A 'dark and stormy night ...'

"It was a dark and stormy night ..."

That's the beginning of the novel "Paul Clifford," written in 1830 by Edward Bulwer-Lytton. The annual Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest "honors" the worst in literature.
It's also made famous by Snoopy in the "Peanuts" comic strip in his efforts to be the great novelist.

Unfortunately, on a serious note, it's what's facing residents of the Northeast as Hurricane Sandy comes ashore this evening.
I'm writing this while Philadelphia station WPVI-TV is streaming about the hurricane as I try to keep up with my family and friends who are in the hurricane's path in South Jersey, Delaware and other points north.
What makes this different is that they're usually watching The Weather Channel to see how we're doing down here after tornadoes and hurricanes rip through, instead of me watching them.
One thing they don't need to do, though, is plant themselves in front of the TV, while they have power, or in front of the computer constantly.
There's nothing worse for stress than hearing "haven't seen the worst yet," "... really going to deteriorate," " ... 90 mph winds" and the like over and over and over again.
Check up on the conditions every half-hour or, better yet, maybe every hour. That should be enough.
Besides, the TV stations and radio stations will update every 15 minutes anyway so you won't miss anything.
You'll hear the winds howling and the rain falling on the roof so you don't need to be constantly reminded by the TV stations' wall-to-wall coverage.
In the meantime, check out HBO or USA, TBS, TNT, ESPN. Find something to get your mind off the weather.
Watch Netflix or put in a DVD.
Maybe pick up a book to read.
But not one that begins "It was a dark and stormy night ..."