Everything turns away quite leisurely

Timothy Noah's got a good piece on the Metro accident on Slate: Dozing Through Disaster

Present and accounted for

I was all primed to write another entry on my life as a 60s sitcom (starring me as a feminine Steven Douglas and the Viking as all three sons. The role of Uncle Charlie is currently vacant, though applications will be considered. Assume that hilarity ensues).

But then there was the front page of the Post this morning, and it seems better to report that I was not on either of those trains, nor, to my knowledge, was anyone I know on them. One colleague was on the next train after the two that collided but was getting off at Fort Totten anyway.

So, I'm present and accounted for, and apparently so are the rest of my wider circle. But everyone is uncomfortably aware of how lucky we all are.