January 12, 2002 | 6:53 PM

I think the reason that I like the movie Love Story is that I saw it when I was very young and I mixed up the character of Jennifer Cavalieri with my mother, who in pictures from 1970 when the film was released looked very much like Ali McGraw, the actress who played Jennifer.

The fact that Jennifer Cavalieri is a tragic heroine and dies of leukemia would be very fitting with how I viewed my Mom when I was a kid.

This of course all changed as I grew older. But that stupid fucking movie still makes me ball my eyes out.

And I don't care what anybody says. I think Ali McGraw rules.

Too bad Steve McQueen made her quit making movies.

What an asshole.

(I still love Steve McQueen, though)