Chapter 1
The End of the World

I was born in the summer of 1978.
During my adolescence, I developed a less than optimistic outlook of the future.
Not only did the end of my childhood coincide with the Gulf war, but, as the millennium approached, the entire world seemed to be holding its breath in anticipation of a sudden global disaster.
Pop culture was focused on Armageddon with big blockbuster movies, books and music being released on the topic.
Y2K was causing wide spread paranoia and the prophesies of Nostrodamus were more popular and loosely translated than ever before.
My generation was among the first to be burdened with the overwhelming consequences of the environmental ignorance of every age and civilization that came before us.
So there I was, an incredibly confused teenager expected to map out my life and make the decisions that would direct my career and define my livelihood over the next few decades.
Meanwhile, the whole world was telling me it was all going to come to a screeching halt, sooner than later.
The unfortunate thing was, I believed them. I wanted to believe them.
In my eyes, the human race had evolved into an irreversible and ultimate evil.
We killed animals, our planet, and even each other.
Each breath I took was weighed with guilt because I was a part of it all.
I would have gladly sacrificed my own life if it were to be terminated during the total annihilation of all humanity.
We deserved an apocalypse and I was ready to get in line.
I made the decision to enjoy my life while I had the chance. What was the point of studying seriously or struggling to build a life, just to have it all come crashing down around me? It was time to live fast and die young.
I was twenty-one when the millennium came without so much as an earthquake.
It was devastating.
I was thoroughly disillusioned. Betrayed and sentenced to live out my years in a hateful, capitalist world. All was lost.
So here I am in 2005, and nothing’s really changed.
People are predictably obsessed with watching sex, war and death on their television sets, still making all the same mistakes.
Where does that leave me?
Well, I’m still waiting for the world to end.