"then the orchestra played a waltz or a tango, something that had a slow and sensuous rhythm. couples would come outside, to the relative privacy of the alley. you could see them kissing behind ash pits and telephone poles. this was the compensation for lives that passed like mine, without any change or adventure. adventure and change were imminent in this year. they were waiting around the corner for all these kids...here there was only hot swing music and liquor, dance halls, bars, and movies, and sex that hung in the gloom like a chandelier and flooded the world with brief, deceptive rainbows...all the world was waiting for bombardments!"