snow!*

* and not the kind referred to on craigslist postings.

it snowed in new york today. beautiful big puffy flakes of snow. my street is suddenly pristine, unsullied. brooklyn looks clean! no mean feat. i hear it will snow more this week, which many view as a curse. frankly, i think snow is wonderful. seasons are wonderful. i've already witnessed a playful snowball fight. (last winter, L.B. warned me that bratty kids in brooklyn throw frozen dog poo at one another & at others, so i am cautious when encountering brats on the street. thanks L.B.) some of the best snowy things: i get to wear my sorel boots purchased for the g.p. winter & a giant puffy coat i bought in ottawa. other good things -- well the afore-mentioned clean-ness. also, cool outside makes my bedroom more tolerable. ordinarily, due to the arcane heating techniques of new york city apartment buildings -- i.e., one main "heat" switch that goes on at some (no doubt statutorily-designated) date deemed the beginning of winter and goes off at some date deemed end of winter. that these dates don't actually correspond to the temperature outside and have no regard for the comfort of residents, means that for a good chunk of the year, my room is a sauna. and by sauna, i mean: dry, crazy hot & stuffy. (J.H., who lives a few streets over, has an apartment that is freezing. maybe his landlord didn't get the memo, or is operating on australian seasons). in the deep summer (july/august), even with an air-conditioner, my room is a sweltering jungle of lush, thick air. it's kind of lose / lose. but today, i cracked open a window and let a cool breeze waft over me. as i sit here unable to sleep, hitting refresh on my inbox and wondering whether the dinner i ate tonight will wage war on my guts tomorrow. deep thoughts.