Dear Diary: 7am32 hours without electricity. I wake up at least twice as irritable as usual. 7:15amCan’t make coffee. Can’t do my (purple) hair in the dark. I have no clean clothes, because we can’t do laundry. Our food is spoiling in the fridge. I can’t get my email. I can’t work. 8amI load two bags of laundry, my laptop, ...

Dear Neighbors: It was nice to see all of you this morning as we wandered up and down the street, surveying the storm damage. This is how Minnesotans get to know each other: during emergencies. Our block is a mess, but we got off pretty easy. There’s a huge tree on our roof, but no apparent damage. We’re without power, ...

Dear Mom: Don’t bother worrying about me on this trip. I have friends to do it for me. Alex:don’t be gone long.I’m gonna be worried. Me:what are you worried about?? Alex:that you’ll get hurtthat you’ll be in accident all alonethat a cougar will eat youthat you’ll run into a serial killerthat you’ll be brainwashed by a cult and reappear 7 ...

Dear Friends: It’s kind of funny that I haven’t mentioned this yet, as it’s been occupying most of my spare time-to-think1 lately: I’m going on a trip. Now you’re rolling your eyes and wondering what’s new, because it’s true, I do travel a lot. In fact, I just got back from Chicago at 2am this morning. But this trip is ...