I’ve mentioned before that I could well have been the bride of a software mogul. Now we are treated to a view of what my average day would have been like. I have not read the entire article yet — I find myself gagging every few sentences, and this slows my reading speed — but I would like to point out a few passages:
9:30 a.m. We get into her silver, two-seat Mercedes SL55 AMG. “I had a Jaguar, and then a Maserati, but Larry wanted me to have this car because of the airbags,” she says. There are no vanity plates, for security reasons. We head a mile north to the couple’s Japanese-style home in Atherton filled with antique Japanese helmets, folding screens and sculpture. This home is not to be confused with Ellison’s six-building Japanese compound that has been under construction for 10 years in Woodside.
…
Craft did not get a chance to eat at the tea, so she has lunch here, sitting on the floor on a low-slung table in front of the fireplace in the living room. “Life with Larry is rigorous,” she jokes. “You have to sit on the floor and have good posture.” She usually has turkey, lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise on Alvarado Bakery sprouted grain bread, but today, she says, she is being spoiled.
…
The study also has French doors that look out onto the gardens, at the edge of which Ellison has planted a row of bamboo to hide her British garden from view at the main house, where everything is all Japanese, all the time. That is OK with Craft, who is content to have her refuge, even if it’s blocked from sight.
“I let him do his thing,” she says. “I really wouldn’t want him messing with my books, my characters. This (compound) is his creative project. It’s beautiful. It’s not what I’d have built for myself, but it doesn’t mean I won’t love living there.”
…
A flock of wood ducks has taken up residence in the pond. A hundred or more cherry blossom trees, not yet in bloom, dot the landscape. The effect is like a resort, or a theme park of sorts, without any rides. Actually, they do have a boat with an electric motor that they take in the pond. They like to stop under the bridges, where Ellison sings. His favorites are show tunes, especially selections from “Aspects of Love” (a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber) and “Chess,” (a musical by ABBA members Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus, with lyrics by Tim Rice). Ellison and Craft are scheduled to meet Tim Rice in Los Angeles for brunch a few days after this interview to discuss a remake of “Chess,” she says.
Gak.
(Link via Stephany A. at Maud N.)