I want to take some time today to remind everyone to get your cholesterol checked!  Everyone over the age of 18 should have their cholesterol level tested annually.  High cholesterol levels put you at risk for heart disease, high blood pressure and stroke.

For those who've forgotten their high school biology lessons, indulge me in a little background lecture.  Cholesterol is a fatty substace that your body needs for producing new cells.  Your body gets its cholesterol from two sources: it's manufactured by your liver, and its ingested in the food that you eat.  The problem, however, is that your body is able to manufacture most of what it needs and doesn't really need you to take in much in the way of food.  American diets tend to provide far more cholesterol than one's body actually needs.  This would be fine if you could simply eliminate the excess, but it builds up in your blood vessels, narrowing and hardening them.

There are several risk factors for high cholesterol.  A diet high in cholesterol is the most obvious one, but a person also has to be very careful about eating saturated fats.  Being overweight or a smoker, diabetes, high blood pressure, menopause, hypothyroidisim, and a family history of high cholesterol are also risk factors.

Not all types of cholesterol are bad.  There are two kinds: LDL (low-density lipoproteins) and HDL (high-density lipoproteins).  HDL cholesterol is often referred to as "good" cholesterol; it's the LDL level that you have to watch out for.  In fact, many researchers have felt that even if your total cholesterol level is high, if your HDL level is proportionately high, that may be better than having an extremely low HDL level.

There are several ways you can lower your cholesterol level.  The most effective way, obviously, is to limit your intake of fats, particularly saturated fats and dietary cholesterol.  Realize, of course, that your body needs some fat to function, but you should try to supply your body as much as possible with monounsaturated fats, which help boost your HDL levels.  You can try supplementing your diet with niacin (vitamin B-3).  You can drink a glass of red wine every day.  The jury's still out on this, but studies show that this may improve your HDL levels.  More than one glass, however, (and experts do agree on this) will do more harm than good.  You can stop smoking if you smoke and add aerobic exercise to your routine.    One of the very best things you can do is increase your daily intake of soluble fiber.  Fiber is found in foods like oatmeal, beans, peas and whole grain bread.  The recommended daily allowance for adults is at least 25 grams per day; most Americans fall far short of this.  If you find yourself unable to eat enough fiber, consider taking a fiber supplement like Metamucil.  Fiber goes a long way in lowering your cholesterol level -- and has a whole host of other health benefits.

So get tested.  It would be nice to think that your physician would remember to add this to the checklist of everyone's annual physical, but it happens far too seldom.  And there are far too few people who actually go in to the doctor for an annual physical.  You can easily add a cholesterol test on to a visit for something else.  Just note: you can't have eaten anything that day or they won't be able to do the test.  When you get the results, here's a guide to know if you're in the right ballpark.  Your total cholesterol level should be less than 200 mg/dL.  Your HDL should be MORE than 40 mg/dL and your LDL should be less than 160 mg/dL.  LDL of less than 100 mg/dL is considered optimal.

So what happens if your cholesterol is too high?  Well, first, your doctor will likely impose some dietary changes: limiting saturated fat and cholesterol intake, increasing your fiber intake, etc.  If you're boderline, that may be all your doctor will do, at least until he or she runs another test to see how the changes are working.  But if your levels are too high, you may be a candidate for cholesterol-lowering medications.  Some of the most common drugs are the so-called "statin" drugs, like Lipitor, Zocor, or Pravachol.  These block the production of cholesterol in the liver itself, but do tend to cause side effects.  Some people are treated with a drug called Qwestran, which binds to bile in the digestive system and prevents cholesterol from being reabsorbed into the circulatory system.  It tends to cause constipation and gas.  Other drugs, called fibrates, (like Tricor and Lopid) are used less frequently and reduce the production of triglycerides.  All of the cholesterol-lowering drugs can cause some pretty uncomfortable side effects, so I'm sure you'd agree that it's better to prevent it in the first place.

Cardiovascular disease is the number one killer in adults in America.  It's likely that it will affect you or someone you know in some form.  One way that you can prevent it is by lowering your cholesterol levels, and the best way to be prepared is by getting checked routinely by your doctor so that you know what you're up against.  Please don't wait. 

On a lighter note, I just finished a book that I have to share with all of you.  I'm pleased to say that I took Patsy's recommendation after I reviewed another book by this author and it was better than I could have hoped.  You should all read The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver.  It's about a baptist mission family from Georgia that goes to the Belgian Congo (what used to be Zaire) in the late 50s.  The father is an extremely severe, pentecostal preacher who's bent on bringing Jesus to a small Congolese village.  They bring Betty Crocker cake mixes and unsensible clothes, and have no earthly idea what they're in for.  The book rotates viewpoints between his four children (all girls) and occasionally his wife, although it's never told from his point of view.  I was pleased to see after I bought the book from Amazon that it was another of Oprah's book selections -- I'll say it again...she picks some of the best books.  The book is quite long, but really weaves an amazing tale of life in Africa and how instead of bringing redemption to the "savages," the natives changes the Prices lives in ways you could never imagine.  I finished it a couple of days ago, and I still can't stop thinking about it.  I was surprised to see some bad reviews on Amazon; evidently a lot of people felt the book had some "unchristian" leanings and that Kingsolver was unAmerican.  Frankly, I think she was realistic and did a remarkably poetic job of translating the horror of living in the Congo during an awfully dark point in its history.  Five stars -- thanks, Patsy!

Well, the swelling in my neck is gone.  The Zithromax (that I demanded -- god only knows what that idiot PA would have prescribed without some guidance) seems to have done the job, and I'm back to normal, or at least as normal as I ever get.  Thank goodness.  I've cancelled my appointment with Dr. Schmitt, and hopefully tomorrow I'll remember to call and cancel the ENT appointment.  And on a positive note, I had a dentist appointment that I had to reschedule since I couldn't open my mouth more than about a half inch. 

I got to play Santa at work today.  I work in a customer service department for a company that sells a fairly wide variety of products, and every fall we introduce a special seasonal holiday line that's just around until after Christmas.  Part of my job is to order up one of all of the giftline products to display in the department in case we receive calls on the products -- that way the operator can just run over and grab it and answer the question while looking right at it.  They also go a long ways in decorating the place.  Well, we keep them around until the end of January just in case there are any customer service issues and I need to stick a part in the mail, but by now we figured everything is pretty much over with.  So, I drew everyone's names out of a dish and gave all the stuff away to the staff.  We had enough for everyone to get four things.  I know it's not much, but these people have pretty awful jobs, what with getting yelled at regularly and getting paid very poorly, and it's really nice to be able to do something to brighten their days.

(*Sporadic subject change*)  I'm so glad I'm single.  I have really started to loathe the whole idea of boys and dating.  I know, probably not a good thing to admit right after I posted a long rant about gay rights, but let me clarify.  I definitely don't want the government or society telling me I'm a second-class citizen.  At some point, I'm sure some wonderful Greek god will fall into my lap and we'll marry and live happily ever after.  But it can happen some other time.

Matt (my ex, with whom I'm still friends) met some preschooler online that lives 6 hours away in a town of like 7 people.  He's actually 18.  He looks 9.  He drove down here last weekend for a rousing time of bonding and marathon sex.  Matt wanted me to meet him; I declined.  I hate him.  I'm convinced he's just using Matt, although for what, I'm not sure.  I did see some of their correspondence.  It was so sickeningly saccharine I almost gagged:  "Oh, sweetie..."  "My darling cutie-pie..."  "Loveykins..."  That kind of thing.  Next week they'll be picking out their silver pattern.  And really, Matt's old enough to know better.  Part of me is almost hoping this is just jealousy talking and some part of me deep down inside (deep deep down) wishes we were still going out, but I know that's not the case.  For one thing, I would never go out with Matt again, as much as it hurt when we broke up.  I just hate it when my friends make stupid mistakes.  Hell, I hate it when my friends use the wrong laundry detergent.  And I'm just convinced this qualifies as a colossal mistake.  So far I haven't said a single word to Matt about this (which is quite a feat of restraint for me), hoping that when they realize how far away they are from each other it'll all just go away, but now they're talking about seeing each other again in a couple of weeks.  Sigh.

Then on the other front, Mike's been in contact with an old flame of mine, Joe.  Well, I guess you could call him that.  We shared exactly two conversations and a marginal kiss 7 years ago, and that was that.  He was in the closet and was afraid of me (I get that a lot).  Now he's 7 years older, fat, and back in town, and has evidently come to terms with himself.  And he wants someone to enjoy those terms with him.  The problem, evidently, is that he's not particularly mature and likes to play games.  So he's apparently systematically eliminated the entire gay population of Winona and surrounding areas trying to find someone who's not repulsed by him -- and he's latched on to Mike.  I have to give Mike credit: he's not having any of it.  But this just makes Joe try harder.  He's taken to showing up at Target (where Mike works part time occassionally for extra cash) and giggling at him from across the store.  Not attractive behavior for a 26- or 27-year-old man.  What gets me, though, is now he's blaming his lack of success, not only with Mike, but with all of gay Winona, on me.  Oh, yes.  Evidently, because I was so torn up by getting my advances spurned I blackballed him throughout the town so nobody would date him.  Never mind that I hadn't even though about him in, oh, 6 years and 11 months and don't really even remember what he looks like.

Don't get me wrong...I'm not exactly losing sleep over this.  It's just another example of the games people play -- the games I'm so happy I'm not a part of right now.  Gay men can be worse than high school cheerleaders.  I'm happy...I've got my cat.

So.  I haven't done a book review for a while, so I think it's time.  Now, this book is different from the ones I usually do: My Life, by Bill Clinton.  The book got horrible reviews, and even though I'm not usually one that pays undue attention to reviews, I wasn't really planning on reading it.  But Matt got it for me for my birthday.  (Extremely belated, I might add...my birthday was in November.)  But I was, for the most part, a fan of Clinton's, so I decided to make the most of it and plow through it.  And plow through it I did -- this book is 1,008 pages long.  On one hand, I can see why reviewers rated it the way they did.  For one thing, when you're reading a political memoire, you can never be sure how honest it it; obviously it's going to put the most positive spin on events that it can.  He also used some pretty marginal English at times.  "...we had the losingest football team in Arkansas."  Losingest??  For someone who's a Rhodes Scholar and was President of our country, he wasn't the greatest writer; it was pretty dry going a lot of the time.  But, then on the other hand, look at the subject matter.  How punchy can you make politics?  For what it's worth, the book will never win any literary prizes, and didn't have much in the way of humor, but if you can look past that, it was very educational.  It really did teach me a lot about national and world events in the last half of the twentieth century, and it really was interesting getting the point of view of a world leader.  It makes you take a new look at how all of our politicians are doing in their jobs, regardless of their party affiliation.  So, about the book, I can say this: if you think you can get past a lot (and I mean a lot) of names and dates and drudgery, you'll get a lot of information and perspective.  I'm certainly not sorry I read it.

Well folks, I'm sorry to say, it's happening again.  The word's out that the GOP, backed by the "religious right," is planning to reintroduce legistlation to ban same-sex marriages in the US constitution.  This is not good.  Besides that, with all of the issues that our nation faces today, it's appalling that our right wing senators want to make this the issue to focus on.

Anyone who's read my live journal obviously knows how I feel about this, but for you newbies, indulge me.  Not since the time of slavery has there been wording in the US constitution denying civil rights to a particular group of people.  Do we really want to regress to that point?

So many people seem offended by the idea of a man marrying another man, or a woman marrying another woman.  I guess I don't get it.  Exactly who is it going to hurt?  Society at large will be unaffected; heterosexuals will still be able to marry just as they always have.  And the tens of thousands of loving gay family units will be afforded the same benefits as their straight counterparts: taxation rights, health insurance, and perhaps most important, the right to be called "next of kin."  As it stands now, I could be in a committed relationship with someone for, say, 40 or 50 years.  If he should wind up in sick or in an accident, I wouldn't even be able to visit him in the hospital.  I've said it before and I'll say it again.  There's something fundamentally wrong with that.

I'm tired of fighting this battle, as I'm sure you all are, but we can't rest now.  The GOP has built up a momentum with November's election that I'm sure they intend to capitalize on.  It's going to be up to us to stop them.

Here's what you can do:

(1) Send an e-mail to your US Senators.  Urge them to oppose the newly reintroduce Marriage Protection Amendment and any other efforts to write discrimination into our constitution.  The Human Rights Campaign can help you with the e-mail, not only by providing the addesses of your senators but by providing you with a professional, concise text.

(2) Follow up your email with a phone call to the senators' offices.  Calling will have more of an impact than just an e-mail alone.  For your senators' phone numbers, click here and then click on the appropriate state link.

(3) If you haven't done so already, consider donating to a lobbyist organization such as the Human Rights Campaign or the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.  These organizations work with the goverment not only to prevent hateful legistlation like the Marriage Protection Amendment, but also to promote things like hate crimes bills.  They also work with communities to bring about positive, affirming societal shifts on the individual level by rewarding humanitarian efforts and promoting progressive thinking.  They're both wonderful organizations.

I hope you consider taking action today.  If you're a heterosexual person reading this, particularly if you're a straight person reading this, I hope you realize what a gift you can give society by standing up for a minority's struggle against bigotry and pointless hatred, because that's all that this amendment is.

Being the medical oddity that I am, I had to go to the doctor's office yesterday...and not for anything common, naturally.  Last Saturday, I noticed some transient soreness along the right side of my jaw.  It was fairly ignoreable, so that's exactly what I did.  At least, I ignored it until about Tuesday or so, when it stopped being so transient and started getting worse.  I felt along my jawline and found a lymph node about the size of a garbanzo bean.  Since then, 3 more lymph nodes have swelled up on that side and I've got a decided chipmunk affinity going on.  Aside from that, they hurt like hell.

Now, even though I haven't worked in nursing in a few years, it's not like I've forgotten much.  Generally one's lymph nodes swell up in response to some sort of infection.  The problem is, I don't seem to have one.  I haven't had any fever, I haven't felt sick, I haven't had any skin trauma that might have exposed my body to bacteria...nothing.  It's bizarre.  So I started reading about what might be causing this.  I read articles about lymph node abscesses, but most of them referred to concurrent HIV infection (which doesn't apply to me).  Cancer occurred to me, but the articles I read basically said that generally the course is slower and more silent -- I wouldn't be experiencing so much pain, and so quickly.  Obviously I could be an exception, but I was always taught never to look for zebras when you hear the pounding of hooves (a medical "proverb" that basically says to look for the simplest solution).

Which brings me to my gripes about the state of our health care system.  First of all, when I tried to make an appointment with my regular doctor (who's wonderful), I was told that she was unavailable until the 27th.  It never ceases to amaze me how difficult it can be to get in to see someone.  Forgive me if I want to see the same doctor I've been going to for the last 5 years; we have a rapport, I trust her, and she knows my whole history.  I made an appointment for the 27th and decided to see if I could wait.

Well, the swelling got worse.  And more painful.  I called a different clinic (thank goodness I'm not covered by an HMO!) and the only appointment I could get was with a PA.  Not that I have anything against physician's assistants -- if I decide to go back into nursing, I may just go all the way and become a nurse practitioner, and they're very similar fields.  But this guy was a real treat.  He walks in to the exam room and says, "So how're you feeling, dude?"  Very professional.  I gave him a concise run-down of my symptoms (or lack thereof) while he prodded at my glands, which by now are protruding from my neck.  I didn't mention my background in medicine -- I find it makes healthcare providers defensive if I bring it up -- but I covered everything.  It's worth noting that I had to volunteer all of the information.  The only question he asked was whether I tried a hot compress; otherwise, he didn't take any kind of history.  If I hadn't known what the relevant information was and blurted it out, he would never have known, for instance, that ibuprofen didn't relieve the swelling or that I'd been suffering from headaches as a result.  He actually said to me, "You mean to say you haven't had a temperature all week?"  I just told him no, again, but I wanted to ask him if he thought I was lying the first time I told him.

So we sat down to discuss my treatment plan.  He came right out and said, "I have no idea what's wrong here."  Nice.  I guess he gets points for honesty.  Then, he decided to put me on antibiotics, despite the lack of obvious signs of infection (other than the swollen lymph nodes).  He scrolled through my electronic chart and said, "Lets see here, you've taken..." and listed off a few antibiotics I've taken recently, all for urinary tract infections.  I interrupted him and said, "How about Zithromax."  He looked surprised and asked me why.  I told him that in the absence of a culture, he wouldn't have any idea what he was treating for and Zithromax was fairly broad-spectrum.  He smiled at me like he didn't have any idea what I was talking about and told me that Zithromax would be fine.  Then he said he'd give me something for the pain.  I interrupted him again and asked him for Lortabs, 5 mg.  He just blinked at me.  I sighed and told him that I had a history of kidney stones, that I'm no stranger to opiates, and that the other drugs make me barfy.  He didn't argue with that either.

I asked him if he planned on doing anything besides antibiotic therapy.  By now he's glaring at me.  I suppose I would be too, since I'm pretty much telling him how to do his job, but he seemed so clueless.  He wondered what I had in mind.  I suggested at least a white blood cell count.  He brushed that suggestion off, telling me that the antibiotics should do the trick and that I was jumping the gun.  Interesting, coming from someone who admitted not ten minutes before that he had no idea what was wrong with me.  He did say that he would refer me to an ENT specialist.  (Oh, I couldn't get in to see him until 2/16.  I'll have sprouted a 2nd head by that time.)

So, at this point I still have no idea what is causing my lymph nodes to swell up.  It's too soon to tell if the antibiotic is having any positive effect, but if it doesn't, I intend to keep my appointment with Dr. Schmitt on the 27th (at least she won't blow me off).  I guess the point of this post, aside from general bitching about a literal pain in the neck, is how hard it is to get the medical establishment to listen to you.  I have an advantage -- I have an education (and a big mouth) to back me up when I think a doctor isn't doing something the right way.  But how many people go to the doctor and blindly trust that the "doctor knows best" when the person they're seeing may be some overworked, overbooked, burntout disaster?  Besides that, when a person goes to the doctor they're generally sick or hurt and not strong enough to stand up for their right to stellar care.  I wish I could say this is the first time I've gone to see the doctor and they've brushed me off or "underdiagnosed" me, but it's not the first time.

Don't get me wrong, there really are some amazing health care professionals out there.  Maybe one day I'll be one of them again.  But in the meantime, I'm afraid for all of us.

Sorry I haven't posted anything in so long.  But this is a good weekend to catch up -- yikes, it's cold out!  I suppose it could be a lot worse -- fortunately the bluffs around here sheild us from a lot of the inclement weather and the wind -- but it's been hovering around 0 degrees for the last 3 or 4 days, with a wind chill of something like -15.  I've pretty much stuck around the house all weekend.

Evidently I'm getting my review at work next week.  I'm not looking forward to it.  I'm a supervisor, and while I think that I'm a fairly good boss most of the time, the job I've got makes me automatically unpopular with a lot of people.  Couple that with the fact that I have to nag people in other departments to do their jobs...  I don't know, I do my best to be diplomatic and friendly while getting the job done at the same time, but I have to wonder how much my efforts are appreciated.  What's really scary, though, is that my formal review wasn't supposed to be scheduled until February.  Jean (my boss) handed me a blank review form two weeks ago and asked me to fill it out.  I was confused at first; I figured it was for one of my staff, except that that's not how the process usually works.  They have the names already filled in, and they're given to me in a sealed envelope, not just handed to me by Jean.  So I asked her what it was for, and she to told me it was a "self-review."  I was to fill it out for myself so that we could discuss it before my formal review so that "there were no surprises."  No surprises??  What the hell is that supposed to mean?  Then I find out that she talked with HR and they're moving my formal review up a month so that we can do the self-review at the same time as the formal one.  I asked her if there was anything I ought to be concerned about, and she said no, but how can I not be concerned?  Considering Jean and Rita (my other boss) are always about 3 months behind on reviews, it bothers me a little that they're making such an effort to get mine done early.

So much in the news is unhappy, I wanted to share this with you.  It's a summary of an article that ran in either Thursday or Friday's Minneapolis Start Tribune.  Basically, a woman had gone to the county offices to renew her driver's license last year.  When she received it in the mail, she noticed that instead of her correct weight (which is 98 lbs., and which she was sure she filled in correctly on the form), her new license showed her as weighing 948 lbs.  She made a couple of attempts to get a new, corrected license, but was unsuccessful, and finally decided that, "Since everyone else lies about their weight on their IDs, I can too."  It had some good points.  Once, while dining in a restaurant with her mother, she ordered a hamburger without a bun.  The young waiter said, "Oh, are you on the Atkins diet?"  With a completely straight face, she agreed that she was, and that so far she'd lost nearly 850 pounds on the plan.  Seeing that he didn't believe her, she pulled out her license.  He scurried back to whisper and point with the other wait staff, and she and her mom almost died laughing.

So did I.

Ok, folks...I'm on the lookout for a good crockpot beef stew recipe.  I've found a few online, but their not quite what I'm looking for, so if you've got a good one, let me know.  I need it by Friday.

Before I go, great book: The Deep End of the Ocean, by Jacqueline Mitchard.  Beth Cappadora, a mother of 3 children, takes her kids with her to a reunion in Chicago.  While signing into the hotel, her 3-year-old son Ben is kidnapped.  This book is the story of what happens to a family after an appalling tragedy and of how they try to pick of the pieces and cope.  And at the end, there's an amazingly beautiful, hopeful, awful twist.  It's really a fantastic book.  Now, this book was Oprah's very first book club choice (and if nothing else, that woman has picked out some pretty fantastic books), and it was also made into a movie with Michelle Pfeiffer, which I understand was pretty bad.  I found out about Jackie Mitchard and this book through her sydnicated column, "The Rest Of Us."  I figured if I could agree with her viewpoints every single week, I'd probably like what she had to say in a novel...and I was right. 

Despite the election being over, there's quite a lot of political merchandise out there that's still up for grabs.  And I'm not talking about the page-a-day calendars that all the books stores are selling -- you know, the one's that have 365 different stupid things that Bush said.  (How did they choose?)

This is unbelievable.  Rebublican ketchup.  Yes, that's right.  W Ketchup is marketed as an all-American, anti-Kerry version of Heinz.  According to their website, the "W" stands for "Washington."  (Hmm...not sure if I believe that.)  Evidently, a portion of every sale (which must be in cases of four bottles) goes to the Freedom Alliance Scholarship Fund.  They expect to be in stores soon.  They also have their own song.  The website makes claims that while all of their ingredients are American, Heinz not only has 57 varieties, it also comes from 57 countries.  (I rather doubt that coincidence, although I'm not wasting the time to write to Heinz to find out.) 

Oh, but that's not all.  I found a website that sells doggie chew toys -- in the shape of either Kerry or Bush's head.  According to the website, you can get pleasure along with your pooch from watching him gnaw on your least favorite political figure.  They also have Bill & Hillary Clinton, Saddam, and a generic IRS agent.  None of the figures really looked much like the real people (except maybe Saddam Hussein). 

Or, how about this?  If a page-a-day calendar isn't to your taste, you can always get a set of coasters.  This set of 4 tin coasters from Urban Outfitters is engraved with different "Bushisms," each more brilliant than the next.

Anyway, I thought these were just too funny to keep to myself. 

Well, 2004 is (finally) over.  It was quite a year.  On a personal level, I got a promotion, took a fabulous vacation to Florida (in the middle of a hurricane, no less) along with a few smaller trips, lost 15 pounds, and celebrated my 19th birthday for the 7th consecutive year.  On a less positive note, I'm still in a loser job (despite the promotion), I still live in a crappy college-type apartment, I had surgery -- twice, and I didn't get laid even once.  Oh, well...men give me indigestion anyway.

On a national level, it seems like a lot happened.  The opportunity to overturn the legalization of gay marriage in Massachusetts passed by, while 11 other states voted to prohibit it in their constitutions.  Bush got re-elected, a tsunami wiped out an unbelieveable number of people in Asia and Africa, hurricanes almost washed Florida into the ocean, we spent the year at war with Iraq, and the Olympics returned to Athens.

It's almost too much for a shallow boy like me to cope with!  :-)

I've never been one for New Year's resolutions...I'm rather of the mindset that if it's time for me to make a change in my life, I'm not going to do it because of a certain date on the calendar.  I should quit smoking, but I probably won't.  I  should go back to school, but I'm probably not going to do that immediately either.  Hmpf.  Sorry, mom.  Are any of you making resolutions?

I read an amazing book over the holidays that you've all got to check out.  It's a love story -- I know, I must be getting soft or something.  I usually hate romantic bullshit.  A lot.  Not this book.  It's called Almost Like Being in Love, by Steve Kluger.  This book will make you laugh the entire time you read it and rip your heart out at the same time, even one as cold and dead as mine.  :-)  Basically, Craig, a jock, and Travis, a nerd, fall in love against all odds while in boarding school together.  But it's their senior year, and when they graduate they go to separate coasts for college.  Now it's 20 years later.  Both of them are successful, and Craig has been living with a generally wonderful man for the last 12, although Travis goes through lots of short-lived relationships that seem to lack something (don't I know that feeling).  It hits him that he needs to find Craig again, so he tries.  I'll stop there.  The characters are zany, three-dimensional, and most of all, believable.  The plot is one huge chuckle.  The format is very creative: Kluger tells the whole story in the form of diary entries, memos, e-mails, etc...there's no actual narrative.  But the best thing about it is how the whole time you're reading it you're hoping against hope for true love to win out in the end.  (I don't believe I just said that.)  So read it, and when you're done, find a big cynic to lend it to and turn their whole outlook upside-down. 

Happy new year, everybody!