MONDO EXTRAS

They bring the dog, who is perfectly behaved, as usual.

Back when they were so very, very evil, who knew it would come to this?

Eight

I tap Zach on the arm. We say hi, and it turns out that we are doing this at the very moment that Brandon and Nicole are coming in. We note that Brandon, also, has very large hair. He might displace Zach for the most impressive final three hair ever, actually. We agree that while Brandon's hair is larger, it also uses more product, and it is necessary for its score to be reduced accordingly. I also tell him that I really liked the New York Times piece he wrote about racing. In addition to the fact that I am more comfortable with people who write than I am with anyone else, this is, as it happens, true. Zach is cool. It occurs to me again that of all the Racers I know, he is probably the most normal.

"Hey, Flo!" "Oh, hey, how are you?" "Oh, fiiiiine, how are you?" "Fiiiine!"

Nine

Lenny? Still hot. Still tall. "We've come a long way since the Manhattan Chili Company," he says. For some reason, I repeat my "guy throwing up out the window" line, which wasn't that good the first time. That is a poor showing on my part.

Ten

I miss Phil. First, I hear that he's there, and then, I hear that he's gone. I'm not sure Phil ever made it more than ten feet into the party. Hmph.

I miss Brandon and Nicole. I see his hair a few more times over the course of the party, but I do not talk to them.

I miss the Moms. I see them once or twice, and they look faboo, but I don't talk to them. It's the year of missed opportunities.

Eleven

Chip and Kim are working their way through the crowd when I sneak over to them. I start to pick up my name tag, but Chip says, "I know who you are!" You would think Chip would give a great hug, right? He does. He tells Kim who I am, and she acts excited too, which…always surprises me. I tell her how incredibly excited everyone was to see them win, as people stand around and take our picture a lot. I tell her that among other things, it was wonderful to see people win who weren't a team of boys with big arms. "You know, the reason why we sometimes looked like we were out of shape…is that we were out of shape," she tells me with a laugh. They introduce me to their son -- so cute, seriously -- and point out some of the rest of the folks with them. They're utterly delightful, exactly as you would expect.