Run out

I got up at 5:30 this morning and ran for ten miles. This wasn't as pleasant as it sounds: while it was a great privilege to be up early, watching the sky turn from a deep shade of royal blue to a lighter gunmetal blue, the experience was spoiled by the sound of me wheezing and the constant thud of my brain deciding to recite racist jokes from the 1970s at me. As fast as I ran, I was trapped with myself.

I got home, showered, towelled myself dry, then instantly resoaked myself with sweat, had to shower again, and then went back to bed. This was a stroke of genius, because when I got up half an hour later I wasn't a shambling, weeping, sweating zombie and I could pretend to be a functional member of society once more.

Today I tried to keep up with the megastorm Sandy. It's hard to tell if US media is being needlessly hyperbolic or not. 4 people had died from trees falling on them or being hit by things, but when the deathtoll on this side of the world can be hundreds or thousands when floods hit coastal areas of Thailand or the Philippines, you start to think that there's a lack of proportion. Or perhaps it's the braggadocio that comes from living in Hong Kong, where a massive storm means it's time to sack the job off and go to the cinema.

Certainly it looks wetter than usual; the foundations of the Ground Zero site look soaked, but I suppose if it gets really bad I won't see any evidence because the camera crews will have been washed several miles inland.

Is it proof that God hates Halloween and doesn't want anyone to go out trick-or-treating? We'll have to wait and see. If it turns out to be really bad then it will be the second year in succession that I've not taken something seriously: last year it was my blithe apathy about the London riots, this year it's the megalo-hyper-storm in the US, and I assume next year I'll be in Europe, sneering about a major disaster somewhere in Asia. If nothing else, that means you should follow me wherever I go, to ensure you're avoiding all the danger.

This evening I went to Comedy Masala. I hadn't been intending to get on stage until after I've got the marathon out of the way, so it was nice to get a few laughs. Really need to concentrate a bit more on sleep though.