Ephemeral fortune - the state by which man carves his destiny. It's all a matter of perspective, gotcha. Lots of resolutions, lots of new beginnings. The builders outside are singing along to Gloria Gaynor's I Will Survive in close harmony. Sometimes your life takes on elements of a bizarre Broadway musical. It's all about going over old cracks to lay new roads. Is that a mixed metaphor? Who cares. I like mixed metaphors. Here's a simile instead for anyone who doesn't. The past is like a healing skin, stitching together its wounds and stretching out as the body beneath it grows.