It's 2004 ... Do you know where your ellipse is?
with apologies to Daniel Webster

can you believe it?
it's 2004.
somebody the other night (that would be NYE - acronyms are so cool) mentioned that '04 just "sounds better than '03." and i would agree.

was it the fact that '03 is an odd number?
fuck, it was a VERY odd year. obviously you know that.

in my opinion, the terrorists have already won.
our way of life is permanently altered and we will never go back to the relative contented ignorant bliss of the late '90s. i'm happy to have lived through the good times, now being able to better recognize the happy times from the not-so-happy.

currently, we live in a not-so-happy time.
but you know, like everything else in this thing called life (with apologies to mr. prince rogers nelson), we run in cycles. forever fluid, ever-changing.

things will bounce back (hmmm, don't want this to devolve into pep talk, though).
but they will.
maybe not for a long time though.
see, we're also impatient beings, at least americans are.
or more so than most of the rest of the world.
hence, the near-constant need by the broadcast media (print too, though not quite as much) to trumpet any sign of positivity in all aspects of life. obviously the economy is a big one here.
"more jobs!"
"the nasdaq reach 2000 again! life is good again."

yeah, but where are those jobs? service sector primarily, which pay next to nothing, not much above poverty line.

we just REALLY REALLY want things to be better.
and sooner rather than later.
but that's not reality.
despite what the bush administration would have you believe.

i saw a great cartoon the other day, in Doonesbury actually, basically saying that the bush admin uses 9-11 as reasoning for virtually everything they do, like restricting our civil liberties, favoring big business/corporate america over pretty much everything and everyone else - never mind the poor, middle class, what have you, or the environment, let future generations deal with our shit.

yeah, great example mr. bush. you act like a spoiled child that you are.
"america is MINE! I'll do whatever i want to!"

apparently, you are.

but you know, i don't want to begin the new year bitter.
though i'm not usually one to be all gooey-eyed and take note of previous miscalculations and make resolutions to improve my well-being, i, uh, am making an exception this year.

because, dammit jim, i'm worth it.
and also because al franken told me.

this is tim pratt, for marketplace.


p.s. longer letter later friends. the rains are pitter-pattering on my skylight directly above me, i hear the white noise of the bart train traveling by to destinations known, my kitty frankie has is face buried in the blankets on my bed, and i wanna watch the rest of my new DVD, Lord Of the Rings: The Two Towers.
and yeah, i know you're going "that's the REAL reason he's ending abruptly."

whatever.