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therealljidol topic 8: What the New Year Will Bring
Dec. 22nd, 2007 10:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hopefulnebulaGood question. Let me fetch my Magic Crystal Ball of Precognitiontm... it's a shame I can never remember where I'm going to put the damn thing.
Ah, here we go. It was somewhere in 2009 this time. I usually don't leave it that far... let's see what it has to say, shall we?
In A.D. 2008, year was beginning. (Useful little thing, isn't it? Let me fix its language subroutines... there. All better now.)
People will be born, and people will die. There will still be many more of the former than the latter, and despite the world's medical advances, most of the former won't live past 2040 or so.
Somewhere, there will be a school shooting. Or maybe it won't be a school. It could be a church or a mall or a sports arena or anywhere strangers congregate. People will argue about what caused it, will pick apart every element of the shooter's life and interests, will shout at one another until they are hoarse, will hold candlelight vigils for the victims, will introduce legislation of all kinds to prevent these kind of things. And ultimately, all that argument and investigation and shouting and wreaths and crosses and legislation won't do a damn thing, because nobody will want to change themselves. And whoever dies will still be dead.
In November, a new President will be elected in the United States. The detractors of whomever wins will immediately call foul play. There will be epic wank on the more political websites. The campaigns are going to get as nasty as nasty can get. People are going to threaten to move if the right person doesn't win--or if the wrong person does--and then stay firmly in place whatever the outcome. Every single one of the winner's campaign promises is going to get broken into little bitty pieces.
Britney Spears/Paris Hilton/Lindsey Lohan/one of their clones will do something stupid. Probably more than once. Said stupidity will get much more publicity than news that's actually relevant or useful.
At some point, the WGA strike will end, and two things are certain about that. TV won't get any better after the strike ends, and the AMPTP won't waste any time finding a new way to screw the writers over.
It's not all bad. In May, I'll graduate. That night I get to jump on a plane home so I can be at my sister's graduation the very next day.
In February, I start my internship at Danville's local paper. By May, I'll be a certified Coffee Delivery Technician, but also I'll have learned a whole lot about publishing.
I'll get a job--whether at Teach for America or elsewhere. I'll crochet a few pretty things. (There's this scarf whose pattern I'm eyeing right now. I won't get to go to the craft store for yarn until after Christmas, probably, but it's the principle that counts. Besides, today I'm gauging it with some spare yarn of the same type I'm going to be buying, so it's all good.)
At some point, or two, or three, I'll get a sinus infection. That's just the way of things. (That said, 2007 is shaping up to be my first sinusitis-free year out of the last fourteen. The sinus infection I thought I had back in March turned out to be mono.)
I'm going to grow my hair out. By the end of the year it'll be around collarbone-length and not completely stupid-looking. I'll be cursing myself out for having cut it in the first place.
People will speed along that intersection between Bingham and Breck, and the first time I go to check my mail I'll nearly get killed by some asshole who thinks turn signals are just pretty lights to show his friends. People will reaffirm my belief that there is such thing as a stupid question. (Previous winners: "Isn't a dime worth less than a nickel? It's smaller..." and "What's a verb?".) People will come in to where I work expecting us to change the laws of physics for them. (No, I will not go back in time because you can't read the sign that says that you need to give us your stuff three or more days before you want it back. No, I don't care if you have tenure. I'm not dropping the work I'm doing for the person who actually planned ahead. No, you want Document Services. That's not even in this building. And you say you have a Ph.D.?)
People will also surprise me by being generous and understanding. Compassionate, even. They'll make me laugh. Sometimes they'll even take "no" for an answer.
At some point I'm going to quit playing the pronoun game. But I say that every year. This crystal ball is faulty sometimes.
The more things change, the more they stay the same. It's a cliché because it's true.
(Voting isn't for two weeks on this one. And as you may have gathered, I did end up taking that bye week last week. Nothing against you, Tianna, but I really didn't want to write something as smarmy as that.)
Ah, here we go. It was somewhere in 2009 this time. I usually don't leave it that far... let's see what it has to say, shall we?
In A.D. 2008, year was beginning. (Useful little thing, isn't it? Let me fix its language subroutines... there. All better now.)
People will be born, and people will die. There will still be many more of the former than the latter, and despite the world's medical advances, most of the former won't live past 2040 or so.
Somewhere, there will be a school shooting. Or maybe it won't be a school. It could be a church or a mall or a sports arena or anywhere strangers congregate. People will argue about what caused it, will pick apart every element of the shooter's life and interests, will shout at one another until they are hoarse, will hold candlelight vigils for the victims, will introduce legislation of all kinds to prevent these kind of things. And ultimately, all that argument and investigation and shouting and wreaths and crosses and legislation won't do a damn thing, because nobody will want to change themselves. And whoever dies will still be dead.
In November, a new President will be elected in the United States. The detractors of whomever wins will immediately call foul play. There will be epic wank on the more political websites. The campaigns are going to get as nasty as nasty can get. People are going to threaten to move if the right person doesn't win--or if the wrong person does--and then stay firmly in place whatever the outcome. Every single one of the winner's campaign promises is going to get broken into little bitty pieces.
Britney Spears/Paris Hilton/Lindsey Lohan/one of their clones will do something stupid. Probably more than once. Said stupidity will get much more publicity than news that's actually relevant or useful.
At some point, the WGA strike will end, and two things are certain about that. TV won't get any better after the strike ends, and the AMPTP won't waste any time finding a new way to screw the writers over.
It's not all bad. In May, I'll graduate. That night I get to jump on a plane home so I can be at my sister's graduation the very next day.
In February, I start my internship at Danville's local paper. By May, I'll be a certified Coffee Delivery Technician, but also I'll have learned a whole lot about publishing.
I'll get a job--whether at Teach for America or elsewhere. I'll crochet a few pretty things. (There's this scarf whose pattern I'm eyeing right now. I won't get to go to the craft store for yarn until after Christmas, probably, but it's the principle that counts. Besides, today I'm gauging it with some spare yarn of the same type I'm going to be buying, so it's all good.)
At some point, or two, or three, I'll get a sinus infection. That's just the way of things. (That said, 2007 is shaping up to be my first sinusitis-free year out of the last fourteen. The sinus infection I thought I had back in March turned out to be mono.)
I'm going to grow my hair out. By the end of the year it'll be around collarbone-length and not completely stupid-looking. I'll be cursing myself out for having cut it in the first place.
People will speed along that intersection between Bingham and Breck, and the first time I go to check my mail I'll nearly get killed by some asshole who thinks turn signals are just pretty lights to show his friends. People will reaffirm my belief that there is such thing as a stupid question. (Previous winners: "Isn't a dime worth less than a nickel? It's smaller..." and "What's a verb?".) People will come in to where I work expecting us to change the laws of physics for them. (No, I will not go back in time because you can't read the sign that says that you need to give us your stuff three or more days before you want it back. No, I don't care if you have tenure. I'm not dropping the work I'm doing for the person who actually planned ahead. No, you want Document Services. That's not even in this building. And you say you have a Ph.D.?)
People will also surprise me by being generous and understanding. Compassionate, even. They'll make me laugh. Sometimes they'll even take "no" for an answer.
At some point I'm going to quit playing the pronoun game. But I say that every year. This crystal ball is faulty sometimes.
The more things change, the more they stay the same. It's a cliché because it's true.
(Voting isn't for two weeks on this one. And as you may have gathered, I did end up taking that bye week last week. Nothing against you, Tianna, but I really didn't want to write something as smarmy as that.)
no subject
Date: 2007-12-23 01:27 pm (UTC)Maybe I'm a bit more optimistic, but I think this may take longer than just 2008. I give it 2010. Depends on who wins.
no subject
Date: 2007-12-23 04:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-23 05:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-24 02:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-23 07:47 pm (UTC)Well said. Great entry. This has been one of my favorites thus far. :)
no subject
Date: 2007-12-24 04:43 pm (UTC)(Favorites overall, or favorites this topic, or favorites of mine?)
no subject
Date: 2007-12-24 07:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-24 09:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-27 05:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-27 07:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-27 06:11 pm (UTC)And I have issue with the turn signal thing, too. Nothing invokes my road rage more.
no subject
Date: 2007-12-27 07:56 pm (UTC)I've heard great minds think alike. :)
no subject
Date: 2007-12-28 01:23 pm (UTC)At least for a little while longer...
no subject
Date: 2008-01-03 02:22 am (UTC)It is true that the more things change the more they stay the same but there is still change.
May 2008 work out better than you predict.
no subject
Date: 2008-01-03 06:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-04 02:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-05 01:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-05 01:13 am (UTC)Lucky.
:p
no subject
Date: 2008-01-05 03:14 am (UTC)P.S. Crocheting is cool. Yes, I am a guy and I crochet. Made a really simple scarf a couple of weeks ago with some really annoying to work with yarn. They say it looks pretty, but I' resolving in the new year to work on something more complicated and cool looking.
Thanks again, and good luck for your coming new year.
no subject
Date: 2008-01-05 04:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-07 05:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-07 08:37 am (UTC)