In partial answer to where I've been for however long it's been since I posted here, allow me to confess that only today I completed my 2012 income tax return. So there hasn't just been one thing I've been putting off, neglecting, whatever. My whole life has become one procrastination after another, until all my tomorrows have turned into empty yesterdays (as I believe Professor Harold Hill originally said).

This isn't really a catch-up entry, mostly because there's no way. No way to put this year into any kind of perspective. No way to unleash the floodgates of trauma and uncertainty. So here's your catch-up: everybody that I've written about here (as far as I know) is still alive and kicking. Some are kicking a little harder than others, but isn't that just the way it goes?

As it turns out, even though I have maximum deductions taken out of my paycheck, I still owed the federal government (the what?) over $300, and the state nearly $100. I'm not sure how this is even possible, except that somehow my share of the Kennel, in which I have no active participation (legally speaking) and no financial stake (until I retire) has generated income that (a) I never see, and (2) puts me in a different bracket.

That stinks, but what am I going to do, fight the government? I'm pretty sure they wouldn't even show up. The bigwigs are all partying in smoke-filled rooms, while the peons are starving in the streets. I'm pretty sure.

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So, this is what you've been missing. If you're still here, this far down the page, I guess I owe you an apology. And someday, maybe, even an explanation. For now, let's just keep on wandering through each other's lives and savoring what pleasure we can. I'll try to do better at doing my part. (Famous last words, but hopefully not literally this time.)