Has anyone had a good year so far? I don't know anyone who is enjoying themselves so far. In fact, I'm looking for some sort of hope.

I'm also looking for some misery-loves-company here. Do you think this is some sort of post-millennial meltdown? That because we lived through the year changing without any sort of end of the world, we're all looking around and changing our lives? What's with all of the heartache and misery?

What the hell is going on?

-- Anonymous, May 01, 2000

Answers

Maybe because we didn't have an outside millennial meltdown, we need to create our own. Maybe because things weren't momentus enough in the Big World, we have to shake things the hell up in the Small Me World. I don't know why -- but I know exactly what you're talking about, Pam.

I don't know what personal crisis you're going through - but I understand, completely, the tenor of it. And I extend my sympathy. Yeah, I'll accompany you in your misery.

What I want to know is when does your grieving and unhappiness get to be real? (The general "you," I mean.) When is it that you're allowed to just bitch without being a bitch, and everyone around you finally nods their heads and says "Yeah, I know what you're dealing with," instead of going "Damn, the bitch is crying again. What's her problem?"

Man.

-- Anonymous, May 02, 2000

I'm having a fairly good year so far. I'm starting a new business, learning new things, and developing a deeper relationship with my girlfriend.

The (human) world has yet to completely fuck itself, something I always thought had a statistically significant possibility of occurring sometime before 2000. Still, I keep in mind a running list of the ways the world can end, along with my predictions on their relative probabilities. Hope springs eternal...

My stocks have yet to plummet into obscurity. :-)

I'm still alive: always something for which I am profoundly grateful.

If there are any dark shadows in my year they would have to be last weeks shows.

-- Anonymous, May 02, 2000

Oh wait -- there are good things in my life.

I haven't killed any of my houseplants this year.
I have jellybeans left from Easter.
Celine Dion retired!
'scuse me while I go dump the rest of my Paxil down the sink.

-- Anonymous, May 02, 2000

I'd say it's been both a bad year and a good year depending.

okay, good things first:
-I have a job coming up doing webdesign for a yoga business and I get to do it from home
-I've gotten closer with certain people and learned how to be passionate about life again no matter how things work out.
-I've gotten back into writing short stories and more poetry which I was lacking for awhile.
-I live in a very nice place now but I moved in in november, soo that's still last year.

okay, now for the bad things:
-my social phobia has gotten worse [I haven't left my house all this year soo that is bad..it brought on more depression]
-dad is being reckless
-I've liked [or maybe even loved] one person and rebounded with another who I invited to come over in march. ended badly.
-now, I'm having mixed emotions about someone else since april // I just don't see my life getting any better.
-I'm not sure if I'm going to go to college or not this year...aah.

I guess that's all. most of the problems started in 1999 though sooo who knows if it has anything to do with the year 2000.

-- Anonymous, May 02, 2000

Pamie, if misery likes company then I'm your new best friend. I'm usually a happy soul, but I realised yesterday that life sucked the big kumara at the moment. Reasons ...

1. Tristan's cool and lovely uncle died of a brain tumour last week, Tristan and his mother flew to South Africa for the funeral (which is today), and when I spoke to him yesterday he told me the entire family is dealing with their grief by being horrible to each other and dredging up any disputes they've had over the last twenty years. Tristan's an only child with a somewhat idealistic view of family life, and he's finding it really hard.

2. Tristan still hasn't changed jobs or started his own company, and the longer this goes on the more difficult he's finding life.

3. My new job has not turned out to be as much fun as I'd hoped - in fact, I don't like it, and I'm not sure which option to take next.

4. My mother has been having dreadful chest pains, the doctor thinks it's because of her gall bladder, but she's been smoking for over 30 years and I'm scared it's going to be more serious. (This is, obviously the worst thing at the moment, although it's at no. 4 in this list).

5. I got an email from my best friend back in NZ yesterday - turns out she had an abortion earlier this year. I don't know anybody less emotionally capable of dealing with something like that. I'm really worried about her and I don't have her new phone number so I can't call her up.

There are also lots of little things of top of that. I just want to go back to bed and pull the covers over my head until everybody is happy again.

-- Anonymous, May 02, 2000

2000 is just the same shit different pile. I can't believe how fast this year has gone so far. Although I can't claim any huge personal tragedies, I have noticed that the people around me all have this ennui dragging them down, myself included. I did have a minor melt down on the weekend: I was picking up spinach (of all things) at the store, and walked back into my apartment and was hit by this wave of normalacy. I thought "Oh my God! THIS is my life!!!!!" It just hit me that I have beeen waiting for my *real* life to start one of these days and all the sudden I realize I'm already there. So utterly depressing. Now that I read that over, it seems stupid, but I was so freaked out at the time.

-- Anonymous, May 02, 2000

Is it just my lack of knowledge and Tim (of IWBTGUATT) and Sarah Cox (of Radio 1), or is there a drastic news drought this year? Apart from the Elian thing, I haven't heard about anything that's happened outside Britain, and even here, the top stories are just, "A woman has eaten an entire piano" except not quite that exciting.

On a personal level, 2000 seems much the same as 1999 to me. Better in some ways, worse in others. But it's definitely going too fast.

-- Anonymous, May 02, 2000

I never really saw years as beginning in January because of oh-so- many years of school... I still say "semesters" and all that. Anyway, the point is my "year" started when I started work in June 1999, so I'm looking at things that way.

As far as 2000 itself goes, I'm pretty happy with it. I'm having some of the same problems I was having last year, but I feel I've taken charge of my life and eradicated some of the other ones. I watch less TV, read and write more, and I'm in better shape than I've been since I was 14. People respect me at work, I bought a new computer, and I haven't rear-ended any more cars. I learned to ski, started playing clarinet, and redid my website.

(yeah there's been a few bad things too, but I'm not doing a misery- loves-company post here...)

-- Anonymous, May 02, 2000

I had a relative die (expectedly) back in January, had flu back and forth for the last month or so, nearly had a fight with Dad tonight and am worried that I may need to seek out some dental assistance shortly. And of course there's the usual social security hassles. On the whole, though, I think I've enjoyed 2000 so far more than I haven't. But you have my sympathies, anyway, Pamie

-- Anonymous, May 02, 2000

Funny you should ask this question at this particular moment. You see, before last week I would have agreed with you wholeheartedly. For me this year has been so dreadfully mundane so far, just downright boring. Then my boss gave me a new job which is ten times as interesting as the stuff I used to do before. And just last night I realized that it had been way too long since I heard any new music which was of any consequence to me. I know, it's just music, but music has always been important to me, and when I played Noa's new album for the first time last night, it just made me feel so damn good I almost cried. Definitely the most uplifting experience I've had for a long time. Which made me realize something which I'd kind of forgotten about recently: that it's the little things that make all the difference in life - an interesting conversation; a nice warm hug when you least expect it; listening to some good music; watching a great movie or a great sports match or whatever makes you feel good. You shouldn't focus on these things, but you should take full advantage of them when they present themselves to you. A huge cliche, I know, but I'm not apologizing for that - it wouldn't have become a cliche if it wasn't true in the first place.

And as for that 2000 thing - you're absolutely right. I didn't even care about it, and even I was suffering from it.

-- Anonymous, May 02, 2000

Yeah, I'd say that I'm not a big fan of the new millenium thus far.

Couples that I just knew would be together forever are divorcing for insane reasons. I am realizing that nobody is normal, and everybody actually does the shit that I thought only existed on Jerry Springer.

My dad married the woman who ruined me and my mother's lives 25 years ago, and keeps trying to force me to spend time with her so we can get to be "great friends". It will never happen.

My job is sucking big time. I have ended up in tears 3 times in the last two weeks because of customers yelling at me about something that has nothing to do with my job, but I have to take it because they are basically the people who make my paycheck good. My 3 hour daily commute is taking a physical toll on me - road rage seems to be breaking my body down.

My health in general is on a steady decline, even though last year I thought things were looking up. New and unusual problems are suddenly appearing, like when I get these "attacks" that feel like my jaw, neck, chest and back are turning to stone. And it is even more painful than it sounds. What the fuck is that? It would be just my luck to turn up with some weird disease that has never existed on the planet before. The bright side is, at least it would be named after me. Too bad I avoid doctors like the plague, or I might just end up famous.

The big promotion my husband was up for (and had actually been guaranteed by one of the higher-ups) got cut from the company budget, which means I don't get to quit my second job, we don't get to pay off those high interest rate bills as quickly as we'd hoped, and we can't trade in the 10 year old truck for something that actually runs like it's supposed to. I had already done our new budget based on what they had told him his new salary would be, and WHAM! No promotion.

Our puppy refuses to become completely house broken. She went over a month with no accidents, then last night she peed in the living room and shit in the kitchen while we were eating dinner. Guess who got to clean it up?

I slept in the guest room last night because I was so mad at my husband I didn't even want to see his sleeping form in our bed. We haven't fought in over 3 years, but the last few weeks we seem to argue all the time. Since I was punishing him by not sleeping with him, I also refused to go into our bedroom and get the alarm clock or my watch, so I spent the whole night waking up every 30 minutes to check the level of daylight outside so I wouldn't oversleep.

We are so broke right now. SO BROKE. Broker than broke, even. And the measly $300 tax refund we should have gotten 2 weeks ago has yet to arrive. Uncle Sam keeps assuring us it will arrive "any day now". I never liked Uncle Sam. And where the fuck was the gigantic refund everybody said we would get since we bought a house? Lies!

I saw a white wormy thing sticking out of my cat's butt last night, so I hauled ass to the store and got her some dewormer. I crushed it up, sprinkled it into her favorite food, which she gobbled up and promptly puked all over the dining room floor. There was 3 times as much food on the floor as there had been in her bowl. Guess who got to clean it up?

We planted over 100 sunflower seeds in the garden this year, 3 different types. We were thrilled to see how quickly they sprung up, only to find two days later than something came along and ate the heads off each and every one. A huge tree fell in our yard, and will cost $500 to remove. So it will lay there for a while. The good thing is that it fell over the creek. Had it gone in the other direction, it would have destroyed most of the house.

My windshield has a crack in it, which has actually been there for 3 months, but it hadn't grown in that time, so I had decided to let it be. The crack grew 5 inches yesterday when the neighbor's kid pushed on it and said, "Wassat?" A new windshield for that model car will cost $400.

This morning at 5:00 a.m. I stood out in the yard in a T-shirt and underwear so the puppy could do Number One and Two. She sniffed around for 20 minutes before she produced anything, while I proceeded to freeze my ass off. Back inside I gave her some water which she gulped down. Later upstairs, she puked all over the bathroom floor, just as I was about to leave for work. Guess who got to clean it up?

We had 2 years from the time of purchase of our house to go back on the builder and make him fix things that were wrong. The list is long, and we have not been able to get a response from anyone except the hardwood floor guy, who said it was the worst job he'd ever seen, and would send someone out to redo it completely. We never heard from him again, and his phone number we used for him in the past must have been a figment of our imagination, because the guy who answers it now says he's never heard of Floor Guy. The builder has since closed his company and disappeared from the face of the earth, so we're basically fucked.

I could go on, but instead, I think I'm going to go jump off a cliff.

(There have been some pretty good things this year too, of course, but I'm on a roll here with the buzzkills, so I figured I'd stick with the theme.)

-- Anonymous, May 02, 2000

Yeah, you might say that 2000 sucks. I thought last year was pretty bad what with the first year out of college and being force fed a large dose of reality. However, this year makes last year look like 1985 when i was a carefree little girl riding my bike over to my friend Jodi's house to spend a mindless day playing seek and destroy with all of the neighborhood kids. God, i miss those days. So far this year I have been in major debt troubles, just got fired due to department overspending(they couldn't afford me anymore--however they didn't tell me that and tried to make it look like i had done something bad thus putting me through the most painful psychological bullshit ever), i had 10 days to move out of my company-owned housing, had to move back in with my parents, found out that my friend may have ovarian cancer, had to file for unemployment, my grandmother is drawing up her estate and there is a HUGE fight about who should be named power of attorney--this is ridiculous, and I lost my choice for musical this summer. Now, I have to direct Fiddler on the Roof. I just want to barf. Not to mention that being stuck in WV with no friends within a 200 mile radius isn't crappy enough. However, there have been signs that this is must be armageddon---the end of 90210(sure, I don't watch it anymore, but come on!) and party of 5, my boyfriend, Christian Bale, decided to marry someone else-- I'm so distraught. It's like the only good thing to happen this year is that my friend Honore is going to be published. I'm really happy about that. She is so funny. So, if anyone is having a crappy year, allow me this plug for her and i promise that it will make you smile-- visit www.etiquettegrrls.com I'm hoping that this summer will bring a turnabout for 2000. Hey, I'm unemployed and doing summer stock. It's almost like being a carefree kid again:)

-- Anonymous, May 02, 2000

Ah, my life started sucking ass well before Y2K. Since this time last year I've: gotten divorced, had a major professional catfight with my former boss, moved away from all of my friends, ended up as far away as possible (while staying in the U.S.) from a boy I was just starting to really like, had not one but two of my cats get seriously ill to the point of needing major surgery, gained back 10 pounds that I thought I'd lost, and *not* paid off my credit card despite having a job that pays half again as much as my last job.

But at least no one died.

-- Anonymous, May 02, 2000

Pamie Pamie Pamie!

Everything in your post today (and in a lot of these forum entries) says you're in a pretty cool place. You're asking new questions, you've found some fresh info that's become some food for thought, you're making some really big observations about family and tradition ... all you have to do is capitalize on it kiddo!

Look at all the coolest people we know... seems like a lot of them had tough childhoods or have that lack of grounding and big extended family support... maybe that's why we became "creative" types: because we needed to create something in ourselves that wasn't there.

I'm getting all hallmark-card-ish again, but man, it's the times when you wonder where the hell you're going that (hopefully, sometimes) empower ya to make some changes or get some new focus. If everything was just peachy, or even just pleasantly bearable, chances are none of us would stretch ourselves a little farther. I had a pretty dark childhood, I was surrounded by mental illness and bitterness and suicide and a sort of low-level violence that was always ready to explode, but I learned from every second of it and my kids love me in a way my parents could have never dreamed.

It's really true: all those piles of shit can be pretty decent fertilizer. Use it folks.

A happy d

-- Anonymous, May 02, 2000

nope, i really can't complain. i mean, i'd like to. it would be contrived though (like stage tears for me).

ah...nope, all in all, i have to say it was a good day (i didn't even have to use my AK).

ah...nope, life is beautiful...especially if you're part Italian

ah...nope, great year - great economy - good job - opportunites

ahhhhh

-- Anonymous, May 02, 2000

Yeah, it sucks ass. I hate 2000. Ever since New Year's Eve, it has been horrid. I won't get into details, but I'm figuring it can't get any worse, so it will get better. I'm hoping 2001 is my year (it's the REAL millenium, anyway, right?).

-- Anonymous, May 02, 2000

Oh geez - I hate to do this but um, my year is KICKING ASS!

And actually, everyone I know (out here anyway) is having a fabulous year! There are ups and downs, but nothing bad. I just got good results back on my medical tests, the boy situation is out of control - in a fun crazy way, my friends and I have all sorts of wonderful things to do and places to go. I'm even getting along with my mother! Which must have something to do with not living with her... but still, it's a good thing.

Pamie, you need to come to Seattle. *Too much good stuff*!

I'd just like to point out though, that the turning 25 thing is a tad... crushing? And it's going to take awhile to adjust. Immerse yourself in life, and it will all work itself out. You'll do a lot of venting, a lot of philosophical jibber jabbering, and then one day you'll wake up and realize you're unfurling and unfolding and ready to be noticed.

-- Anonymous, May 02, 2000

No, no, no, _last_ year sucked. Last year, my marriage was behaving as if it wanted to end, most of my friends went through big nasty break-ups, and I walked around in a fog.

This year is going well. Everyone seems to be working their shit out. Well, alright, except that my grades were better last year than they are this year, but how important is that, anyway?

So, er, right: Next year will be better for those of you that are having a sucky year right now. Honest.

-- Shelly // Loom

-- Anonymous, May 02, 2000

I am having a fabulous, wonderful year. Is it perfect? No. But it is close enough. I am having a blast.

25 is tough, because there is that sudden internal pressure to get it all together, and the sudden realization of the difference between job and career. Being a barrista at 22 - not so bad. Kinda fun. Being one at 27 - not so great. A friend of mine watched the Oscars, and just kept pointing at the screen and saying, "Yep. younger than me" at all the famous people. That must have been depressing.

It gets easier.

And it gets better. Do you have your health? Are you starving to death? Do you wake up to the sound of gunfire? Are your problems first world problems? Cause those aren't really such a big deal, when you look at the big picture.

-- Anonymous, May 02, 2000

Gotta agree with Pamie.

I, and all of my close friends, have broken up with their significant others. Many people are experiencing job hell. Our house has been targetted by burglars multiple times, not that they got anything. However, they DID break and damage my car stealing a whole PILE of stuff. And then they came back and keyed it for good measure. There's been a drive by shooting (!!) right through my front yard. Our cat was ill and had to go to the vet (he is well now, but it involved blood on the outsideof his body, where it doesn't belong). I've had recurring minor health problems, some due to stress, some due to lack of nurturing "self-time" and some just plain unavoidable. I'm looking at a dental appointment in the near future for what may be serious repair work. I've always had great teeth. I can't seem to save any money this year--every windfall is eaten up with emergencies and unanticipated new expenses. Will probably have to move this summer, right when it gets really hot and miserable, because they are going to try to sell the house we are renting. That, and we had a drive-by and burglary attempts. We're taking a hint. Long-term friends are having issues with each other and fighting. Long-term acquaintances are trampling on boundaries and not respecting each other. Etc. Just a bunch of free-floating CRAP. Business is slow, and several friends are getting laid off. There have been multiple car accidents, several near-miss incidents, plus random damages, etc.

I agree that it seems like a reaction to the lack of Y2K devastation we (sorta) anticipated.

-- Anonymous, May 02, 2000

Really, though, you have to laugh at it or you'll never stop crying.

-- Anonymous, May 02, 2000

Oh, I forgot that I can't stop crying. Never mind. But do both. It's more fun.

-- Anonymous, May 02, 2000

This year has been pretty good. Last year sucked, though. Nobody got raises or bonuses last year, a third of the company got laid off last February (including my boss), my boss's boss quit (along with another third of the company), the office moved to another location but left my department in exile for two months while they 'straightened things out', my boyfriend's father died, I broke a bone in my foot, I had to endure a very painful radiology procedure on my wrist, I tore the hell out of one of my ankles, I was working 12-hour shifts five days a week with no breaks AND by myself, our hideously overpriced apartment was falling apart and our landlord was too busy to fix anything.... Last year was referred to as 'The Year of Hell'. But then we bought a house in October, and things seemed to improve from there.

This year has been pretty decent so far. Everyone got a nice raise in January, I got a promotion and another raise, the company is doing well, I got more stock options (which actually look like they might be worth something someday soon), my boyfriend's company IPO'd, I'm no longer doing shiftwork, I haven't injured myself seriously in about 9 months, nobody's died yet this year, and I got money back from the IRS.

However, I turn 25 in June....

-- Anonymous, May 02, 2000

I haven't had a good year since 1996. 2000 is actually shaping up to be better than 97-99, but still not a *good* year.

And, Shelly, um, not necessarily about the "next year will be better" thing.

It's strange, though, about how a cluster of people will all have a bad year at the same time. 1981 was terrible for my whole extended family - medical and other problems in every branch of the family tree, culminating with my dad's death in December. The people who write the on-line journals I read seem to all have had some degree of relationship problem this year. It's very odd.

-- Anonymous, May 02, 2000

This year sucks ass but I have to admit to it being mostly of my own doing. I'm mystified at my own behavior. My lack of taking up my life and moving in a forward direction. Hell, any direction would be good. But I have learned that my heart can withstand more than i gave it credit for and that my crazy friends are truly the best. So here is a virtual pat on the back for everyone. If you are having a good year, thats wonderful. If your year is kissing some millenial cheek have faith. You are not alon

-- Anonymous, May 02, 2000

Well, I found out that my biological father, who I haven't seen in thirteen or fourteen years, has been using my Social Security Number for the past nine years when he would get new jobs, and managed to rack up around $9500 in back taxes, which I now have to try to straighten out (two months, and it's still a big fucking mess). The upside is that my mom wrote Montel Williams a letter, and if I get to be on his show and have him reunite me with my dad, I'll be able to beat him (my dad, not Montel) with a metal folding chair. And I swear to God, I will do it.

No flying cars, no robot butlers-- hell, we don't even have *monkey* butlers yet. The future sucks.

-- Anonymous, May 02, 2000

Well, some of us may have an easier time laughing than others.

-- Anonymous, May 02, 2000

well, i feel for you guys... i really do, but pamie said she wanted to hear about good years, too, because she wanted hope... here goes, pamie: i started new year's off by having my wallet stolen and having to sit in the police station until 11:30, and then not having enough time to make it home to my mom's to watch the ball drop with her, i had to watch it with this guy that is a great friend of mine, but really, i wanted to be with my mum, 'specially because she was all alone... anyway, i was reminded of the year before when i drank so much because i was so mad at my boyfriend at the time that i didn't realize how much vodka i had actually had and it snuck up on me and i spent the countdown to midnight barfing in the toilet... and my friend told me the next day (i'm surprised i remember this through my hangover) : "well, your year can only get better, right?" she was right... so this year, i took that attitude with me to italy when i spent ten weeks there with my school. i have fallen completely in love, spent ten weeks in italy carving marble, am planning to go back next year for a semseter, was told by my advisor that i really should double major, because i am smart and i can handle it and i am so close to being done with my first major and i'm only a sophomore, my advisor also told me that i should be thinking about doing an Honors project my senior year, because she thinks that i have a lot of talent, people seem to think i have "FEED ME COMPLIMENTS" written on my head or something because in the last week, i have gotten very nice, sweet compliments from complete strangers no less than *6* times... i could go on, but i won't. not to say that i haven't had my bad moments (the worst one was whe i found out that my really good friend is, quite literally, psychotic and lives in a delusional world and is probably now in a mental hospital...but no one is sure...) anyway, i am done now.

-- Anonymous, May 02, 2000

ah, jackie's post made me remember another bad thing that has occured. my mom has been having pains in her side and back...it is said to be her gallbladder but she won't go get it checked out. she said she'd rather die than see a doctor who will just remove it. well, gee! I guess she doesn't really care that I worry about her too. that I wouldn't want to wake up one day and find her dead. thankfully, she seems to be doing abit better as long as she doesn't eat late at night.

I'm still looking for the silverlining. aah...at least I have ethan there to keep me sane every night online or I'd think too much.

-- Anonymous, May 02, 2000

Y2K sucks. The last good day I had was my 30th birthday, at the end of December 1999. (my family chipped in and bought a harp for me to celebrate!)

I went on vacation in January and came back to find that my work situation had been destroyed - and it fell further and further apart until I lost my job at the end of March.

A job I loved dearly, that was a perfect match for me, that I'd built up over 3 years (just had gotten the raise I'd deserved for those years, too) - gone because of two nasty people.

One close relative died in March, another just had a heart attack, and I am home alone all day for the first time in years. The net is keeping me sane, but I'm still heartbroken.

I didn't just lose a job, I lost my community and my committment, and I don't know what I'm going to do next.

-- Anonymous, May 02, 2000

It was pretty bad a few months ago, but now Y2K is one of the best years I've had in a while. I hope it gets better for the rest of you.

-- Anonymous, May 02, 2000

2000 does indeed suck arse. All those zeros in a row...it's unlucky or something. Causes imbalance, like putting a mirror at the end of your bed or wearing too much gold if you're a metal person. For realz.

In my life, all the grades in the subjects I like are going down, while my Pre-Calculus grade, which used to give me the shakes, has skyrocketed. Hyperbolas in combination with the termination of the second millenium wreak this kind of havoc.

We've just got to think to ourselves, What would Ashley Judd do?

-- Anonymous, May 02, 2000

I was going to talk about the many horrible experiences that have come my way this year so far, but one particular incident stands out in my mind(perhaps because the main character has been the cause of much grief, and it happened today). I have a psychotic flatmate who beats up her boyfriend(I did NOT know this when I moved in!!) The other morning during one of their blow-ups(after enduring 20 minutes of them abusing the shit out of one another- NOT to mention that I was dealing with a chronic hangover headache), I snapped at them both to grow up and shut up. After three months of their bullshit I figured I was entitled to a little peace. However, in turn I got a LOT of anger directed my way- firstly I find all of my loungeroom furniture has been relocated into the hallway, my photo frames left facedown, my mail opened(a federal offence, I know), evil loooks and lots and lots of noisy door slamming. To top it off I got up this morning to find my food from the fridge and freezer had been sitting on the loungeroom floor all night and was completely FUCKED. Psycho Bitch. I sat on the floor and bawled like a baby for a half hour(HOW COULD SOMEONE BE SO EVIL???), then I realised just how ridiculous the girl is and I had to laugh. And THEN i decided I'm moving far, far away from her. Perhaps this is what she wanted, yes? Well she got it!! Anyway, the moral of my silly story is...LAUGH. It certainly makes things better.

-- Anonymous, May 03, 2000

2000 has been kind of icky -- I'm with Pamela on this one.

It's showed promise, though. I landed a full time job at a TV station only two weeks after the New Year. Of course, I would wind up getting sacked two months later over some bull-shit that no one with anything to do would ever care about, but still. Lost job. Never been fired before. No fun.

I still, at this time, live at home. And my dad's retired, which means he has nothing to do but supervise me. He. Never. Leaves. The. House.

A little later, I had to take the job I'm currently holding because I needed bill money. It's not much better'n the one I had (although I do have a kick ass interview on Thurs.)

Keep in mind, 2000 is being compared to 1999, which was far and away the best year of my life. I fought my way back into school, immersed myself in university theatre, spent the summer there, dated like a madman, and graduated in December. That's a tough act to follow any way you look at it.

This next week, though, could make all of the to-date year 2000 bullshit worthwhile. ;) Wish me luck.

-- Anonymous, May 03, 2000

I've always been ahead of my time. It was 1999 that killed. Broke off a three year relationship in the spring, after months of tension. Was unsettled and rootless for several months, drifting. Decided I hated my job (my job, not the people at it!), got rejected and spent a ton of money to bugger off home.

Ended on an up-note though: Went to Vegas for Comdex, was home for the holidays, and things are lookin' up. Getting more secure in my own business, and am moving to the fabulous Seattle in a month or two. No men, but who needs em?

-- Anonymous, May 03, 2000

My year is going pretty well. I'm close to opening a new business, my puppy is wonderful and I love my girlfiend. Many of my friends are following their dreams and taking a difficult plunge and I couldn't be prouder.

Marc

-- Anonymous, May 03, 2000

wow.....2000 had been such a great year, so far i've been to 2 funerals of different friends, one was killed in a car accident, another was murdered. then theres been the whole bf thing this year...3 bad relationships after another, they've just gotten worse and worse. the last guy was cheating on his fiancee with me, just when i think this year cant get any worse it does

-- Anonymous, May 06, 2000