The Final Days

This year is almost over, not that it really matters since it's all one day, but something that does matter and is calendar-related is if you want to be able to take a deduction on your taxes for your charitable donations, you have to write those checks or click "Donate" online by the end of the day on December 31. (And by the way, for those of you stricken with SCS, or Severe Cliche Syndrome, that last sentence is an example of the only acceptable use of the term "the end of the day.")

Hey, at least I'm not asking you to send me money to Kickstart something.

Another thing you might want to do is make a list of your resolutions for 2017, keeping in mind that most of them will be forgotten by mid-January due to binge-watching TV shows, an activity that wipes out fully half of your functioning brain cells. I know it makes you feel like part of something bigger, and you can talk about it with your friends instead of some other things that might be going on in your life, but it's really just a giant waste of time.

I don't do that (except that one time after my hip surgery with Grey's Anatomy when I was couch-ridden), having found other ways to waste my time, and in fact these days the only thing I binge on is weeping, mostly over the sad state of the world. My condition is called hyper-empathy and has no permanent cure but a little tab of Lorazepam keeps it at bay for four or five hours at a stretch. I love my Lorazepam almost as much as my morning coffee, although if push came to shove and I were forced to choose, I'd take the coffee, strong and black, and no that is not a racist comment.

But enough about me. We were talking about you and how little of your income you share with total strangers less fortunate than you. Come on, you know it's true. But you can fix that right now by sending a big chunk of money to any number of worthwhile causes. Trust me, you'll feel a lot better about yourself, and things in general, afterward.