Harold Hill is a man whose life has been without purpose. Marian Peroo, the River City librarian (Hill‘s love interest in the play), is a woman whose life has never quite taken off. When they meet, it‘s obvious they need each other to be whole.

Ultimately, the kind of ground shift in technological advancement that Verner Vinge predicts in "The Coming Technological Singularity" is only scary in the sense that it's a paradigm shift with a worn out clutch. A theoretical Singularity that is centuries from even being possible is one thing, but imminent, radical change is much harder to accept without conjuring images of people-hunting monster machines.

I pushed the door open with both hands and sauntered to the soda counter. Sitting on an old high stool I gazed around and took in the shelves that ran floor to ceiling. The smell of mildew stung the air and I felt as if I were trespassing time itself.

I noticed a little something different as I stepped out the door this morning. There was a crispness in the air that I haven't felt for months. The oppressive heat that had assaulted my nostrils was gone, replaced by cool, fresh air and the scent of freshly turned earth that follows a soaking rain.