letter from the editor: august '04.

Eau, Yes!

I have a new idol, and his name, at the moment, is P. Diddy. At a lunch the other day to celebrate his new fragrance, he explained his "concept of smell-good." It is a philosophy to live by. "I love sexy things, beautiful things," he said, "dressing up and smelling good. I love beautiful women. Sexy conversation. This [fragrance] is one of the sexiest conversation pieces a man can have." (Small digression: Before we sat down, a friend whispered, "What do I call him?" I answered, as if I knew, "It's a business lunch. Call him Sean. When you're with him in St.-Tropez swigging Cristal on a yacht, then you can call him P. Or Diddy. Or P. Diddy.") The man sparkled. He had big diamond studs in each ear, plus a diamond watch and several rings. His suit was dark, pinstriped, and perfectly tailored. He brought his mother, and he thanked all the right people. Those are reasons enough to admire him. But I'm still infatuated with his dual concepts of "smell-good" and "sexy conversation." Janice Combs, Sean's mother, provided me with a little background. When her son was a teenager playing a lot of sports, she told him quite bluntly that no girls would be interested in him unless he smelled ...