\n\n\nWhat I prefer recording at the end—or, more recently, at the start—of my day are remarkable events I have observed (fistfights, accidents, a shopper arriving with a full cart of groceries in the express lane), bits of overheard conversation, and startling things people have told me. ^ref-56786
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\n\n\nI wondered why the rent and bill situation always has to be so desperate. Then I realized I made it desperate. I am desperate. ^ref-18284
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\n\n\nApparently the Supreme Court ruled in Bush’s favor, so last night Al Gore conceded. I had to call Dad for some information and the conversation got scary when he started talking about the election. He’s always been a Republican, but it saddened me when he started quoting Rush Limbaugh and trashing what he called “the liberal mainstream media.” It’s always the papers’ fault. Conservatives tell the truth. Everyone else lies. Dad was foaming at the mouth over how Gore tried to steal the election. “I’ve been so upset I haven’t been able to sleep,” he said. ^ref-34009
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\n\n\nWhile I was gone Hugh, Manuela, and Dario attended Franck’s surprise fortieth-birthday party. One of the guests was a sophisticated mother of three who announced that she hated the zoo at the Jardin des Plantes because it was cruel to keep the animals in such small cages. She went on and on and then, at the end of the evening, she unlocked her car and released her golden retriever, who’d spent the last six hours in the trunk. ^ref-9168
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\n\n\nHugh said the move will be difficult, especially if they smoke, and Tini said, “No, they have finished their smoking.” She said it as though when born, they’d been allotted a certain number of cigarettes. They’d depleted their supply and now it’s all behind them. ^ref-40552
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