Day of Drifts, 28th of Childwinter, 536 M.E. (Deneb): I hate 2026. I hate its cold, frigid weather. I hate this year's extrajudicial executions by federal agents in Minneapolis.  I hate our government's Venezuelan adventures earlier this month. I hate my grocery bills and the rising cost of everything. This year sucks.

Okay, got that out of my system. Nothing is all bad or all good - there must be something positive in this woe begotten year, so let me think. . . I saw a couple good movies on Netflix, but they were made and released in 2025 (or earlier) so they're not really something good from this year. Some of my favorite sports teams won some of their games and the New England Patriots are going to the Superbowl, but I recognize that those are "good" events only relative to myself and that for every win I celebrate someone else is lamenting a loss. I guess the best part of 2026 so far has been Alex Honnold topping the 1,667-foot Taipei 101 skyscraper in Taiwan - no one other than a complete psychopath was cheering for the skyscraper. 

I could look at it existentially and say, "Well, at least I'm still alive," but in a year like this, I'm reminded of the old Chinese curse, "May you live in interesting times."  

The best part of being dead is you no longer have to say, "I wish I were dead." The best part of being alive is you can still say, "I wish I were dead."