Monday, 7.02pm

The internet connection is gone! Gone! I was prepared to lose electricity, water, heat, sanity … but INTERNET? This is AMERICA. The thought of what I’m going to do for the next 36 hours is not something I actually have the ability to contemplate. I mean, Edward just died. What on earth is Dodo going to do? Is she going to do as he would have wanted? Or keep on seeing Mr. Ladislaw, with his Byronic attraction and rebellious charm? And did Dr. Lydgate marry Rosie for love? I have a feeling he may not have done (I mean who would? She’s really annoying). Will Fred ever manage to repay Mary’s father? My brain literally can’t hold this many questions for 36 hours. Or longer. Who knows when the internet will return?? The lights have started intermittently flickering too (genuinely. My flatmate can now back me up on this, we both saw it). I think it’s time we all went to the Winchester, had a pint, and waited for all this to blow over.

Monday, 5.01pm

SANDY'S A GIRL! Why has no-one been putting more emphasis on this point? None of the news channels had suitably informed me about this. I had to google it. And it wasn't even an easy google. It took some digging. I feel like such a fool thinking of it as male all this time. Does that make me a sexist? Or just not a big enough Grease fan?

...

I'm sorry, more thoughts on that point were coming, but I just got distracted and completely lost my train of thought. I thought the light in my room flickered, and I froze in fear of losing power. Then I blinked, and thought the light flickered again, and got really tense. I've been sat up, straight backed like a startled rabbit, occasionally blinking to see if it looks the same as a light flickering, trying to catch myself out by blinking before I think of blinking. It's 10 minutes later now. I think I may have just blinked the first time as well. The power's still on. 

Monday, 2.57pm

I just went outside. And I realised the worst place to be in storm-struck NYC right now is actually twitter. From what I was reading on the internet, I was expecting to see powerlines down, freak winds and a ghost town of a city. As it is, the corner shop opposite is still running, people are still driving, the postman is still delivering and the wind and rain are battering down like one would expect them to in a usual storm. I realise it is going to get a lot worse than this, what with Sandy on his way in a couple of hours, but for now, I'd quite like the current updates to mirror what is going on right this minute, rather than what I should be expecting later. Everyone's getting frightfully ahead of themselves! My room doesn’t have an outside window, so I have no frame of reference other than news channels and twitter, and, when the storm gets heavy enough, sounds from what hits the roof. I was bracing myself for the power to go out any minute, and me to be on my own, in the dark with candles and books until at least Tuesday evening. I was getting ready to wallow! I’m now going to take a break from the terrifying news narratives and settle down to a nice calming episode of Middlemarch. Aaahh, Mr. Ladislaw ... 

Monday, 2.15pm

I got red on me. 

I only had a black sharpie and red nail polish to work with. It's suddenly hit me that we might lose water, and therefore not be able to wash ... and I might have to go into work tomorrow. I just stopped short of moving onto my face and neck, too. This was a rash decision. It doesn't even look real so I can't pretend I had an accident ... My room smells very strongly of nail polish. 

Monday, 12.28pm

Sometimes I like to pretend this isn’t a hurricane, but I’m actually barricaded in my house because of a zombie apocalypse. 

I don't know why I would attack a zombie with an ancient club. I definitely don't have access to one. I'm not one of the slag brothers. I think I need to seriously re-evaluate my zombie plan.

Sunday, 10.46pm

My internet’s being frighteningly slow. I assume that’s because by now absolutely everyone is holed up in their homes streaming stuff. Broadband providers should have prepared for this. There’s obviously going to be extra strain on the … wires, or waves, or whatever internet runs on, during extreme weather. If they can get wi-fi on a plane surely they can make it work for me. I had to stop re-watching Gavin & Stacey half way through. I nearly cried. Anyway, without iplayer co-operating I have had to move on to Netflix, which I luckily put off starting my 30 day trial on, waiting for the optimum moment to make the best use of the free films. This is definitely it. So I looked for a tv drama to get suitably engrossed in. Oddly, I picked the 1994 BBC production of Middlemarch. It was a strange decision as I’m not exactly a sucker for a period drama and I also am generally against watching a tv series before reading the book. But this is a hurricane, all normal laws are suspended. Anything could happen, I’m letting LOOSE. I’ve watched one episode and I am already hooked. Why doesn’t Lydgate stand up to the banker man?? And why is Dodo’s new husband being so mean to her!? And why does Fred assume Mary wants to marry him? And why do all the women ride side-saddle? I know it’s dainty but my God, it’s definitely dangerous.