[Michael Juster]

Wendy:

The smoking jacket peels away the guilt.

Mike

[Michael Cantor]

Hooray for you, Gail! Not only did you win, but I believe that two-in-a-row gives you the right to select the next US Senator from the State of Louisiana. Makes sense to me.

[Gail White]

Michael, if that were true, Louisiana might end up with a better Senator than we're likely to get.

This whole smoking jacket business reminds me -- does anyone still read the old novels about Hyman Kaplan, and Mr. Parkhill's night school English class for immigrants? I remember that in one of the stories the students surprise Mr. Parkhill by presenting him on his birthday with a wonderfully tacky smoking jacket. This is also the story where I learned the word "eumoirous".

[Michael Juster]

Gail, Gail, Gail:

We jacket holders strongly prefer "provocatively overstated" to "tacky."

Mike

[Gail White]

Bill Baer just sent me the complete list of finalists in alphabetical order, and here it is:

Catherine Chandler
Robert Daseler
Anna Evans
Claudia Gary
D. R. Goodman
Stephen Harvey
Allison Joseph
Susan McLean
Michael Shewmaker
Marion Shore
David Stephenson

Congratulations, everyone--