Irony is the word I forget the meaning of immediately after I look it up, but I kind of feel like I live in a constant state of it.

But we made our own fun, mostly. I recall a time, many years later, when American children seemed unable to amuse themselves without a fortune in electrical and electronic equipment. We had no fancy equipment and did not miss it.

It was clearly one of those mornings when I was particularly American.

Keep calm and carry on. Also, stay in and hide because the Ripper is coming.

Why Paris? Paris needs no reason. Paris is its own reason.

The truth was that she had managed to betray everyone by doing nothing. No one in history had ever done less and yet been so wrong. Not cheating on a non-boyfriend with the non-boyfriend of a friend. The pressure of thinking that one through made her swollen body ache.

Once again, her parents' problems had run through her life like a piece of heavy equipment, smashing everything in their way.