The power went out at 10 PM Saturday night and didn't come back on until noon Sunday. I'd checked out Shape Of Things To Come from the library and missed the final five minutes. I was not bent out of shape--H.G. Wells sucked as a screenwriter. All the dialogue was shouted.

No candles, no hand cranked radio, no batteries. I read Gibson's Pattern Recognition by flashlight and then napped.Napping became sleeping and then I awoke to no flashing digital clocks. That sucked.

Here's hoping the grid sticks around as long as I do. I don't think I want to be a survivalist. Too hard.

Also, I don't know if it's just me but William Gibson novels are the literary equivalent of Chinese food. They seem so slick and tasty but they are not very filling. Not at all.

Of course, the book was dedicated to Jack Womack, whose novels are even less filling than William Gibson's. That, in retrospect, should have been a tip off.

The only wotrhy Womack is Bobby, in my opinion.

1. I really had a blackout! Yeahhhhhhhhhhh!!

2. We had a similar blackout, the evening of the last day of finals here. I graded my exams by a Coleman lantern, in beautiful beautiful silence. If I knew a locality that had mandatory blackouts every night from, say, 9PM 'til 6AM, I would be there. I love the honest blackness.

two words: oil lamps

and, Gibson's books look like they're not as shallow as they actually are.

We were without power after Hurricane Rita last year for about a week (because a tenant thought he would be "helpful" by trimming trees near power lines before the storm hit) and, yeah, it was teh suck. If the grid ever goes away, I'm going somewhere cooler, at least.

Things to Come is wonderful, even with bad acting--i have a vhs of it if you want--email me...

i'm expecting at least one blackout this summer here.

Apparently the entire state of texas is in rolling black-outs due to the record-smashing 101 degree heat today. Didn't feel that hot though. No black-outs at my house.