The Big Read: . . . Stage 2, Stage 3, Stage noir

I know it's an act of responsible citizenship to be grumpy about load-shedding and to fret about institutional failure and damage to the economy, and that's all certainly true enough, but sometimes I have uncontrollable moods when, despite my best intentions, I can't help experiencing the darkness as a strange gift, an opportunity, slightly magical, to see things differently.