Cameras and Computer? Couldn't do what I do without them. I always carry a camera with me, and when I am traveling or working I usually carry three, loaded with different film, and with different lenses. That way I don't have to stop. I'll often shoot the same thing with all three cameras, just to see what I get. The old Minolta on the left weighs a ton, but, oh the adventures that thing has had.

Coffee? I grew up with a couple of serious bean heads. I'm not kidding; we had one of those two pot restaurant Bunn coffee makers in our kitchen. My mother drank hers black, and caused no end of comment by doing so. My dad's family used to have these card parties where all the adults played cards, smoked and drank coffee incessantly. (Hmmm. Looking back, maybe they weren't card parties, maybe they were AA meetings.) When I was about six I was sitting at the table, covering someone's hand, and one of my uncles asked who wanted coffee. I said that I did, and I took it black. He sat a cup down in front of me, with the whole room watching. I knew that if I took a drink and spit it out or made a face that I would never live it down. So I sat there and drank my cup of steaming black coffee, and never looked back. Sugar? Cream? For pussies.

Champagne? Around this house, no occasion is too feeble to celebrate with a bottle of Taittinger. Wednesday? Go ahead. Cloudy? Even better. Unexpected check in the mail? Duh. Boy fell asleep before 10? I hope you brought extra.