A small room behind a bay window. A single bed, a table and chair, and a sink. I could manage something larger, with more conveniences, but I could never match the view.

October 31st and its explosions. Two months later, what's left over, what was hidden away, what waited to be lit. Do fireworks make more sense on Hallowe'en or on New Year's Eve? On our national holiday -- Canada Day (July 1st)?

Alfred Nobel (1833-1896) was a Swedish chemist who invented dynamite. To say he made a killing is an understatement. Intelligence and accomplishment are rewarded through Nobel Prizes. The world has a Nobel Peace Prize -- named after an armaments manufacturer! The world has transportation tunnels -- is made closer -- because of Nobel's invention.

My phone, which I rely on for most things, is blowing up right now, vibrating its way across the room to my bed. It is always telling me that it is no good for me, that my life would be better without it. Yet I stay with it, because I can't function without it.