New Years New Years hooray for New Years

Well well, look at that…2014. Going to take me a few months to get used to writing the new number.

I remember back in 1997-1999, I was a little punk kid (ok maybe not THAT punk of a kid for reasons stated after this parenthetical) who was overly concerned with the Y2K bug (see…science/tech geeks have limited punk appeal). I was honestly and significantly worried that society was about to collapse—or that, at the very least, our economy was about to take a tumble.

I had read lots of articles and coincidentally started learning the art of the informed diatribe—something I’ve stumbled into on many subjects in the subsequent decade. Whether it was in front of family members, friends or parents of friends, I would often get the ear of an interested adult and enrapture them in 5-15 minutes of impassioned conversation about the impending end of the world when the clock struck 1/1/2000.

I had enough wherewithal and actual data to seem like I knew what the hell I was talking about—all of us Y2K believers did. It just made sense, right?

And it turned out to be total bupkis. That was the end of that.

I even remember a TV movie that tried to cash in on the paranoia. Jennifer Lopez had a video where the power went out for a few seconds, but then reconnected to a flurry of oomp-oomp-oomp-oomp dance beats.

In my thousand years on this earth, I’ve seen a lot of New Years. People get ramped up about this or that, someone has a kid, someone gets a divorce, there’s a new car, new something else…whatever. There’s plenty to get wrapped up over. Mostly it turns out to be nothing.

Sometimes people make resolutions at New Years. Sometimes people don’t (and lob a long explanation of why resolutions are terrible). Mostly, though, people go on living.

And so, that’s what I’m looking forward to—the whole living thing. I’m going to enjoy life more. Truth be told, I already am. God loves me, the folks love me, and I have a group of friends that grow me into a better man. So I’m good. More than good. I’m fantastic—especially considering that every year after Y2K has been a bonus, right?

So happy New Year! I get the feeling 2014 is going to be pretty awesome.

###