Exposure to lots of chemicals today: fingernail polish (drying just now so I can run off to my dance class), ajax, bleach. Dizziness, some headache. A woman’s fate?

My favorite part of “Girl with a Pearl Earring” was the domestic chores — the tallow-soap and sheet-boiling, the goose lathered up with lard by the cook’s dirty hands…

Vaccum not working so well these days, so I was down on all fours wiping with a damp cloth the little Pakistani rug Dr. Qureshi gave Gary for being so nice to Ramez.