Stained Wretch lunch -Jack
Nelson, Bill Kovach, John Herbers, Pat Furgurson, John Mashek, Ron Ostrow
and none of us has the memory you have. I'm indebted to you for such a fine
piece of remembering and for your generosity in sitting down to do it. Thank
God I asked you. It fills in and rounds out a chapter about my in-and- out
relationship with Cronkite, dating back to 1964 when Trout and I unseated
him at the Democratic convention, to a speech highly critical of tv news I
gave in 1970, to "The Selling of the Pentagon" a few months later in which
we (I) refused his demand that we remove a propaganda film he did for the
DoD, to my semi-public complaint about his plug for Pan-Am in one of his
radio commnentaries. Then comes the Ross/Mudd shootout. He really must have
thought I was gunning for him. Little did I know but should have that my
unhappiness with you spread throughout the office. Little did I know that it
was Greenberg who broke the impasse. Again, I'm in your debt for lifting
what easily could have remained a life-long grudge. Molto grazie and I'm
sorry for your tears. ROGER

August 2007

From a friend who was an executive with the show, and with whom I shared my email to Roger to make sure my recollections were accurate:

"WOW WHAT A NARRATIVE. PLS SAVE FOR HISTORY. U still write better than him."

EARLIER...With Nationals Stadium opening this weekend, checkout my preview for New York Social Diary here. And, the Q&A Cafe interview with Nats president STAN KASTEN here.

EARLIER...I'm ready to curl up on the sofa and O.D. on a marathon of CHRIS MATTHEWS,KEITH OLBERMAN, and ANDERSON COOPER. Plus, miscellaneous other political coverage on TV and online. Only then will I have a handle on the strange turn the reporting has taken since I last tapped in before New York. There seems to be a sudden shift away from HILLARY CLINTON, which is a surprise, since she was going so strong at the beginning of the week. It's a subtle shift and I'm not even sure it's real. The Clintons can spin their own downtowns simply to give themselves the leverage to swing back up. It's a crazy and risky way to go, but works for them. They love the push pull of drama. Can you even imagine a Sunday at home with the two of them the only ones there? Do you think it's occurred any time recently? How do they get and keep the drama up? Political viagara? I'm just being silly. Never mind.

Do you have your Nats tickets for tomorrow or Sunday evening? I'm not sure if there are any left, but it's worth a try. Tomorrow is probably possible, for sure. Watch my interview with Nats president STAN KASTEN tonight on DC Cable-TV 16.

THURSDAY, MARCH 27... Alas, must pull up stakes on this hamburger extravaganza and head back south today. Boo hoo. Hate to leave NYC. However, all this meat-eating has made me feel like a VW and so must get back to routine and shed the burger bun weight. My personal faves: Corner Bistro and Shake Shack. I would like to replicate those burgers at Nathans. We must get a meat grinder, industrial size.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26 ... All over town hunting for denim on sale. Lots of success. I now have jeans for every day of the week, and then some. A wardrobe of mostly good quality jeans would be just fine with me (and a black cocktail dress for whatever). And a bright red or blue truck.

An almost three hour lunch at Michael's with my son and DAVID PATRICK COLUMBIA, who owns and operates nysocialdiary.com. (see below). Very pleasant. We were joined also by David's business partner, JEFF HIRSCH. Every table in the room claimed a very famous person, but my personal favorite was Vogue editor ANNA WINTOUR, seated with BLAINE TRUMP. As Anna stood near us fastening her blue Prada spring coat I couldn't help but imagine her arriving back at the office and tossing it on her assistant's desk with a Hollywood-worthy flourish.

Michael's hamburger was choice. A pleasing mound of beautifully grilled freshly ground beef, topped with sauteed red onions. It came with some mache, a tomato and a pickle. Nicely done.

Our afternoon was all Soho, in and out of happening places like BAPE and Billionaires Boys Club, for Spencer, and Opening Ceremony, for me, were I was interested in the designs of actress CHLOE SEVIGNY. Also, a hit on Uniqlo, the Japanese fashion emporium. Then the Meat Packing District for more perusing. Love walking the cobbled streets where I lived long ago.

Please check out nysocialdiary.com today, where they run my Washington Social Diary column on the opening of the new Nationals Park stadium. I had a little behind the scenes walkabout, and the pictures show a lot.

TUESDAY, MARCH 25 ... Fantastic to be in NY. So much food. So much good food. So many hamburgers. Got up this morning and walked for an hour and a half, including a lap round the Central Park reservoir. Blue sky. Sunshine. Chilly. Great way to work up an appetite. After breakfast made a hit on Pasteur Pharmacy on Lex, where it's possible to buy salon sizes (wholesale prices) of all the best beauty products. Kerastase, for example. More than the prices and the sizes, there are items we don't ever see in DC. The depth and range of choices are amazing. So, carted a big bag of products back to the hotel. Then we walked many blocks down Madison Avenue to Madison Square Park and lunch at DANNY MEYER's "Shake Shack."

The line at the Shake Shack reminded me of the line at Georgetown Cupcake in Washington. Long, and patient. But it moved fast. Spencer and I sat at a little park table under a heat lamp and enjoyed two delicious "Shackburgers," that reminded me of the "Mighty Mo" of olden days at the Hot Shoppes, only the lettuce wasn't shredded. I love shredded lettuce on a burger. But it did have "special sauce." And cheese. Also, they served a little condiment cup of diced onion. A nice touch. Spencer also had a regular cheeseburger. He had regular fries and I had cheese fries. The cheese fries were like at Pat's Cheese Steak without the steak or bun. A big mess of fries with lots of creamy yellow cheese drenched on the top. Oh, my.

For exercise and amusement after our first round of burgers we visited the International Auto Show at the Javits Center and and tried out every overpriced hot car on the floor. Getting in and out of hot cars can be an aerobic workout. This is what I decided after all those Bentley's, Maserati's, Porche's, Lamborghini's and Ferrari's: I'd like to get a truck. I tried out a truck called a Sierra or Safari and, man oh man, was that cool. It made me want to be out on a long dusty road in Arizona or up on the open highway in Montana.

The constant at the car show: there were more little tiny kids in the front seats of the cars than their were grown-ups. Little kids having a ball, beating on the steering wheels, trying to reach their tiny feet down to the pedals, locking the doors so their parents couldn't get them out. It was a blast.

Then, off to Pop Burger on 59th Street to try an order of, you guessed it, Pop Burgers. They come two to a box. Little guys, like Nathans mini-burgers. Real good buns. They come pre-ordained with cheese, tomato, shredded lettuce (yay) and special secret sauce. Very tasty. Could become an addiction. The fries were fine. It was $18 for the Pop Burgers, fries, a diet coke and a milk shake.

I'm finding that having a "fraud alert" on my social security number makes me sort of a marked person when I try to use my credit cards. I'm constantly having to prove I am who I am. This is a definite deterrent to spending money. Could be a trend in a down economy.

MONDAY, MARCH 24 ... Has this been a day to remember, or what? Smooth drive north, with my son at the wheel for half the highway drive, and an amazing burger when we arrived at The Corner Bistro in the Village, but that's also where I realized I'd lost my wallet somewhere between Washington and NY, at a highway rest stop on I-95. Oye. Thus began an interesting afternoon. Cancelled all my credit cards. American Express wins the prize for most speedy replacement. On the spot.

My biggest fear is someone who is not me now out there pretending to be me. I have put a fraud alert on all my accounts. You do this by calling the FTC and also the credit bureaus. I have called everybody. I fully expect to have to change my own identity before this episode is over.

Bright spot. While we were at Corner Bistro got a text from CHARLIE ROSE, who invited us to come join him at Le Bilboquet at Madison and 63rd. Since our hamburger lunch took all of 20 minutes, we hopped in the car, stopped briefly by Magnolia for cupcakes to compare them to Georgetown Cupcake and, without a doubt, Georgetown Cupcake comes out miles ahead on crumbs and icing. This is important: it's the density of the cake and the quality of the buttercream, and Georgetown Cupcake scores straight A's, compared to the everyone else's B's, C's and D's. Magnolia was a B in comparison.

Okay. Back in the car. Raced up Park Avenue to get parked near 63rd to meet Charlie. A wonderful reunion. We had not seen each other 5-6 years. Charlie and I have the same brain in lots of ways - professionally - and it was just a joy to catch up with him. Guess what? He's got a house in Georgetown and, as of April 1, will be a part-time DC resident again. This is great news. He's looking forward to being back in our city, which, as we all know, is about to become sui interesting again. Spencer had apple tart. I had green salad. Charlie had full lunch and a glass of red wine. He was just in London, and about to return, and was just his usual curious self.

I think he wants to do a Q&A. He brought it up. It would be tough to interview part of my own brain, but I would be honored.

Dinner tonight at a very interesting restaurant, but more about that when I'm more wide awake.

EARLIER...We've hit the 4,000 mark for the number of American military deaths in Iraq. At the White House, it should be a day of shame.

We're off on a hamburger trip. We'll report back on what we find. We want to ramp up the hamburger menu at Nathans, and this begins the research and development phase. Already I've tried some locally, and particularly liked the grass fed version at Hook, though was perplexed that they didn't have mustard. They had to make it for me, which was a bit extreme. Still, nice people and an excellent burger.

SUNDAY, MARCH 23 ... Happy Easter to all who celebrate the occasion. Went to church at 7:30 this morning and then departed as people began to arrive for the 8 a.m. Holy Eucharist. I like churches best when they are at ease. Later I drove all over the place trying to find a market with spring lamb, but failed. They had lamb, but it wasn't "spring" lamb.

It's a heartbreaker about Georgetown getting shut down by Davidson today. Oh, Hoyas. What happened? This was not expected. I feel for the team and Coach JOHN THOMPSON III. Yesterday we were at the Georgetown-Duke lacrosse game, which Georgetown won against undefeated Duke, (who also got knocked out of the basketball match-ups), and we felt the Hoyas were on a definite roll. Lacrosse yesterday, basketball today. But it wasn't to be.

We did catch some basketball last night at Nathans. We waited patiently for two seats at the bar and then had hamburgers and beers and hassled the bartenders. Haha. I wasn't that bad. Mostly joked with the crew: JESSE MILLER, who is a Georgetown lacrosse coach, and MATT BROWN, who is not, and YEDDA HEWITT, who is our senior bartender. Jesse taught me how to have tiny beers.

Here's what's really interesting and cool: a woman approached me and introduced herself, "Theresa" from California, touring colleges with her daughter, and she said, "I wanted to come to Nathans because I read your blog and watch your show online." How cool is that? I mean, how flattering? I was almost speechless. They were sitting at "Joe's Table." I was just so touched. I mean, wow. I loved that. Theresa, if you read this, please remember to write to me.

Good friends JAMES SPELLMAN and MIKE KELLY called late tonight to say there is something in Washingtonian about me and ROGER MUDD. Did I see it? No. Do I want to see it? No. I know this, it didn't come from me. He's not someone I think about or want to think about, and I'm disquted by the thought of having my name in the same paragraph with his in a magazine. But since I'm leaving town in the morning I do not have to worry about this. I'll pull a Scarlett O'Hara and think about it later, or better yet, not at all. He emailed me several months ago and I politely and honestly answered. That's the sum of our communication in more than 30 years.

SATURDAY, MARCH 22 ... I'm not saying you should, but if you read just one political story today, make it this one here. It is from politico.com and assesses the Clinton campaign in a cool-headed and smart way. It's particularly compelling to read the thinking of various Clinton insiders who, as the story says, "live here on earth."

This makes me wonder what it must be like for the candidates on this brief respite from the trail, probably their first real break - if they choose to take it - since Iowa. How does a candidate look at the landscape when the forest and the trees are so in and out of focus? Do you pull together only family? Trusted aids? Both? Do you get away by yourself, take a long walk, look at the ocean?

For a non-political change, tune in to News Channel 8 this evening at 6 pm to watch an interview with Nats president STAN KASTEN.

FRIDAY, MARCH 21 ... Welcome to spring, and the day HOWARD JOYNT would have turned 69. Spencer and I always celebrate his birthday - in a way he would like - but we're delaying the party for next week in NYC. For me today was an authentic spring day, because I spent most of it immersed in baseball. First at a Ben's Chili Bowl with team president STAN KASTEN and Mayor ADRIAN FENTY as they highlighted Ben's as one of the iconic DC food establishments that will have a concession at the new stadium. Then, I was at the stadium, wandering all its nooks, as well as the perimeter of the field, to take pictures for nysocialdiary.com. It was a privilege and a treat. Did you know there still are season tickets available? Good seats, too. Even for opening night. Buy them here.

A sad political note on an otherwise good day: it's unfortunate that the Clintons want the White House so blindly that BILL CLINTON, of all people, will go racist in order to smash down BARACK OBAMA. His remarks today that only Hillary and JOHN MCCAIN, the white candidates, are the only two candidates who "love this country" and "are devoted to the interests of this country," was just without excuse. Was it an angry strike at Richardson for endorsing Obama? I don't know. But it was sad. Desperate. Ugly. Way beneath a former president.

THURSDAY, MARCH 20 ... Watch Washington Nationals president STAN KASTEN's Q&A Cafe interview here. It just went up.

The BARACK OBAMA passport episode. My friend MYRA MOFFETT on the phone tonight, worried about the fallout. "They are all so afraid of him," she said. "The establishment are so threatened by him. If they gave him a chance they would find out he's good for them, too, but he's all about breaking down the old school ways and that scares them and so they feel they have to stop him." She may be on to something. I'm struck by how the main stream media are so entrenched in old patterns in dealing with Obama. They're uncertain how to report on him and so sway toward skepticism. If people would just let their defenses down and listen they might find he is speaking to them. His speech on race resonates. Those who refute it are, I think, unaccustomed to eloquence and candor. It's just not done by politicians anymore and so seems, of course, threatening.

Too often people tear down what they don't understand. A friend observed, "you like Obama." Well, yes I do. I'm craving change, and he's right on my chief issue: end the war.

EARLIER...Do I even need to make this announcement, but: March Madness begins today, and we're all over it at Nathans. We have it on three TV's, two of them big HD's, plus all the food and beverages you could ever hope to want or need while watching the games. Be there tonight and come back tomorrow for the Georgetown game. Come back every day, and especially the night the Hoyas take the title.

EARLIER...This goes to self-importance and it's a definite flaw in my personality, and I hate it when it flares up, but I get rankled when I'm not credited for one of my interviews. I shouldn't care, really, because usually reporters credit "The Q&A Cafe," as in, "so and so said at The Q&A Cafe." What bothers me, I guess, is that I want it made fully clear that so and so said what so and so said in an interview setting rather than a speech, because one of my chief objectives with the program is to be a SPEECH FREE ZONE. This is good both for the audience and the guest. Preparing a speech is a lot of work. Listening to one can be tedious. An interview requires no prep from the guest, it can be fun for them, and the audience, and it can deliver surprises which rarely happen in a speech. (Also, about 1% of the population can write a good speech.) And, last but not least, I take pride in my journalistic background, trained with the masters in the art of the interview, and study and prep all week to do a good interview. That's the egotistical part.

STAN KASTEN was an excellent interview yesterday. He's what I like: knows himself, hugely talented, comfortable in his skin, candid, tells a good story, has a sense of humor, and engages. Unfortunately we had a mic mishap at my end, my mic, and so when it airs my audio will sound off, or odd, or distant, but Stan's audio is fine and it's his audio that matters most. If you watch the show I think you'll like it. I'll post the link as soon as it's up on youtube.

Stan invited me over to the new stadium last night for a preview of the suites and the food that will be available at the suite level. Let me just say this about the new stadium: wow. As a long time Washington resident I had to pinch myself to register that I wasn't dreaming, that it's really in DC. Not unlike the first time I went to the Verizon Center. It makes us more of a big time grown up real city (though still without a vote). The stadium is gorgeou

Swimming in QuicksandA Daily Journal of Survival By Carol Joynt

Swimming in Quicksand
A Daily Journal of Survival
By Carol Joynt