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08/15/2003 Entry: "blackout"

8-15-03 Ok, So i'm taking a break from describing nationals to log a little bit about the black out that happened yesterday. It was odd, i felt like something bad was going to happen, but it didn't. Thank God I was working from home that day. Didn't have to walk three and four hours like many people. I was in the middle of baking a cake for Jeannie to take to a dinner party. I had just come back from the supermarket when the lights went out, didn't even know it was a big deal. I figured it would come right back so I started making the batter in anticipation of the oven being usable soon. I still have the batter uncooked, lucky it was a vegan cake so no dairy or eggs, maybe I'll bake it later.
I was worried since Jeannie was in Manhattan. I had a meat cleaver with me for a bit.(it was starting to get dark) I put it away after a while.
All the kids on my block were loving it. Skipping and playing ball, riding bikes over and over for the captive audience of adults trying to cool themselves on their stoops. Even after it got dark kids played hide and go seek and cops and robbers with flashlights. People form different buildings got together to barbecue all of their meat before it went bad. Everyone was talking and drinking like some village that has always been this way. I'm glad I live in Astoria.
I went up to the roof to look at the stars. I could see them better but there was some glare by that time from some parts of Brooklyn and New Jersey that had power. The skyline was black like an derelict amusement park. The empire state building and the chrysler building dark shadows against a midnight blue sky. It was beautiful, if not a bit disturbing. The moon was a bright orange, and mars was as visible as a nightlite. Moonlight is reeally bright, when there is no other competition. It turned out not so bad.
I'm glad there wasn't that much looting, especially considering what happened in the seventies blackout. The lights came back at 6 am. I was sleeping.
Things I missed the most last night:
1. Light to read by, you need like ten candles just to read.
2. Music, didn't have batteries for my cd player. If I played an instrument I would have been on my stoop playing all night.
3. Communication. I am so interconnected with the world its scary. Couldn't wait for mail to come in order to know if people were ok. Couldn't live any other time but now, I think.

The song of the day is: "Some like it Hot" By Power Station. Click above to listen to it.