Going dark, but feebly trying to look on the bright side

摘要

"What fresh hell is this?!" the writer Dorothy Parker - said to be an incurable pessimist - was wont to exclaim when her doorbell or telephone rang. We are all Dorothy Parkers now, and at the door is someone wearing protective clothing and bearing the indelible whiff of disinfectant. "Is it just me?" wondered Joker. "Or is it getting crazier out there?" It's biblical. The new year brought with it pressing horrors and bad news, torrential rains and apocalyptic flooding that are the stuff of Noah's nightmares. The worst locust infestations in generations ravaged parts of Africa, threatening food security and livelihoods. Bushfires raged ferociously in Australia. New Zealand's White Island volcano erupted, taking the lives of 16 people, including holidaymakers. Swimmers became food and fodder for sharks. An airline went into administration; a travel agency went spectacularly bust.