The David Sedaris thread got me thinking...

[grace0418]

My carpool mates and I love to talk about a fictional building we might live in and who would live there with us. David Sedaris was one of the first people we listed as a neighbor.



So who would live in your building and why? The rules are as follows:

•The building can be however large and located wherever you'd like.

•You decide who gets to live there.

•It's a given that anyone you name to live in your building would, of course, gratefully accept the invitation.

•There will be a social/communal aspect to the building. So if you choose to have David Sedaris live there, he would give readings of his work on a regular basis. Musicians would give concerts, chefs would cook, etc. Each resident would use his or her gifts to make the building a good place to live. Of course each resident would have a completely private space where they would live, entertain, cook, dine, etc. But in addition, there would be a dining hall, community kitchen, movie theater, dance club, lounge, pool, etc. where residents would come together.

•Since this is utterly fictional, you can have anyone you wish, including historical figures and fictional characters. Even if a person was already chosen for someone else's building you can still have them live in yours.




My carpool mates and I have been playing this game for months, so our list is huge (it's going to be a very large building). I'll give you just a few names:

David Sedaris, Neil Finn, John Linell and John Flansburgh from They Might Be Giants, Amy Sedaris, John Stewart, Steven Colbert, Will Ferell, Johnny Depp, Jason Bateman, Christopher Guest, Sarah Vowell, Molly Ivins, Ewan McGregor, Phil Hartman :(, ... the list goes on.

Your turn!

[grace0418]

1. No one wants to play?

Darn, I thought it would be fun.

[Modem Butterfly]

2. All right, how's this?

David Sedaris (that's a given, right?), Oscar Wilde, the entire Algonquin roundtable, Suzanne Vega, Camille Claudel, Keith Olberman, Adlai Stevenson (it would just be something to have him alive right now, wouldn't it?), Annie Leibovitz, Carl Sagan and Madelyn Murray-O'Hare.

[terrya]

3. Mine:

Oscar Wilde, Jean Genet, Christopher Isherwood, Rudolph Nureyev, and Judy Garland. :-)

[Iterate]

4. Garrison Keillor, Ira Glass

Entertaining, quiet, and pays the rent on time.

[Arugula Latte]

5. You have some good picks.

I'd also add Elvis Costello, Paul Wellstone, the Beatles, Gilda Radner, Martin Short, Ellen DeGeneres, Mozart, Abe Lincoln, Bill Shakespeare, Alice Waters to cook for us ... Oh, I could go on and on.

[gardenista]

11. I love your list! Sigh... Gilda Radner.... nt

[Arugula Latte]

12. Thanks!

:hi:

She was a great one. I wish we could bring her and Phil Hartman and Chris Farley back to life -- they were true talents.

[crispini]

6. Oh, get OUT. How utterly fun.

Keith Olbermann :loveya:
Spaulding Gray :(
Martha Stewart (with a supply of Xanax or something to mellow her out, I think she's a bit uptight, but she would be a great building consultant)
The entire staff of "Design on a Dime" (while I'm thinking of interior decorating)
Naomi Nye (Texas poet)
Kinky Friedman (I don't want him to be the governor, but damn, he can play and give mystery readings!)
Willie Nelson

Let's see, I'm sure I'll think of a few more.....

[grace0418]

7. Ooooooooh you all picked some good ones!

I love the Alice Waters suggestion. YUM! I wouldn't mind have Alton Brown either. He doesn't seem like an egomaniac (like so many celebrity chefs) and I like his scientific approach. Plus he's kinda cute in the geeky smarty-pants way I love so much.

I was just thinking it would be fun to have Jamie and Adam from Mythbusters around. They sure would keep things lively and I bet they could fix stuff!

[yellowdogintexas]

8. OK: The Clintons, the Edwards, The Gores and The Carters

a few Kennedys wouldn't hurt either.

MOLLY IVINS!!

Walter Cronkite

Garrison Keillor and David Sedaris and Ira Glass


Susan Standberg

Jon Stewart, David Letterman,
oh yeah, The Car Guys..to fix all our cars!

Julia Child...we would eat WELL

Robin Williams, Barbara Streisand, Oprah,

we would have wit and good food, good conversation, a book circle, leadership...what fun

[grace0418]

9. Of Course! The Car Talk guys!

And they're liberals too, I think! Good one!

[gardenista]

10. Terry Gross, Paul Hawken, Bonnie Raitt, Keb Mo, David Sedaris,

Marilyn Monroe, Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis, (yeah, Amy Sedaris, too, she would probably do a good lemonade stand or something sometimes), all of my current neighbors, even the ones with the junk in their yard, Martha Stewart, Ellen DeGeneris, Bill Clinton, Annie Leibowitz, Fran Leibowitz, Ann Richards, Uma Thurmond, my whole family, all my former roomates, even the irritating ones (because I know that Martha would kick their asses!)

[Orsino]

13. Sorry. Most of those people will be unavailable...

...as they will be living in my building. But I'll be happy to put you on a waiting list. :+

[grace0418]

14. Eh-hem...

The rules state: "•Since this is utterly fictional, you can have anyone you wish, including historical figures and fictional characters. Even if a person was already chosen for someone else's building you can still have them live in yours."

Think if them as parallel universes or something. :)