The Reliable Source

Gossip From Washington and Beyond

The Reliable Source is back, under the stewardship of Amy Argetsinger and Roxanne Roberts . Appearing in the Style section on Tuesdays through Fridays and Sundays, The Reliable Source brings you gossip from across the region and around the world -- candid looks at the lives and loves and hijinks ofall your favorite bold-faced names, be they congressmen or millionaires,ballplayers or newsbabes, nightlife divas or master thespians, DJs or gadflies, has-beens or will-bes.

Columns

Stir Five Months. Reheat. Serves Millions. (Reliable Source, Nov. 2)

Nancy Reagan Returning for a New Royal Repast (Reliable Source, Nov. 1)

How to Greet the Accused So You Won't Feel Guilty (Reliable Source, Oct. 30)

Argetsinger and Roberts are online each Wednesday at Noon ET to discuss your favorite gossip, what you thought about their recent columns or who you want to see them writing about in future ones.

Argetsinger is a veteran of all leafy-green, protein-rich sections like Metro and National while Roberts brought you the champagne and bon-bons of Style's society beat.

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Amy Argetsinger: So this week, we've brought you Lisa Ling's real estate problems, dreamy Patrick Fitzgerald, brainy Sam Alito, Nicole-Nicole-Nicole, Martha-Martha-Martha, and more of our attempts to get a beef going with Ludacris.

How are you going to give back? The lines are open!

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Oh please, do help: My rottweiler has run away. I'm ever so lonely without her. She has medium brown hair and goes by the name Camilla. She broke away from her leash at the airport. She's fairly tame and well broken in. If anyone has seen her, do call immediately.

Charles

Roxanne Roberts: So why the lingering nastiness toward Camilla? Are you a Di-hard fan? She's coming to Washington today as part of the week-long promo in the US.

Di's gone, Charles is happy at last, so what's the big deal?

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Washington, D.C.: Last week, someone asked you two for your pictures. You are in this month's Washingtonian.

Amy Argetsinger: No way! How'd they get that?

Roxanne Roberts: I think it was last month's issue, unless some paparazzi got a shot of us carousing.

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Washington, D.C.: Is Nicole still in town? Mmmmmmm, Nicole!

Amy Argetsinger: We think Nicole is still in town. She was scheduled to snarl some more traffic on Monday, in the K Street tunnel. Yet somehow the Nicole sightings have dried up! Have we all become that jaded about Oscar-toting Titian-haired giantesses that we don't bother to pick up the phone when we see her?

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Virginia: Are Bill and Hillary still living together? What the deal with Hillary and her lover?

Amy Argetsinger: You're such a romantic! Hillary and her lover were spotted at Cafe Milano last week celebrating her birthday; she had chocolate cake, and he had the mixed berries...

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Kensington, Md.: Re the Princeton thesis requirement: I never understood why it was considered such a big deal -- I just figured each thesis chapter was the equivalent of a twenty-page paper (a common thing), so the thesis was just five or six such papers with a common theme -- not a problem if you got started in time. But a lot of people agonized over their theses, repeating the story (true or not) that Princeton was the ONLY school where EVERYONE (except those verbally challenged engineers) HAD to write a thesis in order to graduate. Lots of people really freaked out about their theses, especially toward the deadline in early April -- and of course the procrastinators were freaking out the loudest. One bizarre milestone I recall those politico/wonk types in the Woodrow Wilson School ("Woody Woo") bragging about was when their thesis page total exceeded their weight.

But the universal thesis requirement did engender a certain we're-all-in-this-together camaraderie, especially since the technology at the time required that, if you wanted to use the computer to type your thesis (remember Script, anyone?), you had to trudge all the way out to the Computer Center to use the mainframe, and sit at a monitor in a giant room with all the other computer users.

Meg Spencer Dixon, Princeton '82 (yes, same class as The Wash. Post's own Joel Achenbach)

Roxanne Roberts: Ah, school daze! I can't add anything except to say I got married at the President's House on campus, and everyone was lovely. I was not required to write a thesis.

Amy Argetsinger: Hey, what was Joel like in college? Ladies' man, or pencil-necked geek? Tell all!

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Van Ness, Washington, D.C.: What local notables gave out the best treats and wore the most creative costumes?

Amy Argetsinger: We heard surprisingly little about this -- except for that fact that our new Chief Justice wore Groucho glasses as he handed out candy, and that the lights were out at the Kerry-Heinz house in Georgetown. Maybe some of you can tell us about other notables?

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Grifton, N.C.: Given your busy schedules, I wonder if either of you has time for "personal writing"?

Roxanne Roberts: Journals? Blogs? Insider-y Washington novels that four people would buy? X-rated scripts? What exactly are you looking for?

Amy Argetsinger: Thanks for asking! In my spare time, I'm actually the author of a lot of those Nigerian e-mail scams -- you know, the ones asking you for your bank account number so you can help us ship our illegal fortune out of the country. Helps pay the bills!

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Bluffton, S.C.: Invitees to the White House dinner for Charles and the Duchess must have been received by now. Are any on them "leaking" the information? If so, who's on the list?

Roxanne Roberts: The White House has been very tight-lipped---as usual---about the list. We reported yesterday that Nancy Reagan will attend the dinner, which is a nice touch, given that she was the hostess when Charles brought Diana to the White House 20 years ago. The usual administration suspects, of course, are attending. I'm waiting to see if President Bush 41 and Bar will be at this dinner---you old folks may recall that the then-veep and Barbara were NOT on the list 20 years ago, which didn't sit well with them.

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Anonymous: What was Martha thinking in releasing that picture of her in her costume? The strained look on the face of the guy carrying her --who's obviously in great shape -- makes it seem like he's lifting 300 pounds. That's not a good thing.

Roxanne Roberts: Miss Martha seems to be feeling pretty frisky these days. But I agree---I'm not sure the whole Jane thing worked.

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Amy Argetsinger: I disagree about Martha. I thought she looked surprisingly great in that wig. She should get herself some extensions!

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Bethesda, Md.: There were a few Karl Roves and Scooter Libby's roaming around Halloween parties this past weekend: basically, guys in standard D.C. government wonk business suits -- albeit with prison numbers on their backs and some handcuffs.

Roxanne Roberts: Love Halloween in DC! Were the Scooters limping?

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Washington, D.C.: Shouldn't they invite at least one movie star to dance with Camilla? Who's the modern day equivalent of Travolta?

Amy Argetsinger: Ooh, good question. I don't know why John Travolta can't still play that role. But if you want someone new, how about "Dancing with the Stars" champion John O'Hurley?

Or Christopher Walken. He's an excellent dancer.

Any other suggestions?

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Charlottesville, Va. : I have to admit that I had the same reaction to Patrick Fitzgerald after watching his press conference as the friend you mentioned in your column. Any more news on the cutie prosecutor?

Roxanne Roberts: No, darn it. We were hoping he'd take us both to lunch, flirt madly, and reveal all. But that tease hasn't called.

Amy Argetsinger: He can subpoena me any day!

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Chicago, Ill.: So, which of you was the one who thought Patrick Fitzgerald was hot? Or was it both?

Amy Argetsinger: To be perfectly candid, I don't think either of us were particularly struck by him at first. Then we started getting e-mails from other ladies, and you know how it goes -- if all these other girls are chasing after him, he must be crushworthy!

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Lincoln Park, Washington, D.C.: That piece reprinting the sexual fantasy about Karl Rove was cruel and inhumane to your readers. Whichever one of you found that should be relegated to the Wendy Rieger hair beat until I've had enough electroshock to melt that horrible image from my mind.

Roxanne Roberts: Hey! Don't kill the messenger!

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Providence: I don't get the Camilla nastiness. She is a woman who looks her age, as most women her age do (if that makes any sense). She's certainly not repulsive. Sure, Di was gorgeous, but she doesn't seem like such a prize in retrospect.

Roxanne Roberts: I'm inclined to believe Charles, Di and Camilla all behaved badly, and that Di was too young and too immature to handle such a complicated life-----and that no good is served to pile onto Charles and Camilla now. God knows they seems to genuinely love and respect each other, which is a lot more than you can say for many high-profile marriages.

Amy Argetsinger: There's something more than a little sexist and age-ist about the anger directed towards Camilla. Really kind of scary.

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Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C.: Not sure where you heard that Kerry's lights were off on Halloween. Roll Call reports that he was there, handing out candy in between speech writing with his staff ...

Amy Argetsinger: Uh, we heard that from a co-worker who heard it from a neighbor whose name she couldn't recall... which is the reason it didn't end up in the column, and why we were just sharing it here, among us pals. Should have put a "rumor had it" on that previous post, sorry...

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Fairbanks, Alaska: At the to-do in the White House for Charles and WhatsHerName, will, at some point, the women retire to the settee room while the men pour the port, smoke the cigars, and talk about the sorrows of empire?

Or do they go to the billiard room for this?

Sorry, I'm not up on D.C. protocol. I have enough trouble remembering to remove my Nationals ball cap at Wendy's!

Ciao -- means goodbye -- ... Nanook

Roxanne Roberts: Nope. That tradition went after my heroine, Katharine Graham, threatened to leave a Georgetown dinner when the ladies were scooted upstairs.

Besides, this president doesn't drink or smoke. The truth is that after dinner, the guests will sit in the East Room for entertainment. Then the prince and Camilla will probably leave, George and Laura will go to bed, and the rest of the guests will gossip about them all.

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Washington, D.C.: I've found Patrick Fitzgerald to be strangely attractive. Strangely, because he's not conventionally handsome, sounds like he has no life outside the courthouse, and seems not to like girls (or boys, for that matter; we just don't know). I was so relieved to read in your column that I'm not the only one who feels that way. So what is it that we see in him? I think maybe it's that he's totally in command of the situation, can't be flattered into leaking and has that sort-of Gary Cooperish silent strength. Other ideas?

Roxanne Roberts: He also seems smart as a whip in a good way: No spin, no double-talk.

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Bethesda, Md.: Wait a minute there. My son was an engineering major at Princeton, wrote a long thesis on a patented invention, and is not verbally challenged. He won the English prize for best paper his freshman year.

Amy Argetsinger: You hear that, Meg Spencer Dixon, '82?

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Austin, Tex.: Plutocrats send their Scooters, Chads, Thads, Bretts, Poppys, et al to Choate, Phillips Exeter, Groton, yawn.

Where do they send their precious daughters?

Always wondered.

Amy Argetsinger: Happily, all those schools are now open to Bitsys, Brookes, Muffies, Jinzies...

Actually, come to think of it, hard-core preppy girls don't have those kinds of names anymore, do they? They've all got cool androgynous last-name first names, like Morgan and Calvert and Sackett.

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Bethesda, Md.: Why is Scooter limping?

Roxanne Roberts: Broke his foot. Guy CAN catch a break.

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Wilmington, Del.: I don't get the Camilla nastiness either. It is over and done. Move on, people.

And Patrick Fitzgerald is hot?! I am glad I am not a single woman living in D.C. if the pickings are so slim to make him a hottie. Holy crap -- next Gene will be considered a hottie.

Amy Argetsinger: Uh, isn't he?

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Di vs. Camilla:

If Di's boys don't care, pleased with their new step mother, and are just glad their father is happy -- the rest of us need to BUTT OUT. Now on to good stuff -- any news about the twins? When does Barbara return from South Africa?

Amy Argetsinger: Don't know when Barbara gets back in town -- but when she does, we're going to organize a half-priced drinks night at Stetsons in her honor. Miss her! What's the point of having presidential twins if only one of them's in town?

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If Charles is so happy: ... why did Camilla find love letters that Charles had written to another woman?

P.S. I said nothing about Diana. Are you jealous that she was prettier and more well loved than you? Diana was a princess. You are a gossip writer.

Roxanne Roberts: Make that a LOWLY gossip writer. Brunette, to boot, with no eating disorders. Actually, its remarkable you deign to converse with mere mortals.

Amy Argetsinger: I'm insanely jealous! Don't know what that has to do with anything, though.

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Germantown, Md.: If a future king to the throne can get away with adultery, what signal is that sending to the world? Maybe adultery is acceptable in London, but not in the U.S.!

Amy Argetsinger: Frightening to think that people now might start committing adultery in the U.S., isn't it?

Roxanne Roberts: Adultery? Did I miss something? I, for one, am SHOCKED.

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Arlington, Va.: A friend of a friend saw Venus (or was it Serena?) Williams at the Results gym in Capitol Hill last week.

Amy Argetsinger: Tell your friend's friend they should have called us!... There was rumor that Venus and/or Serena might come to town for Howard homecoming, never heard if they did...

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Alexandria, Va.: The guy in the pic plays Ryan Lavery on All My Children ... not one of my fave characters but he is cute. Now SHHH ... it's almost on and I need to kick the boss out of the office so I can watch.

Amy Argetsinger: The guy hoisting Martha, you mean? What a man!

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Camilla: If Camilla lived around here, she would reside outside Upperville on a large, slightly shabby, farm; drive a beat up Volvo 240 wagon; give lavish parties but drink beer. She would occasionally pee outside au naturel. We would like her.

Amy Argetsinger: Can't argue with that!

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Washington, D.C.: Hilary and her lover? Obviously I am not hip enough, what did I miss or is this more lesbian speculation?

Roxanne Roberts: She had dinner with her husband, kids.

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Washington, D.C.: Hey!

Anyone who calls Camilla "rottweiler" hasn't seen any post-marriage photos of her. She looks great! Wonderful, stylish clothes, beautiful hair.

Looking good is easy when you're young and beautiful like Di. It's a whole lot harder when you're older and were never really blessed in the looks department in the first place. Camilla's amazing in that respect.

I really hope the people who don't like her will at least bother to look at some of the photos of this trip to see that "rottweiler" is not an appropriate sobriquet for her anymore.

Amy Argetsinger: Just putting this out there...

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Washington, D.C.: Do you guys ever think how cool it'd be if two of your seemingly-unconnected stories suddenly collided? Like, what would happen if Nicole Kidman was seen out on the town with Patrick Fitzgerald?

Amy Argetsinger: They'd be so cute together! I'll call his spokesman and her publicist, see if we can make it happen...

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Rockville, Md.: It's too bad Parris Glendening didn't run into Ehrlich. Mr. Glendenning could have reminded Ehrlich that during Glendening's eight years as governor, there were no political hiring scandals or any other serious scandals involving state government.

Amy Argetsinger: Well, it wasn't all smooth sailing for Parris. There was all that messiness about his attempt to receive enhanced pension benefits -- for himself and two top aides -- on the claim they were "involuntarily separated" from their Prince George's County jobs when they moved to the State House.... Yeah, good times...

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Los Angeles, Calif.: Who did Libby kick while down? Certainly you don't believe he broke it walking up the stairs, now do you?

Roxanne Roberts: I think he was frog marching.

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NoVa: Re: Camilla

One word: Homewrecker

Sure the Charles and Di marriage may have been fatally flawed from the start but Camilla was no innocent bystander there. It's hard to respect someone who could have done the honorable thing and didn't -- and that goes for Charles, too.

Roxanne Roberts: Homewreckers, plural. Equal opportunity in our column, folks. I react poorly when the women get all the blame.

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Downtown D.C.: It seems like, in the short time ya'll have been manning (womanning?) the gossip desk, there's already been a greater emphasis on the gossip of the D.C. African American community and on hip-hop and other black-themed gossip. It's really perked the column up! And I'm not even black and couldn't name enough hip-hop artists to fill up the fingers of one hand. But the column feels much more representative of the city as a whole now, and less like it's telling us about the dry dealings of a rarified subsection of a subsection of the community.

I guess I should say something like, "Represent, yo!" at this point?

Amy Argetsinger: Yeah, we like to think there's more to this city than just politicians, lobbyists and Nicole Kidman... So, thanks!

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Washington, D.C.: Here's the thing with Camilla that many people I know agree with me on: it is the fact that the mistress somehow "won." She may be a nice person and all that, but I just can't get past that.

I just don't care to see the two of the together. I don't actively condemn Camilla/Charles. I just ignore them and could care less.

Roxanne Roberts: A very rational and mature approach, if you ask me. What's a sensible person like you doing in a place like this?

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Arlington, Va.: I listened to Pat Fitzgerald's press conference on the radio and completely fell in crush with him just from his voice and language. Then I saw that if you squinted, he could look like Kevin Costner in The Untouchables, so count me in, ladies!

Amy Argetsinger: Wow, just from his voice! That's how you KNOW it's the one!

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FOB Kalsu, Iraq: I too am an engineer (Aerospace Engineering, Embry-Riddle, '95) who had to write a thesis for my Bachelor's degree ("Solar Power Satellite Power Generation Systems: A Comparison), and do not consider myself compositionally challenged. Of course, look where that got me ... I'm in Iraq.

Anyway, give us what we really want ... info on Butterstick AKA Tai Shan.

Roxanne Roberts: Oh, yeah! Butterstick's my man if I can't have Fitzgerald. The baby panda just took his first, wobbly steps. How cute is THAT? Oh, and tickets to see him are going faster than Supreme Court nominees round these parts.

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Downtown, Washington, D.C.: What if you were subpoenaed as a witness, and part of the testimony would involve you talking to your friends while they were at work on I.M? They are govt. employees and I'm afraid to get them in trouble. It's minor, I know, but maybe you guys would be the best source for advice on passing this off to sound like legitimate business dealings so they don't get in trouble?

Amy Argetsinger: Uh... I dunno. I'm just a lowly gossip writer who is desperately jealous of the late Princess Diana.

Roxanne Roberts: Steer clear of classified leaks and really dirty jokes and you should be fine.

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Venus: The best part of the story is that the friend of a friend was in an aerobics class with Venus. After the class finished she went up to her to ask for an autograph and a hug (ewww, sweaty!). But then got on her cell phone and called her husband and then had an argument with him about whether she was in fact standing next to Venus!

Amy Argetsinger: See? And if she had just called us instead, she could have confirmed it was Venus through our network of highly-placed sources, and they could avoided all that marital strife.... what a great story. Did she put Venus on the phone with him?

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Bethesda, Md.: Princeton: And I would like to add that my son's opinion of the grammatical skills of Princeton's liberal arts majors is not flattering. He suggests a required remedial English course for all freshmen in an attempt to preserve Princeton's well-deserved reputation in so many areas.

Amy Argetsinger: oh, SNAP! What you got to say now, Meg Spencer Dixon, '82?

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Kids?: Who are the other kids besides Chelsea?

Amy Argetsinger: Re-read the sentence -- Roxanne was calling you guys "kids."

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Davidsonville, Md.: Back off of Fitzgerald! He's mine.

A cute, bright veterinarian is just what he needs for a break from all that being-an-upstanding-civil-servant stuff.

Could you find out if he has any pet allergies, though? Thanks so much.

Amy Argetsinger: We'll look into it. We're hoping to do a regular Teen Beat style feature on Pat -- you know, stuff about what he's looking for in a girl, maybe an occasional bare-chested photo...

Roxanne Roberts: I think we ALL need bright, cute vets! I once interviewed a house manager who said he didn't like to work for people with no pets because they were a bit too fussy, whereas pet people were a bit more relaxed about everything. Anyone who doesn't mind a little dog hair is okay in my book.

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Mt. Lebanon, Pa.: What kind of dirt is the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) excavating in its investigation of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, (R-Tenn.)? And just what has he allegedly done?

Anybody leaking? Or tossing out clods of information, more accurate in keeping with the opening metaphor? Any good gossip? Speculation? Outright WMD-type fabrication?

Is the investigation supposed to be over in this current election cycle? Or the next? Ever?

BTW: I wonder if his malpractice insurance covers this situation.

Thanks much.

Amy Argetsinger: I'm sorry -- I think you might have walked into the wrong chatroom. Any Nicole Kidman/Keith Urban sightings in your part of world these days?

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Long Beach: Re: The Duchess of Cornmeal:

Wouldn't she be called a

CASTLEWRECKER?

Roxanne Roberts: True 'nuf.

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Baby Panda: I just saw an Internet video of the baby panda taking its first steps and the video was sponsored by E.P.T.

washingtonpost.com: Video: Tai Shan Walks

Amy Argetsinger: just sharing

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Castle out west: Greetings, lowly scribes, knavish wenches unworthy of holding Diana's barf bag!

May you both fester in dankness!

Avant! Away! Purveyors of social bile!

Roxanne Roberts: So true. And now we're being dragged away to unearth more horrible dirt on lovely people. See you all next week.

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