Dear Nicola,

Thank you for your visit. 

Thank you for showing me your essay. I would like the opportunity to 
reread it and refer to it. Could you mail it to me as an e-mail attachment?

Thank you for your patience in listening to my impromptu translation of
the beginning of Chapter 47 of Vier Freunde. It occurred to me that I
might dictate such a translation into the voice-recognition software which
my son has given me, and produce at least a skeleton printed version of
the text in English, - with perhaps dangerous consequences.

Thinking about the contrast between the Shakespeare Sonnet 116's emphasis
on constancy of affection, and the Ariadne auf Naxos emphasis of change as
prerequisite for survival and in the context of Katenus' insistence that 
the apparent identity of the self is illusory, it occurs to me that "love"
might turn out to be a desperate but ultimately self-defeating gesture of
survival. A new perspective on the conceit of "Liebestod".

My land-line telephone continues to act up. If you consistently get busy
signals, try my cell phone 617-548-5768, or more reliable, e-mail.

Best wishes for your trip to San Francisco.

Jochen