Happiness is the aftertaste of egg nog ice cream whilst listening to the Velvet Underground during the early hours of the morning, or it is to me anyway. If this is the precursor to the new year, then I am excited for 2006. I have found that during the course of one year, I have changed quite significantly- both ideologically and physically speaking. On average, I think I have gained more hair than one man gains in a lifetime, but c'est la vie. Ideologically speaking, I have very different philosophies on the world and its' inhabitants now- I feel much more confident in what I know and what I hope to learn. I have gained a lot of friends, and hardly any enemies. I've had fun; I've cried; I got stressed out; I got in fights; I failed at things; I also succeeded at things. I guess in short- I lived, and that's all I could ever ask for. I have new friends (and old ones), new outlooks, new thoughts, new ideas, new interests (and interest...), new philosophies- and a new start. I'm going to try to make the most of this year; I know it's going to be difficult and hard, but what's the point in living an easy life? Life makes us, and we make life. Things will never be easy, but there are always moments of calm in the middle of a storm and moments of sunshine in a cloudy day. We just need to learn how to make those moments count for more than the inevitable, torrential downpour that cascades through our heads and into our hearts. I think I'm ready.