If you only have one ticket to the Girl Talk show,

don't go.

Shan­non says noth­ing ever really hap­pens on Mike’s porch, and Eben says some­times peo­ple get hair­cuts, and Fri­day night I was wear­ing a dif­fer­ent hat when handed a rea­son to see Cam­era Obscura at the Par­adise next Sat­ur­day, which is all a way of say­ing that every­one needs a change of scenery. Tomor­row I’ll pay some­body to teach me how to hold a vio­lin, and if noth­ing else it will put me on a bus I’ve never rid­den — on a Tues­day, when Tues­days used to mean watch­ing magi­cians in Har­vard Square whose rou­tines I’d mem­o­rized three times over, drink­ing punch from a bowl com­mon to six people.

It snowed tonight, the first time in weeks, and I need new clothes.