I feel better now. I usually leave my tie tucked in my shirt -- where it is
safe from spaghetti sauce and other culinary delights -- as I find I am
always speaking after lunch or dinner. But, that is only one of my faults
when it comes to public speaking...

Sign me,

Tied Up for Now

-----Original Message-----
From: Met History [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Tuesday, February 29, 2000 5:51 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Vignette


Vignette, Preservation Cafe

I spoke at a local preservation get-together run by a community
organization,
the "Preservation Cafe".  Most people there thought I was pretty hot stuff,
that the column I write was swell, probably also that I was a really good
dancer and knew all about wine.   My talk was "An Architectural Historian's
Dream", a day when the information about the buildings we were preserving
was
as important as the buildings themselves (I should live so long!).  I
annoyed
one person by basically agreeing with Herbert Muschamp, but it seemed like
most everybody else was ready to join my fan club.

I was particularly debonair during the Q&A session, handling with aplomb the
gentlemen who had a >>really long<< speech about some community problem with
a Hudson River pier ("that's fascinating, let's talk about that later, let
me
move on to someone who has a question.") and the guy who promised me that
his
wife could tell me some stories about local politics that would "blow my
hair
off" (quite evidently, it had).

For a 50-something, it was a good evening, I mused, as I got ready for bed.
It was at that point, that I realized that I had buttoned my shirt collar
not
to their respective buttons at the sides, but to the central button at the
throat.  Must have looked pretty sharp.  Wish I had a picture - I could use
it as a dart board.

Sign me,  Kool Kat