In case you're wondering how I survived the Blackout of '03, the answer is: I broke out the unopened bag of tea candles that I bought a year ago at IKEA, drank half a bottle of wine, and ate a bag of frozen (but rapidly thawing) jumbo shrimp. Also, for some reason I watched the first half of Kubrick's Barry Lyndon on my laptop, which had four hours' worth of batteries; maybe it was all those candles....

It would have been a romantic evening, if there had been someone else in the room.