March 13, 2003

Today is the day to bite your pillow.

This has absolutely nothing to do with "We are Claire, You are Not" Week but did you see Elvis Costello last night on David Letterman? How great did he look? My love is refreshed. Oh, Mr. McManus.

Also, did you enjoy Donna Tartt's Secret History? Then read my review of her follow-up, The Little Friend.

Today's Claire made me realize that all Claires are unique, exotic creatures, and today she weighs in with a memoir of our friendship and the phenomenon of Claires sticking together. You can also learn more here, in a vintage Zulkey.com interview. .What about you? Got Claire?

We Are Claire, You Are Not Week Day 4:
A Tale of Claire Friendship by Claire Weingarden:
"Hi, it's Claire, is Claire There?"

I wish I could start this off by saying that, "I've known a lot of Claires in my life.," but that's simply not true.

I didn't know any Claires until I went off to high school and met this one. On the 202 CTA bus.

Claire and I became friends. Best friends, eventually. Why? I don't know. Maybe it was the brown hair, blurry eyed, Converse All Star thing we both had going on at the time.

By senior year, we became inseparable. We came to be known by several titles: The Claires, Claire #1 and Claire #2 (I was #1, clearly) and "Claire Squared" (for some time there we were even called "C Cubed" when I had a boyfriend whose name started with a C).

So, I got used to saying my name. A lot. It's really quite strange when you think about it, kind of like when you say a word over and over again and it stops making sense. Every night when I called Claire's house, I'd have to say, "Hi it's Claire, is Claire there?"

When I went away to college and told new friends about my life back at home, I would inevitably mention My Best Friend Claire. I smiled secretly when they jokingly asked if I was talking about myself.

So, how does it feel to share your name with your best friend? Sometimes I think this must be what it's like to be a twin -- pretty fun, a little bit freaky, but mostly, just lucky.

Congratulations on your one year anniversary, Z. What did you buy yourself?