I hate New Years. It's one of those holidays that gives people an excuse to act badly. I found out last night that Mark's father was killed by a drunk driver on New Years Eve. I'm just sickened by this. No one should have to go through that. I talked to Mark briefly last night but he didn't feel like being on the phone. I'm going over to his house today around lunch time to see him. I hope that I can be there for him. I know what it's like to lose a parent...just not in such a senseless manor.

It feels like there is a theme in my life: alcohol can be too easily abused. First it was James driving drunk and into death's door. Then it was my father destroying his liver with over consumption. Now Mark's father is the victim of another person's poor judgment. It just seems like such a waste. Lives lost to a drink. I don't understand it. I don't understand it at all.

I hate this time of year. After Christmas everything up north seems so gloomy. In Florida we had nice weather so we could go back to playing sports, swimming and running around on the beach. It made the post-Christmas slump easier to bear. Up here, there's nothing but gloom. The sun hardly shines and it's too cold out to do anything fun. We just sit inside and wait for late-March/early-April to arrive.

Well, not that I sound like Ms. Doom and Gloom I'll sign off. I have to get ready to visit Mark. I'll try to be more upbeat in my next post. I promise.