My mom has a saying: "I'm not a mind-reader."

My father has a saying: "I'm not a member of the Psychic Friends Network."

These family homilies come to mind as I ponder what the hell happened to Carl. I thought he'd be the one to be stoked about swapping Tokyo stories. He's the one who's been there twice. When Adam and I booked the trip, I thought Carl was even more excited than we were.

He's been a super-flake ever since I got home.

"Maybe he's bummed," Adam said yesterday. "Maybe it's the holidays."

Okay, but if the way that you deal with your bummed-ness is to push your friends away, don't expect they'll be waiting when you wake the fuck back up.