1. Lisa is very funny. She always makes me laugh with her witticisms and quirky ways. Mostly I'm laughing with her, sometimes at her, but always laughing.

2. Lisa loves people. When she meets new people socially or professionally she's immediately engaged and curious, rattling along in conversation. It's a thrill to be with her in these situations.

3. Lisa loves children. If you've ever seen Lisa walk into a room with kids in it, you'll recognize this. Within minutes the kids are whizzing around Lisa, doing all manner of scandalous things, until it ends in tears or bedlam and the child's mother is putting the child to bed or hustling Lisa out the door.

4. Lisa is really smart and hardworking - a real go-getter. You go, girl.

5. Lisa loves reading. It's a good thing these items are in no particular order, because this one competes to be at the top of the list. How can you go through life not loving reading?

6. Lisa loves theater and acting. A frustrated actress, Lisa goes through life as a real-life Norma Desmond, every moment an opportunity for melodrama. Mostly amusing.

7. Lisa loves the outdoors. Deep sigh of satisfaction to be with a woman you can take camping and sleep on the hard ground without complaint (of course, my back hurts very badly).

8. Lisa is really pretty. It goes without saying that I think my wife is really hot. Say no more.

9. Lisa loves Australia. What a relief! What a pickle I would be in if she didn't - but who doesn't love Oz?

10. Lisa loves me!! Everybody knows of course, that the previous nine items are a necessary prelude to the important one which is all about ME!!!!

11. Bonus item. Lisa knows that I love her and I love knowing this fact.

12. Bonus item #2. Lisa loves sports. This is a godsend to the red-blooded, sports-addicted male. There's no explanation required for the entire Sunday devoted to football, or an entire month to World Cup soccer, or an entire season to coaching rugby. Lisa is right there with you.

13. Bonus item #3. Lisa loves sleeping. This is wonderful on Saturday and Sunday mornings when I have plenty of time to do whatever I want, which is usually reading the newspaper.

Additional reading for enthusiasts
http://www.middleweb.com/INCASEmark.html

Do you answer the door when hawkers and solicitors come to your house? Perhaps you pretend not to be home until they go away. Do you politely tell them "No thanks" while shutting the door or do you slam it shut with a "Not interested!"?

Today I opened the door to the "Working Families Party", a new political party in Massachusetts, according to the young man. He plied me with information about a new campaign apparently sponsored by labor unions like the CIO. His list included all manner of union locals and labor groups. I told him I was a member of the teachers' union and that most of the positions on his paper seemed consistent with the teachers' union's positions, which I contribute to and generally support.

Almost straight away he hit me up for money. Who does that? I mean, I know he's knockin' on doors with a schedule to keep, but who gives money on the spot to a political party they've never heard about. Maybe some see the affiliated organizations and figure, hey, it's all good.

Anyway, after a brief discussion about the differences between technical voting arrangements in Australia in the US and Australia, I told the guy I was happy to keep giving $20 out of my weekly paycheck to the teachers' union, which works on the same issues, instead of this unknown new group.

But doesn't the teachers' union support the Democrat Party reflexively? Is it doing enough for working families - the apparent focus of the guy on my doorstep - or does the union "merely" concentrate on the needs of teachers? With tens of thousands of teachers in Massachusetts alone, surely that's a lot of working families.

Perhaps these new guys deserve a chance. God knows Mass. is a political monopoly. The last exciting thing to happen in Massachusetts politics was the Bill of Rights in 1791, and we have Rhode Island and Delaware to thank for that. [OK, legalizing gay marriage was exciting for some]. As I closed the door after the guy, I thought to myself, I'm going to visit their website - check them out. Oh, and when I become eligible to vote in the US I might even vote for them.