2003-08-15 - 2:19 a.m.

It was fun, drinking in Molly�s club, with the Deaner and my dear friend R. (and the Roommate abstaining), debating the best strategies for looting, in the event that Boston experienced a massive blackout.

This big power outage is scary. I�m sure that there are a ton of people out there to whom the blackout meant something more than jokes at a bar. I mean, this is the kind of behavior I could spend hours trying, in some small way, to justify.

But nobody called me on it, and it was fun to joke around for awhile. Looting�s a good topic--indulge me.

My view?

I dismissed the excellent idea of stocking up on things that you use all the time, on the notion of storage, and more importantly on the fact that if you loot 3,000 tubes of Crest toothpaste, you�re limiting your freedom to try other types of toothpaste.

It�s like that job I had where I passed out Winston cigarettes. I got free packs out of it and saved a ton of money, but for a whole summer I really wanted to allow myself to buy a pack of Parliaments, but wouldn�t.

OK--so my take on looting is that if you�re in a looting situation, unless you have your own transportation (which I don�t), it�s all about being able to carry a bunch of little things of value. Also, it�s all about taking things you want, not about making cash, �cause you can get caught trying to sell it later.

Good places, then, to loot? At first, I thought a CD store would be the most ideal.

Also, a Best Buy, but stay the hell away from the $2,000 flat-screen TVs. That�s a big box to carry and you�ll be obvious to the cops. Get a bunch of tiny electronics and put �em in a bag.

Best place in Boston to loot? I�d say Mass Ave and Newbury. Loot some nice luggage--and that�s how you�ll get all your treasures home, unnoticed.

I�d also like to loot a place like Pluto. I go in there, I buy some stuff enough to justify my going in there, but the really nice stuff I�ll never get--I put blinders on when I get in there, and tithe the cash cows. It�d be really cool to go in there with the mindset of I�m the kind of person who can have nice things whenever I want them. The only problem is finding them. And then I�d have lots of pretty things.

I�m sorry if you�re offended. Of course I�d never actually do any of these things, but it�s nice to fantasize and don�t tell me you haven�t.

The Deaner�s best idea was to loot a music store and snag a couple of really nice guitars.

Perfect.

You could also steal a couple of guitar cases and rip the tags off of the guitars. Your gig was canceled due to the blackout. You�d look so natural, walking kind of quickly, supposedly trying to get out of the chaos, and if you turn your head, you�re not watching out for cops, but for criminals trying to steal guitars that you paid good money for.