last night von rings me on a crackling line and says he is driving on an interminable highway and wants to know the word for a fatal flaw. hamartia, i suggested, but not before primly admonishing him for calling while driving. couldn't this wait till you got home? but as it turns out he - and the other people in the car - couldn't - and anyhow it was not he who was driving. although i am very pleased to be asked to settle a dispute (people don't set much stock by my judgment, ordinarily,) i can't help but feel that if our time zones were reversed it would be to my advantage, i.e. i don't have to wait to call him in the mornings, and he would not be able to wake me up in the small hours.

in other news, i am determined to turn my friend rikita into a sayers fan by the end of the summer.