I went to see KiKi today, brought him a hearty lunch, and that picked me up.

I noticed that the Stuyvesant Fish mansion was for sale for 50 million dollars; while not the most expensive home in New York, it has one of the richest histories: that of being the residence of the "holy terror of Society", Mamie Stuyvesant Fish. Mamie comes up every now and then with me because she was so much fun, and I crowned my friend, Jason, with her name at our court for having the same sharp wit, money, and utter disregard for convention that the original Mamie had.

Mamie was a close friend of both Caroline Schermerhorn Astor (The) and Alva Vanderbilt, bitter rivals in the stratified social world of The Gilded Age. Mamie's position as one of the Dutch "patriarchs" suited Mrs. Astor just fine, and Mamie was a tough, independent woman who would later fund and promote the suffragette movement with Alva. But most of all Mamie thrilled society by thumbing her nose at it; and in an age when convention ruled, she was the most unconventional figure around.

Some of the great stories I remember reading about her include inviting Newport society to a dinner honoring a foreign prince; when the eager guests arrived they found a monkey in a tuxedo. When Grand Duke Boris visited Newport, he was prevented from attending her reception for him when tied down at the nearby Oelrichs mansion; undaunted Mamie announced to the 200 waiting guests including, J. Pierpont Morgan, that none other than the tsar himself was about to arrive. Two taps sounded on her ballroom doors and her butler announced, "His Imperial Majesty, Nicholas, Tsar of All The Russias!" The entire room curtsied and bowed and when they lifted their heads, they saw Mamie's buddy in social pranks, Henry Lehr, dressed in a robe and crown. The newspapers vilified her when she threw a luncheon for dogs and gave her own a $10,000 collar; she didn't care because she didn't have to. When she wanted her guests to leave, she had her musicians play Home Sweet Home. And my favorite: Mamie never liked the stuffy afternoon string quartets and was way ahead of her time when she introduced that period's version of show tune music. When asked by a reporter what her favorite instrument was, Mamie replied, "The comb".

You have to find humor somewhere to survive.