Telephone

Yesterday my boss had a telephone conversation with his sick mother. She's been having heart problems. Apparently she was complaining about one of her nurses because I heard him say:
You think he's a sourpuss? Well maybe you shouldn't tell him that. He cares about you, and he wants you to get better even if it doesn't seem that way. He told you his age? And you told him he seemed older than you even though he's much younger? Oh good. Don't tell him that, it might hurt his feelings. Goodnight sweetheart. Let's talk tomorrow.
It made me sad to think of leaving New York and missing this.

Atonement

Yesterday was Yom kippur and instead of atoning for all things I should atone for (which are plenty) I thought about what play I wanted to write. I sat around on my bed, in the living room, watched Mad Men, spoke to my mother and stared at my toenails. I made pasta for dinner, decided not to meet up with anyone and looked at words I had written. It was not until this morning, after a sleepless night filled with anxiety, that I figured out what it was really all about. It might have been some sort of atonement for the things I shouldn't have written this past year. Or maybe it was just a much needed day of thought and nothing else. Here are some of the things I should've atoned for but didn't have time for:
Being addicted to Mad Men (there are other things to do)
Gossip
Not calling my little sister enough and making fun of her boyfriend
Not reading books I promised to read
Canceling appointments last minute
Being late
Judging people by what they wear (as if it actually says something about them?)
Saying I hated someone, when it really wasn't necessary
This year will be different.

The days I didn't feel like myself

and the hours went by without having accomplished anything at all.

Things I wondered about while watching the US open

The glitter dresses Venus Williams wears. With little glitter shorts underneath.
People checking their phone while they're visible on the big screens, usually during a crucial tie break. Who are they texting? And what? The scores?
Federer's pointy collar. Very seventies.

The day I thought I didn't have good ideas

We went to the beach, and had sardines and roast for dinner.
We gossiped about someone I didn't know who came from Minnesota.