From a New York Magazine conversation with Fran Lebowitz. Here she talks about her friendship with Toni Morrison:



“She’s one of my best friends, and she is the only wise person I’ve ever known. I know lots of very smart people, but I only know one wise person,” she said. She and Toni talk on the phone every day. “She’s very important to me because there are very few people’s advice I’m interested in,” Fran said. “I’ve not always taken Toni’s advice, but I’m always interested. Toni is so unlike me. When I was young, my mother used to say, ‘Can’t you be the bigger person?’ And I would say no. I am by nature the smaller person, but the bigger person is Toni.”

“Toni’s the biggest person I’ve ever known, by far. She has the greatest generosity of anyone I’ve ever known. So it’s not only her intelligence, which is extreme… I truthfully know other people as smart as Toni, but I do not know anyone who is so large in generosity. And her talent is fantastic, but I know other very talented people. She is unique. I feel like I’ve met a zillion people, so I don’t think she’s unique in my life — she is unique on the planet.”

'You may never know what results come of your actions, but if you do nothing, there will be no results.' 
        -- Gandhi 
 

Was it the oxycodone I'd been taking every four hours for four days? Was it because it was the first day back out on the street with the sign? Was it too sunny and maybe I hadn't had enough water? I felt weak after 45 minutes. I was talking to a man who'd stopped to tell me about his worries about his first-grade daughter who seemed to be slow at everything. He was a Latino laborer with his hair in a bandana. He spoke with an accent. It wasn't easy for him to be telling a stranger this. I felt bad that I had to stop our conversation. I wasn't worried that I'd pass out, but I was staring at the ground and was feeling weak, the sun beating down on my shoulders in a dark blue shirt. I'll go back tomorrow.

When I knew my shoulder was busted up, I first thought of the days I'd miss with my sign. Both meanings of miss. Tomorrow surgery then a few days to recover I guess. Monday I hope I'll be back on Chambers Street. Sign does no good in my apartment. Neither do I.
 

I went downtown with the sign this morning. Rain was maybe coming. The subway wasn't crowded. I said good morning to the three Jehovah's Witness women I see every day when I get off the train. They wanted to know the latest on my shoulder. They said it was going to rain. 

After 30 minutes big drops started to come down. I headed back to the subway quickly. I didn't want my shirt to get real wet. I didn't want to have to take off the sling and a heavy wet shirt when I got home.

The Mt. Sinai dermatologist I saw yesterday about the nickel rash on my hands from the iPhone, which is a concern because the new shoulder would contain some nickel, said her three-part, four-day test couldn't be done until September. I called my surgeon and left that message. We'll see what develops. Oy.

I've held the sign with one hand since I injured my shoulder big-time. I'm having surgery tomorrow morning. I'll get back to it soon.