1/3/12 It's really cold, but only for some.

The night descends and the wind blows stinging cold against my cheeks. A woman and her daughter, dressed for the cold in bubble jackets and boots, and their wolfish, proud-tailed dog wander down the sidewalk ahead of me, and I listen as they urge the animal on.

"Come on, Charlie," says the woman, tugging at the leash, "or she'll get cold and tired."

"I'm not cold!" says the girl, and then begins to sing happily, "I'm not cold cold cold cold, I could stay out here all night!"

12-16-07 - ghosts on my retina

I woke up after the long party at about 1:30 in the afternoon, which is the latest I've awakened in several months. The wind was blowing hard outside, a real "nor'easter", I was told. I could hear it hooting at the windows and wooshing around the cracks in the apartment, like it was thinking idly about how to get in and tear the walls down.

I stayed inside in my pajamas all day and played "Halo" until, whenever I closed my eyes, I could see the images of the hundreds of aliens I'd murdered, dancing on my retinas in ghostly afterimages.