For Dan more than for me, telephone conversations catching up with loved ones seem to revolve around the theme of activities. “So… what have you been doing today?” “How’s your day going?” “What have you been up to?”

I sometimes find this a bit disconcerting–partially because it means that when we’ve finished recounting the activities of the day (or whatever period since we last talked), the conversation is over. Hey! Wait a minute! I wanted to talk about a movie I just saw, or about string theory, or doppelgangers, or whether the world is really going downhill or is that just a perception that comes of getting older.

But primarily I find this disconcerting because when I am the one at the other end of this conversation, I can seldom adequately remember everything I did. Sometimes I feel so… dumb in these conversations. “What did you do today?” “Er… I don’t really know. I can’t remember…”

Apparently, my mother has this problem, too. She has noticed Dan’s tendency to ask about her day’s activities, and this time she came prepared. She made a list. Here it is:

Friday July 13
Made bed & breakfast
AM 10:30 – 11:30 exercise
lunch
12:30 Van to Natick Mall
walked end to end
Shopped Sears (& bought)
…Lord & Taylor
…Macy’s
Returned 4:30
1/2 hr nap
Some desk work
Dinner
Relaxed

So… My Mom’s been pretty busy. Now, how about YOU? What did YOU do today? Oh, and hey: Do you think there might be whole other universes curled up in infinitesmally small gaps inside of this one?