gracious me! i did see the road closure notices a few days ago, but i'd forgotten that today is the cambridge carnival, and that river street, on which i live, is one of the main thoroughfares for the parade. i can't hear myself think; the drum beats are giving me a very real headache. the real problem, however, is that the amplifiers are so powerful and the vibrations, coming in rapid, palpable, persistent blasts, actually hurt my chest, as badly as a panic attack does. the library is on summer hours and don't open during the weekends, though perhaps if i took the train back to harvard square i could go to tealuxe and do some reading there.