Well, here we are, thirty-five minutes into 2008. The Year of the Rat, which doesn't sound all that auspicious, but we can give it ago. Maybe it's the half-shot of champagne (yeah, I'm a light-weight, leave me alone ^_~), but I'm feeling pretty good about 2008. 2007, she was kind of a bitch, but every year has good moments and bad moments. Maybe last year wasn't so much bad as it was full of changes, sudden stops, and unexpected beginnings. I have a lot to be thankful for-- my job, my dear friends, my family. When the clock struck midnight, my brother and I toasted, and my niece Samantha kissed me on the cheek. The first kiss of the new year is good luck, as long as it's from someone you love. Then I had to stand on my tiptoes to kiss Sam's cheek-- he refused to help me out by bending down-- we slung our arms around each other and called each other names.

This is a leap year. We get an extra day, and a little extra luck. I think we could use it. 2007 saw some nasty world events... it ticks me off that they got Benazir Bhutto just before the year was out. It pisses me off that they got her at all. Regardless of whether or not you agreed with her politics, she was an endlessly couragous leader in a region that desperately needs people with the conviction to pursue peace and coexistence, rather than one inflexible rhetoric or another. The extremists don't want to kill each other as much as they want to kill the moderates; they want to make sure everyone has to choose between Crazy Extremist Group A and Crazy Extremist Group B, they want to ensure that there is no middle road. She was a mediator, a warrior, killed by a bunch of cowards.

Bit of a digression there, but we have to deal with 2007-- even the crappy parts-- before we can move on. It always strikes me as strange, seeing the years rack up in the 21st century, when I was born in the 20th. Then I look at my students, and I think, 'You never know the 20th century at all'. Yeah, it's only numbers, but there's something odd about all those zeroes. Whether it's hopeful or depressing depends on my mood. But we're gonna laugh tonight, damn it, so check out Dave Barry's Year in Review and have a giggle at everyone's expense. As Holly in Red Dwarf says, "it's a hostile and possibly godless universe, but you still gotta have a laugh."

*raises her glass* Akemashite Omedeto Gozaimasu! Happy New Year!
Love,
Meredith