On the third day of Whinemas, the troll gods sent to me...

3 sad tales

• as told by my mother on the phone last night:

1. the latest in the ongoing saga of her pseudo-boyfriend's messy divorce from his "sociopathic" ex-wife
2. the father of a friend of mine from primary school just had a surfing accident that left him a quadriplegic
   
3. (the one I selfishly care about most) my little brother just completely failed his latest semester of uni and his course has a set program of courses meaning he has to wait until July next year to retake the classes so he'll now be a year behind. He already spent a year in a course he didn't like in order to upgrade to this one. He's a smart and creative kid so he's perfectly capable of doing well in the course, but I think he's all about the socialising. He's been working part-time for years but never has any money after going out almost every night (it used to all go on expensive presents for his status-hyperconscious girlfriend, but he broke up with her a year ago). When I went home he was practically living out at uni in order to get his assignments done, but I think he was enjoying the share-house vibe rather than actually working (they had a hammock, dvd player, lots of music etc set up). I feel guilty for a number of reasons (the alternate gift of the day was "3 guilt trips). As the youngest, he's borne the brunt of the family's dysfunctionalness in some ways so I feel guilty about leaving home and abandoning him to it. I also feel guilty about setting an example of not doing much work for uni without any consequences. He's also seen my older brother and I go off and do exciting things (well, my brother has, at least) so I think he wants to just have fun. I realise I don't really have that much influence on him, but he's my baby brother so I still feel like I should be looking out for him more.
   

2 blistered heels
and a huge lack of motivation

• I almost forgot I have yet more tales of apathy. Again, I ignored my alarm for 2 hours before getting up, without even having my laptop home to read blogs on, but today I could barely drag myself through the process of getting out the door. I did actually have to do some incredibly painful work (figuratively, although I'm sure it's increasing my risk of RSI enormously) but only for an hour and a half. I've managed to become addicted to pandacam now, too - thanks Dr. B :P
  

I should really go home now, but housemate L. is having the second dinner party of the week in honour of visiting friend (with whom I've also been to the movies twice this week). Is it horrible for me to be relieved that visiting friend is leaving tomorrow?