Dear love, it's not even nine in the morning yet and my day is not going as planned. I tossed & turned all night, could not get back to sleep, though I feel alright this morning, despite all that. I surfed the net trying to think what to do with myself today. At first I thought, I'll go see the new Almodovar playing a few blocks from here, then maybe walk up to the Brooklyn Museum. And I've got a $10-off coupon to my favorite toy shop on the way. But then I thought, you know, I can see the Almodovar anywhere, it'll arrive upstate.... eventually. And I don't really need anything at the toy shop, and the coupon's good til next July. So maybe I should pack in some major culture instead, and go to the Metropolitan Museum - they've got a wonderful exhibit of Indian art, and brand new Islamic Art galleries. And then maybe tomorrow I might go to MOMA, for the deKooning. Man, those museum prices are steep now $25 each, though at least the Met's admission is "recommended" (so I was thinking $15).

So I packed a little sandwich - camembert on baguette, an apple - and breakfasted on a neighbor's-egg omelet with mushrooms. Then I retrieved a couple of receipts from my bag, to keep track of debit charges - $10 for a Metrocard, $52.46 at a gourmet market. Wow, that was steep. Why so high? Turns out there was a mistake. I bought a single nice-size Kirby cucumber - just one mind you (one is all I need) - at $1.49/pound - and was charged $5.62 for it. There's no way that cuke is 3.77 pounds! So I thought, fine, on my way to the subway, I'll stop by the market and have them make the proper adjustment. But man, I don't want to return to the apartment after that, so I'm going to have to lug this cucumber with me the whole time in the museum, and I'm trying to keep my bag light, and a bottled water is heavy enough... but okay.

What with the time change overnight it was only eight, and I was thinking I'd leave around 8:30 - the Met opens at 9:30. So I thought, you know, darling, let me commune with you just a bit - there's time. I lay down, and got started with one toy, quite a pricey one, nice for getting things started. After a few minutes I went to my other toy - which cost maybe a third of the other one - but boy is it effective. But - but! LOUD. Buzz-saw loud. And it's very still & peaceful & quiet here in bucolic Beautiful Brooklyn. I don't know if the downstairs neighbor is home or not, but I was afraid that the noise might be loud enough that she might hear it. I was afraid that she might even come upstairs and rap on the door to ask me if I'd heard a strange loud buzzing sound, to which I imagined that I would feign that no I hadn't, I have no idea what that could be, are you sure, so nice to see you, bye.

So I was getting all self-conscious about the noise, and so I thought, you know, let me move operations to the bathroom. So I spread a towel in the tub, and lay against the pillow - but first I turned on the bathroom fan - which is very loud indeed, totally muffling the noise of the toy. So I lay back, and got started again.  The bathtub is white porcelain, cold against my limbs, and the room is very bright, tiled in white.  I looked up at the skylight and closed my eyes.  What with the noisy fan in this tiny room it sounded as though I was in a jet plane - and so, there darling Steve McQueen, we were indeed, members of the mile-high club in our own private jet. I adjusted the toy, because sometimes the functional magical part seems to slide up a fraction of an inch, just that fraction I need, and so I nudge it back down -

and then it happened. Way up high in the jet in the sky - the toy broke. Busted totally! Somehow I had managed to disrupt the connection between the batteries and Operations.

So I still have that $10 gift card. Thank goodness the toy broke here. So - lucky me - I can replace it right away. Today is hardly soon enough. I wish it could be this morning! But I believe the toy shop opens at noon.

So - no Met Museum for me. I'll settle matters about the cuke, catch the Almodovar, and then walk up to Prospect Heights for a new blue cucumber. Which won't be such a splurge since I won't be dropping $15 at the Met.

Maybe I'll even go to the Brooklyn Museum after all. Their admission is $12 - "recommended." Twelve I can do.

Love you, darling. Many kisses. Hope your day is going more effectively than mine so far. But hey, it's only 9:03.

xoxo