Ok, here's a fun exercize I was thinking of last night when I was reminded how much I adore Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson because they were so well rounded. What 20 people would you like to have dinner with?

Now this is an interesting exercize because it leans towards the clever and fun. For example, yes, Einstein was brilliant, but I don't know how interesting he would be over a few slices. So here is my list, which is subject to change as people give me ideas:

1) Ben Franklin - Writer, Publisher, Scientist, Inventor, Statesman, Womanizer, Comedian

2) Thomas Jefferson - Farmer, Writer, Inventor, Architect, Archeologist, Statesman

3) Leonardo Davinci - Painter, Inventor, Sculptor, maybe the smartest human that ever lived.

4) Shakespear - Poet, Humorist, Essayist, Playwrite

5) Socrates -  Philiosopher, Humorist

6) Confucious -  Philiosopher

7) Plato -  Philosopher

8) Descarte - Writer, scientist,  Philiosopher

9) Nikolai Tesla - Inventor

10) Tom Robbins - Writer

11) Anatole France - Writer

12) Woody Allen - Writer, Diretor, Actor

13) George Carlin - Comedian

14) Dorothy Parker - Writer

15) Jane Austin - Writer, Satirist, Philosopher

16) Fran Leibowitz - Writer

17) Agostino Steffani - Composer, Cleric, Statesman

18)  Mark Twain - Writer, Humorist

19) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Composer, Womanizer, Drunk

Now there are a lot I am forgetting and will probably change as people give me ideas. Funny, clever people, who wold be fun to break bread with. I would say Edison, for example, but he seems kind of annoying. His one upsmanship wold get on my nerves. And anyone that electrocutes animals just to discourage them from using Tesla's AC current is a douchbag. Tesla would never harm an animal. And had no ego, no desire for recognition. Just to make the world better. Other ideas - Bill Gates and the late Steve Jobs.

A special section. Musical guest. Who would you have performing solo? Bands would leave it way too open. A billion choices. But one? Tricky, huh? Some may say Dylan, for example.  I would go with rarity and genius. If anyone can play solo, I would have to say Bach on the keys. Or Vivaldi on the violin.

Sorry, yes it would be cool to have Springsteen playing accoutic solo, but Springsteen is no Bach or Vivaldi.

I actually added Mozart and Stefanni as guests because Mozart would be a blast, and Steffani was ecclectic. You would know who he was as a composer if he wasnt drafted to so so much else. Another polymath. 

As for the musican playing, I would have to say Bach because I would want to pick his brain on how he does things. Crap, Steffani, Mozart and Bach in the same room. I'm tempted to make Paul McCartney a guest.

There are so many rock musicians I would love to hang out with but, hell, if its all time, you might as well pick rare people. Davinci. Hundreds of years dead. McCartney could could theoretically still meet. Dylan, tempting. But he seems like a drag. Too withdrawn. Ayn Rand might be interesting but too melodramatic. People might chose someone like Martin Luther King, Gandhi, or Mother Terresa, but it was more what they were willing to do than how interesting your conversations might be. MLK would be the cleverest of the three. My point is, moralists can be a little heavy. For the most part the people I chose were funny.