Okay, so a while back I was on the phone with my best friend, and she started telling me about the cat she had recently acquired. Being the sentimental fool that I am, and missing my own pets back in Oregon terribly, I went to Craigslist and started perusing the local "pets" section. Big mistake. Obviously.

If you ever want to lose faith in humanity, you don't really need to look as far as genocide, abysmal health care or poverty. Just take a look in your local animal shelter....

My new semester of school started last Thursday. That, of course, means a lot of new classes, and lots of new people to have brief conversations with at the bus stop or in the few minutes before class starts. I'll never be accused of being particularly outgoing, but if someone tries to strike up a conversation with me, I certainly don't want to appear unfriendly. But, it invariably leads to a question about where I'm from, and when I answer that I'm from Oregon, logically the next question they...

Dear Allan,

Happy birthday, sweetheart. I find it easier to write to you rather than about you, though even you'd find it strange that I would write a letter to eyes that would never see it. However, you, better than anyone else, knew I was a few cards short of a full deck, so it should come as no surprise. You loved me unflinchingly, without reservation, and fully accepting of all my flaws. I miss you every day. You knew I would.

You should be 23 today. Instead, you...

*A note before I get to the meat of this entry. There have been so, so many changes that have taken place since Allan's death in November, 2005. I will post about my life since then, soon. I have kept online friends out of the loop, in part because even though it may appear to outsiders that my life has moved forward, it doesn't feel like it, to me. I am stuck in 2005. I think about it constantly, as though I were still living in it, and could change any of the events that happened at the end of...