Walking into the office this morning, I said, "Is that --"
"Gas, yes, you smell gas," said one of my coworkers, passing me in the hall. "The whole city reeks."
Oh.
Well, between the unexplained smell in New York, and the unexplained bird deaths shutting down Austin, the quote of the day is clearly this one, from DeLillo, via the ever mot-juste-y Caleb Crain:
"It doesn't cause nausea, vomiting, shortness of breath, like they said before."
"What does it cause?"
"Heart palpitations and a sense of déjà vu."
"Déjà vu?"
"It affects the false part of the human memory or whatever. That's not all. They're not calling it the black billowing cloud anymore."
"What are they calling it?"
He looked at me carefully.
"The airbone toxic event."
Happy New Year, everyone!