Since 1988, the end of August has sucked ass for me. It all started when my friend was killed in a car wreck on August 29, 1988. She was 17 and was NOT wearing a seatbelt, teaching me important things about pain, loss and the importance of seatbelts. I also lost my virginity that day, which I gladly wouldn't have remembered the date of had my friend not been killed.

A year later, my cousin was born on that day so I got a year off.

In recent years, I've been dumped (Aug. 28, 1995), my mom's dog Buddy was diagnosed with terminal cancer (August 28, 1999). Here this little dog had effectively brought my mom back to herself, back to life, and now he's being taken from us? This year, all of my friends at work were laid off (Aug 23, 2000) and my rent was raised a shitload (Aug. 27, 2000).

In the grand scheme of things, this year (so far) hasn't been too bad but I won't breathe easy until the 30th.