Yippee.

Isn't it odd that, in the midst of so much misery, you have yet to learn how to feel compassion for others? Isn't it strange that the innocents seem to be punished? Isn't it your fault, no matter how classically melodramatic that thought is? Because even though there is no direct and obvious link, you know it, and you feel it, and this knowledge risks feeding your egocentric nature. Egocentric is your new favourite word, because you have so much cause to use it -- and this, too, is a symptom of narcissism.

Well, I'm leaving for a week beginning on Friday, so I reckon I'll fill you in on some of everything.

1. My sister has diabetes.
2. My brother is finishing another terrible year of school. He hasn't learned anything except how to slack off. His future (grade five) prospects are dim at EBS, he never seems to be enjoying himself, and his best friend is going through a very difficult time.
3. There seems to be no hope for either of the siblings switching schools next year, despite how they both need to for very different reasons.
4. My mother has never been so stressed, so stressed that waking up in the morning is painful. There's nothing quite like injecting your youngest three times a day (and blood tests, too, and trying to figure out how the school will handle things next year...they haven't been very helpful).
5. My father has been, from my mother's point of view, largely absent. But he's getting older, and he's been tired lately. His birthday was this week...he's nearly sixty.

Just figured I'd brighten your day.

By the way, I've discovered the soundtrack to my life again. I'm supposed to play it, too. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsXRPvsUnHE

Wail is the best word here.