Koleen Brooks's life this past year was a train wreck -- and as with any gruesome accident scene, you couldn't help but look. And look again. And again. Brooks's over-the-top -- and lift-up-the-top -- attempts to gain sympathy and support during her recall vote as Georgetown mayor, as well as to gain hits for her Web site, shall forever serve as a textbook example of how to alienate friends and distance others. Whether or not Brooks actually tried to arrange a hit on an adversary or faked an attack on herself can now fade into Colorado mountain-town folklore; although she was spared a jail sentence on evidence-tampering and false-reporting charges, Brooks was scolded by a Clear Creek County judge for wasting the court's -- and our -- time. And then, of course, there was her arrest in late March on theft charges. Koleen Brooks provided a valuable service by showing us what happens when the drive for glory spins out of control.