They say "Living well is the best revenge." I say, "Okay! Where do I sign up?"

This is it. The final straw; this camel's back is broken. I have been there done that for way too long now, and I'm sick to death of it.

So, that's it. I've washed my hands of all of it - of all of you* - and will go on to live better than all of you put together! I will be thinner, healthier, prettier and happier than you all!

In other news, I voted. Which I guess isn't really news since pretty much everyone else did, too.

Still, it's important. I wound up voting for John Kerry (I totally forgot I was going to write in Ralph Nadar! Rats!), although I really wanted to vote for Howard Dean. It annoys me that he pulled out before I had a chance to vote for him! I think he would've picked up a lot of votes out here in the west, and might've been able to pull his campaign out of the mud. I think he'd make a much cooler President than Kerry, but, oh well. I guess it wasn't meant to be.

* "You" refers to all the naysayers in my life - from childhood to the present day: all those "teachers" who said I was stupid and shouldn't bother trying anything hard like, say, math, all those miscellaneous people who said I "couldn't do it", no matter what "it" was I wanted to try, all my snotty, arrogant peers, so-called friends, and anyone else who's dissed me during my life.

Reading: You've Got to Read This ed. by Ron Hansen. This week's stories are "The Dead" by James Joyce, "In the Penal Colony" by Franz Kafka, and "In Dreams Begin Responsibilities" by Delmore Schwartz. We only have one short story to workshop this week, so Marc is bringing in some samples of query letters, rejection letters, and stuff like that, and he'll discuss the publishing process.

Classic Book: Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens.

Previously: Animal Farm by George Orwell.

Listening to: Nothing.

Writing: Nothing.

Gratitude: Determination.