Fire Alarm

2AM, klaxons wail. I am shaken on the arm before I stir, and pull on clothes. Fire Alarm. We are herded out down stairwells and stand in the grass, everyone swearing as they always do. Some hug for warmth in the cold, some stomp and complain. A tall, thin, shirtless man with long hair and a smile laughs and says this is neither truly early in the morning nor truly cold. Smokers smoke and everyone speculates the smell of smoke, the flashing lights coming from within some windows. There does seem to be more sourness in the smell of the air than tobacco smoke or pot would usually bring, but maybe I don't know those smells that well, really. In time, the firemen carrying maul and sledgehammer, trudging wearily up and down the stairs, emerge and leave. In time, the wailing stops, and we are all herded back in. There is competition for the bathrooms as each of us has an interrupted body rhythm and wishes for relief before heading back to bed. There is some noise and light: No doubt, the awakeness will last a while for some. Myself, I write and hope that sleep will not be too long finding me again when I return to her soon. I consider quietly that in the rush, the only thing I grabbed to take with me was my locker key.

I presume this incident may be why I'm so tired today. On the other hand, I was tired last Sunday, too. With the library closed and many of the other shelters and support structures closed as well or running shorter hours, there is much less to do on this one day.

I feel I am getting closer to the city. You know what's funny? I have a favorite toilet stall at CitiPlaza. It's because of some activist graffitti someone wrote on the inside of the door in black marker: "What did your purchase support today? VOTE with your WALLET!"

I can sit in the plaza and attempt to do sudokus, at least, or draw. I keep making mistakes in the sudokus without realizing it. It's rather distressing. I think I'm paying attention, and only writing in answers that are certain and follow absolutely from what is already there, but somehow I end up with a contradiction. Sometimes I wonder angrily whether there has been a printing error and the sudoku is impossible, but I have yet to prove that that's the case. I think I will challenge Damon tomorrow to try to solve the one that tricked me up today, to see if he can do it.

You should all listen to Sonata Arctica. All of you. It's a great band. I got really caught on two songs in particular today: It Won't Fade, from Unia, Damon's favorite album, and Alone in Heaven, from their newest album, Stones Grow Her Name. I want to try playing Alone in Heaven on piano. It seems like one of the rare pieces that is simple enough that I should be able to do an accompaniment for the whole thing.