Up all night again. With a friend who is visiting from out of town. We discussed the difference between facts and truth in journalism, artists and critics, we wondered if there is anything of which one cannot be stripped: creation, recognition, accomplishment, humanity, life. We gossiped.

I made a cookie in a frying pan like a pancake. It started to burn before it cooked all the way through so I ate it with a runny center -- not very good. I'm going to stick to oven baking from now on (except to experiment with the barbecue in Maine). I realized that I like to make cookies, and to cook in general, because there is a tangible product. I can create something real. Painting the house will be like this, I hope.