acknowledgements

Special thanks to SARA for her lovely design and even more charming verbage. For the record, I've never said, "hi hi" in my life, nor do I intend to do so. Further, I have not had occaision to say "wee" since the last time my parents took me to Great America and I got to ride the Buzzy Bees ride as much as I wanted. Wee, just thinking about it. I cannot begin to express how truly grateful I am to Concentra and Sedgwick CMS for their caring concern regarding my workers' comp claim, and the same goes for the doctors and nurses of Castle Orthopaedics, who work tirelessly and around the clock to control my pain, come up with frequent new diagnoses for my fairly debilitating injury, and to never, ever schedule at least one MRI per month. I'd also like to thank Hobby Lobby and the family who owns a certain strip mall for their assistance in putting out of business the literally Mom and Dad owned Ben Franklin Crafts and Frame Shop, where I worked and laughed and made some of the best friends I've ever had and wrote my essays and poems for ten years, thus taking away my livelihood, income, beloved trade--pretty much the bulk of my stability, aside from my family. I am not alone in my gratitude. I cannot overlook our wise Great American President for turning Peace and Prosperity into Body Counts and a Broke-Ass Economy. (that was a stretch at alliteration, i know. nonetheless, i am not alone in my gratitude. John Kerry will be thanking you for his new job soon enough.) Last but not least, I'd like to thank a certain graduate advisor for her amazing assistance in making one man (the one man in my life, unless Dads count) spend over five years of his life jumping through nonspecific nonsensical thesis-related hoops. It makes for such a wonderful and relaxing home life. For real, though, SARA really is an amazing friend and an amazing woman. There, you see--sometimes just saying thank you makes you feel so much better.