I'm a little tired of people dying, god damn it.

The circle of life comes with spikes.

True dat. Sorry to be a downer.

Teppy, you are not a downer. I'm so sorry that you are having to deal with another loss.

Sorry to be a downer

The truth is not a downer, it's just the truth. Hell, even Doonesbury is dealing with death in the first strips of the year (Mike's Mom died, and he and his brother are having a conversation at the funeral. It's wonderfully evil.)

Huge congrats to Aeryn's arrival(can't fault the name!) and Jessica's ultimate gold star. Thumbs up to the upswing of life's circle.

Teppy, you are not being a downer. You are allowing us to share your life, including your sorrows. You will also share with us when you have joys, when you have wonderful things happen, when you have triumphs, when you have funny moments. That's what we do. So please accept my sympathies, and warm fuzzy comforting thoughts.

Also please accept some eye-rolling at your boss. And possibly a minor smite, such as "may your boss get stuck in an elevator, and may the technician called to assist, be so new that s/he must resort to using a badly translated manual edited by someone who screws up like the boss, leading to several misunderstandings about how the elevator is supposed to work, therefore causing the boss to be stuck for about an hour and a half, rather than being rescued in half an hour".

Teppy, that is a shame - sorry for your loss.

I finally ventured out and bought paper products - not before it was direly necessary and I am at the stage of being sick where walking down to the corner Walgreen's and back ends up with me completely covered in sweat. And that is despite temps in the teens with windchills in the single digits. The wind actually felt good to me.

And that's just wrong.

I'm a little tired of people dying, god damn it.

Whoa, yeah.

The truth is not a downer, it's just the truth.

So sorry for your loss, Steph. May your coworker's spirit find peace and ease.

And felicitations and salutations to Aeryn Alter. Many great people are wishing you great things. You've got it made!

Andi, I love your smites, you have the best imagination ever.

In thank-goodness news...I had a terrific conversation with my beloved Niki today.

Her trip to move to California went really well ("I could get used to first class!") and her life in Santa Cruz is better than any of us could have hoped for. In fact, a severe muscle problem she was having seems to have spontaneously disappeared. This means more walking and potential better health.

I had so wanted to believe the ocean would do her good. It seems to have!

I was afraid I would miss her desperately, but I can only be glad.

Must send a, You are beyond awesome, message to the daughter who is keeping her. These situations don't always go well. This one? Perfect.