I like to be happy.

I must say it's really nice to be happy. I like where I am in life. I don't node much anymore.
If any of you were wondering what happened to the masturbation girl who married that brit noder, she is doing rather well these days.

A few years ago a friend said to me, "You like being unhappy. You aren't happy unless there is tragedy." I was of course offended, but it was hard to deny. I reveled in my depression. I wore my emotional scars like headphones connected to a direct feed of Natalie Merchant's suicide anthems. I pitied myself, and invited others to do so like some Sylvia Plath poetry-reading club.

Now, I really have little to complain about. I feel sated in every aspect of my life. I have a loving husband who I simply can't get enough of. I go swimming at the gym and generally eat and feel healthier. I find more time to read and visit friends. I am interested in new hobbies, and my life seems more focused.

So what's different? As much as I want to attribute this newfound personal contentment to some strong emotional character trait within, it is more honestly because of a strong character. I have someone special to love. Anthony makes me happy.

I don't want to go on some saccharine sweet speech about how being in his arms brings me a comfort I had only hoped to know. I know that the majority of noders are looking for love in all the wrong chat rooms. My love poems for Dizzy get beaten down lower than a homosexual in Mike Tyson's prison cell. It wasn't long ago that I was writing Ode to the Empty Side of My Bed. My life was consumed with finding someone to love. I am lucky to have found him.

I was recently telling one of my more depressive friends to lighten the fuck up. I know life isn't a string of ass sparkling orgasms and ice cream sundaes, but it's not all that bad either. Then I realized that he was single and it wasn't truly fair of me to dole out simplistic advice like lighten up. It's hard being lonely. Humans are meant to pair bond. Wake up and smell the stranger next to you. For the commitment impaired, I would like to point out you are rapidly aging, and you don't want to be that old bald guy in the college bar trying to pick up girls a decade or two younger. I'm not telling you to stop being so choosey. By all means find a good one. Forget your fairy tales. There is no Ms. or Mr. Right. If you find someone who makes you happy, and will put up with your bullshit, be good to him/her.

Most of all be happy. I would very much like for you all to be happy. That doesn't necessarily mean you can't be happy with out a significant other, or that if it doesn't happen right away you should murder your classmates. Just find happiness and enjoy it while it lasts. Happiness comes and goes like stars, and it helps if you look up.

May you all find peace and comfort in this new year.
Love,
Dana