This is where we got dusted.

What has happened in our community is very unfortunate. We have created two communities: a middle class, and the ones who are poor.

We asked for $4 billion in savings in 2005 and got only $300 million, but we dusted ourselves off and asked for the savings again, and more, and got $6.5 billion the next year. Persistence pays off if you're doing the right thing.

The owner of the Agut d'Avignon had the air of a 1920s dandy who had ruined himself with one mad night of gambling at baccarat and had only been saved by this restaurant, which he seemed to cherish as if it were his wife or a good fountain pen.

To begin cooking duck at one in the morning is one of the finest acts of madness that can be undertaken by a human being who is not mad.

Thanks, Pepe. You've put an extra night into my life. I would have spent it just sleeping like an ox, but I've lived it instead. I'm grateful.