Stories. The world's full of them. From the fairy tales of childrens' bedtimes, through the cautionary tales of friends whose good intentions nevertheless landed them in hot water, to the good old-fashioned "boy meets girl" romance.
I'm writing this from bed, shattered, shortly after getting back from OpenCon. Last year, OpenCon changed the way I saw my life and gave me strength and faith in path I was on. This year I was hoping it would do the same for a friend but it wasn't to be and they never made it to the event.