June 11

It's my birtday I've got an empty stomach and the desire to be lazy in the hammock and maybe go for a cool swim on a hot day with the trombone in Sinatra's "I've Got You Under My Skin" in my head and then to break for lunch a corned-beef sandwich and Pepsi with plenty of ice cubes unlike France where they put one measly ice cube in your expensive Coke and when you ask for more they argue with you they say this way you get more Coke for the money showing they completely misunderstand the nature of American soft drinks which are an excuse for ice cubes still I wouldn't mind being there for a couple of days Philip Larkin's attitude toward China comes to mind when asked if he'd like to go there he said yes if he could return the same day