The End.

I will admit, I have gained a faith-based belief, if only to help assuage the damp pallor of moroseness which seems to hang about me like a cloud these days.

I call it "the end".

Now, while there are plenty of signs pointing to the distinct possibility that we are heading towards "the end", no one can tell with surety what "the end" will look like exactly, nor when it will come. That's all right, I acknowledge that my version of "the end" is merely a pleasant fantasy to keep me going and improving myself in preparation for when the real end comes. I hold no illusions that said preparations will actually carry me through whatever befalls the world in the future, but I will be as prepared as it is possible for "the end", materially, physically, and mentally.

My fantasies of "the end" are varied in nature, but generally can be summed up as such: "It's like watching a packed clown car get crushed by a train in slow motion while a blood-stained rubber shoe flies in the air and there are sad honking noises all over."

"The end" will not be pretty, but it will be hilarious in a twisted sort of way.

For those with a linear view of time, "the end" is horrifying to even consider, for what comes after that? Nay, the Machine must progress, the Machine must progress, the Machine must progress.

For those with a cyclical view of time, "the end" is merely "the beginning".