93. Bright Shiny Things

It's official folks, 2006 has been bound, gagged and safely bundled away to be stored in the cold recesses of time in memoriam.

2007 is here. For better or worse. Let's just hope that it's for the better now. We've seen a quite tumultous end to the year, closing as how it began. Natural disasters, terrorist bombings, raging war in the Middle East, an underending cycle of violence in Africa. We've even seen the execution of a dictator.

If there's one thing that we can be sure of in 2007 is more of the same. There will never be peace in the Middle East, at least not in our lifetime. The underending devastation and starvation in Africa will never cease, unless we actually become the change we want to see. There will always be earthquakes, floods, storms. And politicians will always keep doing that thing they do, which is really nothing when you think about it.

There will be rape, murder, pillaging, profiteering, racketing, corruption. Oh, you can bet on that. There will also be more people getting oppressed and exploited, pawns in a powerplay from those who wield or seek power. The upper middle class will get richer and richer, till there is no more upper middle class as the gulf widens between the haves and the have nots. Capitalism is working just fine and perfect ladies and gentlemen.

Oil prices will continue to soar. Interest rates will continue to rise. Prices of everyday things will get inflated. Hollywood will keep churning out crummy soulless films. The fake will keep faking it. And that darn shit will still keep hitting the fan.

Yup, all that we can be sure of happening. Undoubtedly so. And you know what else? There will be a great many number of people who will fall in love, and be enraptured by the passion and fire it brings. And there'll also be many who will share those sacred vows of matrimony, with their hearts filled with love and hope for happiness everlasting. A mother will cry as she craddles her baby in her arms for the first time. Someone's life will be saved by a total stranger; a firefighter perhaps, or maybe a cop or a nurse. A starving child in Africa will be given hope through donated funds used to buy medicine and build schools. Old friends and family will be re-united, and so many laughs will be shared and many tears shall be shed. And people will find faith, in God, in their leaders, in their family, in their friends, in themselves.

That's a certainty folks. It's just so incredible to see what a predictable year 2007 will be. It truly is. But it will nonetheless amaze us, for there's just nothing as grand as experiencing those bright and shiny things for ourselves. You betcha.