Anyone who reads this probably already knows this, but in case you don't: There was a fire at Matthew's apartment last night (which apparently made the news). He and his roommate are fine, but his cat did not make it. If Matthew and Josh had been in the apartment another thirty seconds, they probably wouldn't have made it out alive. The apartment is gone. Matthew's clothes, books, and DVDs are mostly ok, but smoke damaged. The electronics are ruined-- mostly smoke damage, some water damage. Josh's stuff is completely gone. He was able to recover his wallet and a couple of pictures, but not much else.

I'm still in shock. We're both going to work tomorrow and are trying to move on. There's not much anyone can do to help at this point, although Matthew may be homeless for quite a while, at least until he recovers his security deposit, and I'm not sure how long we'll enjoy living together in my 300 square feet.

Thank you for the kind emails and such. I'm still processing and will respond at some point.