I'm convinced there is something about this time of year that breeds dissonance. We all feel it, we all respond to it - and I find that year after year it grows stronger, affects more people.

Wolven has unfortunately tapped deeply into it this time. I am resisting my own feelings of conflict, but I fear for him. I also see it in Erik, and his family, as they deal with a death in the family, and the stress of his roommate's new job on top of it.

How would you answer when someone you have loved for five years, through thick and thin, pain and struggle, and your own stupidity, says they don't understand why you love them. I know, god, I know, that he is more than the bitterness he projects to drive off things he doesnt want to deal with. Erik, if you do read this, I love you because I know you are who I was ment for, and nothing can ever change that. Nothing.

The Universe is a cruel thing, and I hate it with all my heart.