Off to Philadelphia tomorrow, where I have a bureaucratic tangle to pick apart. I’m not optimistic — my recent experiences with bureaucracy have mostly been defeats, utter and otherwise.

On the upside, I’ll see my mother and sister and hopefully my American friends, Mr. Bubble, Cap’n Crunch, Uncle Sam, etc. I’ll stock up on licorice tea and Twizzlers. I’m looking forward to ravaging a used bookstore, maybe my favorite: Book Haven on Fairmount St. Which reminds me, I should take a list. (Voilà!)

I spend so much time on airplanes. Yesterday my flight from Barcelona to Frankfurt was delayed by a half hour, which is nothing, and the man beside me was livid. I was embarrassed for him. I think he was embarrassed, too. After his outburst, he spent most of the flight turned to the window. He asked the stewardess politely for a Coke. I’ve been livid, too. It’s rather a waste of life. But yesterday, I had Misery with me and with a bit of luck and the imprisonment of the airplane seat, I may have found a poem. So take that 9 hours to Philadelphia.