From the day
Perspective: The Anxious Local · Sound
Christina Aguilera's "Genie in a Bottle" is blaring from the neighbor's open window, mixing with the roar of a passing sedan that sounds like its muffler is held on by prayer. I just dropped eighty cents on a loaf of bread and couldn't help but notice the paper's front page screaming about states called lax on tests for lead in poor children, making me wonder what's actually lurking in these old pipes. I nearly knocked over a kid's binder of Pokémon cards at the bodega, and when I muttered "my bad," the teenager didn't even look up from his new BlackBerry. Between the skyrocketing gas prices and the eerie vibes of everyone talking about *The Sixth Sense*, I just want to hide inside and see if this Napster thing actually works.