Demand: Yekaterina, 20 June 2009, Porter Square, Cambridge

I was upfront with Yekaterina why I had stopped her: the color of her hair and outfit.
In days like this when everybody is miserable, I like to show the bright side of life.
She says she buys from thrift stores and would never switch to high-end. I asked what the best thing she'd ever found was.
A poodle dress...It was like a ball of tutu. It was the craziest thing and the best thing.

Okay, pretend that you have to go to a giant meeting of all the most important people in your life, living or dead, and you have to make a speech. What would you wear?

I would probably wear that dress.