I disappeared for a while.  Let’s call it the vortex of 2010.  Though there were a few victories in 2010, for the most part it was craptacular and deserves to be forgotten.  Luckily, once you’ve hit rock bottom, there’s only one way to go.  Oddly, I said this many times during 2010 and I sunk further and further into misery.  Mind you, there were some spectacular successes during 2010, but people seem to like the misery better…

I can’t tell you when I knew things were going so terribly wrong.  Just that before I realized it, I was stuck in a morass of misery.  Some lowlights:

– I was going to Toronto to ask Robert J Sawyer advice on the direction of my writing.  Why, that’s a win, isn’t it?  That must be a win!  And my car, which was on its lasts legs (errr…wheels)…I decided to rent a car instead.  “Would you like the optional insurance with that?” (You see where I’m going with this, right?).  On the way home from Toronto, a tire exploded in front of me.  It wiped out the front of the rental car.  Because I didn’t see who did it, I’m responsible.  Which means I pay the deductible.

– Coming back from Toronto (different time), I hit two raccoons and a squirrel.  It was at night.  What is a squirrel doing out at night?  Yes, I killed three animals in 186 kilometres.  That’s gotta be a record.  What have I learned?  Toronto is evil.

– Las Vegas…how can anyone lose in Las Vegas?  I did.  It was so bad, that Brian and I had to play at the El Cortez because the El Cortez is for losers, and that’s what we were.  I was playing 25 cent craps and still losing.  I did spread some misery, however.  When we visited Caesars to see how winners lived, I got a real thrill out of touching tables and watching them crap out.  Especially the $100 tables.  Spread the love.

There is an upside to this, however.  Once I started betting against myself, I came up roses.  Even the croupier couldn’t believe my craptastic luck. Almost made all my money back in less than 20 minutes.  Did I mention that it rained, in Las Vegas, the entire time we were there?  Did I mention that?

– Shingles.  Yes, shingles.

– New Years Eve…while preoccupied while talking on the phone, I took my daily dose of vitamins, uppers, lowers, goofballs.  I’m out and about when I’m hit by a MASSIVE flu.  Like it’s killing me.  How the hell did it hit so fast?  Then it hit me — the image of the little pink pill falling into my palm and me taking it.  Yes, the pink pill.  Yes, the sleeping pill.  I partied…like I was 2-years old…asleep.  Yes, that’s how I spent New Years Eve (though truthfully, I do not have a good record with NYE).

– Car accident. Another one – not said one above.

– Sadly, there are some other more exciting stories…they involve things blowing up on me: career, personal life, family life…but I’ll keep those to myself (for now).