It was Monday, June 24, 2002 and I was one hour away from leaving the Second Annual South Park Convention and heading home when I realized that in most instances – coming home from a vacation usually means getting hit head on with a truckload of drama the moment you step off of the aircraft. In my case – the drama that awaited me at home when I returned from SPC2 has snowballed into an Armageddon sized asteroid headed straight for me – and while I try my best to deal with this drama and restore my world to normalcy – I could think of nothing more then the Convention I returned from – and the fact that I would give anything in this world to go back there – anything.

If I could describe what I have dealt with since I returned from the best time of my life not even three weeks ago, I would say it is like being a fireman and having finally doused a flaming building – only to watch the building next to it explode – and then have the same thing happen every single time you put out a building. In fact, the stress has been so bad that I wound up in the hospital last Friday – for a stress-induced stomach virus that has left me in pain and unable to eat to this day – exactly one week later.

Considering the fact that this hectic way of life has been my daily existence since I returned from Colorado – how could I think of anything else but wanting to return there? At the Convention, time had no meaning, every single waking moment was a good time, I was surrounded by the greatest group of people I have ever encountered – and the world was finally off of my shoulders at least for a little while – and then I landed – and was never more sorry that I went away in the first place. From South Park firing me, to my landlord raising my rent, to past and present bills coming out of the woodwork – I appeared to be drowning and let the stress effect me so much – that my boss and co-workers noticed that I was acting funny – and my stomach hurt so much that I wound up in the hospital for severe stomach pain.

The not-good-but-great news is that I am not in the least bit worried, because in ten days on June 24th – I have my official booksigning at Pip’s Comedy Club in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn – and all I have to do is simply survive the next ten days – until the day that changes everything.

But until then, I will get through the storm by remembering the Convention I just returned from, which – to be honest – was the last time my skies were blue…

…and eagerly await the next ray of sunshine in ten days time.