THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, February 13, 1996 TAG: 9602130037
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Diane Tennant
LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines
Socks the Cat
White House
Washington, D.C.
Feb. 2, 1996
Dear Socks,
Just wanted to let you know how much I like your new kids' page on the White House World Wide Web site. (http://www1.whitehouse.gov/-WH/kids/html/kidshome.html)
Cool caricature of you on the welcome page, but I really like the B-I-G color pix of you best. Black and white just wouldn't do your black-and-white bod justice.
So, I hear that more than 14,000 kids have checked out your new home page since Al Gore first showed it to a bunch of California schoolkids on Jan. 19. Too bad the White House press office doesn't keep track of how many e-mail letters you've received since then. Your buddy, Rick Borchelt - you know, the White House spokesman you scratched the other day - says the number of letters is a ``presidential correspondence tracking issue'' and he doesn't have the numbers on it. By the way, he says he still has the scratches but he thought your visit to his office was cool.
Borchelt tells me that you were brought over on a leash and people were rushing to be photographed with you. Says a ``Socks Alert'' goes out whenever you take a stroll.
But he also tells me you prefer e-mail to being handled. Me, too.
I hear that the kids who have checked out your web site really like the bright crayon colors and the kids-style drawing of the White House. Click on one of the red, yellow or blue stars - yellow? - and they're on their way to photo visits with other White House pets and presidential kids.
Like Chelsea Clinton. Excuse me, I see that it's Chelsea Victoria Clinton on the web page. Too bad the photo was so grainy I couldn't make her out. Is she nice to you?
And those pictures of other White House pets are cool. Like Lyndon Johnson's dog Yuki. And Old Whiskers, a goat owned by Russell Harrison (son of Benjamin Harrison). And Caroline Kennedy's pony, Macaroni. Hey, is there a reason that most of these pets are Democrats? Where's Millie?
Oh, yeah, there she is, at the bottom of the page. Wait a minute, that's not Millie, it's one of Millie's puppies with George Bush. I guess Millie doesn't like cats, huh?
I especially like to click on Star No. 6 to get e-mail form letters I can send to the president, vice president or first lady. And to you. That's my favorite.
You asked easy questions for me to fill out:
``What is your name?'' Diane.
``What is your age?'' 40.
``What grade are you in at school?'' Well, maybe they're not all easy.
But I really, really like your promise to write me back.
But will you be mad if I don't choose one of the topic areas that are pre-selected for my letter, like crime, the economy or foreign policy? I'm just gonna mark ``Other.''
Anyway, thanks for a cool web site. But where is Millie, anyway?
Yours truly,
Diane Tennant
The Virginian-Pilot by CNB