So... I guess it's been a while, hm? Think of it like a show starting up again in September after the summer break. Except that it's still the summer. Oh well.

Anyway, a show always needs a new plot hook to get its viewers excited again. Some new arc that comforts by sticking to established formulas but also raises the stakes by introducing an as yet unencountered situation. Well, if nothing else, I am faithful to TV shows. In less than two months, my life will be radically changed by two events: I will finally complete my undergraduate credits for a long-overdue graduation and I will turn twenty-five.

Now, I say "I will," but, of course, it should read more like "Will I?" Therein lies some of the drama. Will these two things actually happen? Or will I be able to screw up enough that they don't? To be fair, I'd have to screw up pretty badly not to turn twenty-five, but I feel like I could pull it off if I tried hard enough. The college credit thing seems much more tenuous, though. I mean, relatively speaking, it seems like it would be a lot easier to mess up in a class than to suddenly wind up dead. Getting sick and missing class, not turning in assignments, slapping a professor hard across the face: these are some of the many things that can make a person fail a course and yet continue to live. But, ah, this is Charm City Baltimore after all, hon, so who knows?

The rest of the drama comes from my uncertain future after these events unfold, assuming everything goes to plan. This less-than-two-month end-of-an-era period can serve as a lead up to my new life as a 25-year-old college grad. A life about to unfold. One man against the world. Holy heck, what will happen? Blah, blah, blah. Reality TV at its cheesiest.

So there's the hook. Let the new season begin.