Anybody who knows me personally will say that I spend too much time alone. My close friends have been dealing with me for years, and I think they're only just now beginning to understand my lonesome tendencies. It's very hard to convey to someone that they're one of your favorite people in the world, and yet you STILL don't feel like being around them at that second. I know that those guys who still talk to me daily have got it figured out, and that they understand the time alone that I need. They realize that its deeper than just flaking. I don't know why I'm wired this way, but it isn't a recent development. Before I was in elementary school, I used to tell my mother that I 'wanted to be a Hermit' when I grew up. I've always attributed some sort of importance to that way of living, even before I had a shred of an idea of what it entailed for the human condition. She used to laugh, but last year I think she realized my childhood dreams are ...