Every time I have done it since the end of spring break I come back to a black screen of unplayableness.
are you in windowed or fullscreen mode?
Nine times out of ten, a video driver issue/corruption or an update to the game causes this. Download the latest drivers for your video card, uninstall the old and install the new and see if that fixes it up (and I apologize if this novice advice is something you've already attempted).
Muahahahaha it works IT WORKS!!! GOOD GOD IT WOORRKKED!!! Hi! Might be the driver