It's his night to make dinner, which I bought because he's on unemployment even though when I first moved in with him and I had no money he'd always say, "Then let's eat separately."

He can't cook now, though. He has to sit in the living room and read to recuperate from the stress of having washed the dishes but not worked on the video.

I surf the Internet. I send friends email and hope they answer soon.

I eat a Balance Bar. When I find myself going for the second Balance Bar I make dinner.

I bake Chilean sea bass slathered with whatever we have in the apartment that is red. The vegetables are red to match and yellow to add more color. Tano says "Thank you, thank you, thank you." I am glad I make so much money but the sea bass is too oily for me. I eat a Balance Bar. I tell Tano I learned about Balance Bars from Madonna -- in Cosmo.

"I can't believe you read that crap."

"Madonna and I are very similar," I say. "Like she said now that she has a baby she's finding that her friends' concerns are not that interesting to her. She's moving on to a stage of more responsibility."