addy had been stung by a bee last night and in consequence received m.c. for today. when i went over to see her the swelling on her hand was much reduced and we went out for a double dessert celebration - here's to getting well and getting in harvard - we toasted each other. next to coronation plaza there is a bakery cafe called choupinette run by a charming frenchwoman and it is the perfect girly hang out: dangling chains of bright-coloured glass beads, drapery of candied pinks and tangerines, flowers fresh and dried, a soft armchair, a rattan basket full of women's magazines and bridget jones's diary in french translation, and the glass case of exquisite little cakes and tarts. addy ordered a gingerbread chocolate mousse but my ordinarily great desire for chocolate was completely diminished by a surfeit of intensely rich chocolate cakes over the past three days, so i ordered a lemon meringue tart and mango flavoured tea which arrived in the most enormous pot that outlasted our dessert. we decide to stop in town so i can pick up tickets for reduced shakespeare and addy can shop for some shirts for her upcoming working trip. as soon as we stepped out of the cafe, large raindrops came down on us, so we took a cab back to woollerton park, and the rain ceased immediately. flopped down on addy's bed and didn't want to get up again - i had gone to sleep well past 6 that morning, from reading a star called henry, (surprising. i was used to a different roddy doyle from paddy clarke and the barrytowns) and addy woke me at 9.30 with a phonecall, and then i had the sudden flurry of offers and in the ensuing excitement didn't get back to bed. it's easiest to talk to people while you're both lying down. you are unguarded and honest and your thoughts drift, escape you, return. there was a copy of comrade don camillo on addy's bookshelf that had strayed from the flock and since she didn't know where it had come from, and i haven't been able to find my own copy, she let me bear it away on what i shall think of as a permanent loan, unless anyone else claims it. i end entirely too many rambling entries with the note that my mother calls me to lunch, but this is true and i never disobey her when it comes to punctuality at meals.