MMVI in Review

Yesterday was the first day of a new year, according to the Gregorian calendar and our planetary-based concepts of "days" and "years." This is my eighteenth such "New Year." One might think that after eighteen of such years, this would be an event of little significance. But as those who I celebrated with can attest, I love New Years. It's not hard to: New Years implies friends, fireworks, possibly fire, and alcohol. And that is a fun if a little volatile mixture. However, as time passes from one year to the next, we waltz (possible drunkenly) from and old chapter of our lives to a new one.

The previous chapter is a rather interesting one. I turned eighteen, graduated high school, and entered university, all rather significant milestones. I moved to a new city in an old country, left behind old friends and gained new ones, stayed on a ship for nine days, and biked for two days straight (circumstances dictated it could not be more.) In the world, the ice caps melted a little, Iraq become more of a mess, Bush became even more unpopular (and the US Congress performed a changing of the guard,) the world cleaned up after the tsunami, Katrina devastated New Orleans, and I became slightly more passionate about my beliefs. For me, 2006 was a good year, and I've matured since the last New Year.

Now, I can't reasonably predict that the next chapter will be as interesting as the last, seeing as how it's been 2007 for about thirty and a half hours. I think that it will be, though, and here's why. University will become more serious next semester. Global politics will become more serious as more shit hits the fan, but hopefully real progress will be made addressing those problems. And I'm going to become more serious about several things in my life. In response to the two things I just named, I will become more studious (almost automatically, as more challenge means more interest,) and more open about my political and environmental concerns. Hopefully without irritating anyone. I'm also going to try to gain (back?) weight, as I do not want to be skinny, and definitely do not want to be skinnier, and become more active (for instance, I'm going to start climbing regularly.)

Here's to a good MMVII.