Thursday Thirteen

It's a new year, and a strange one, at that. This is supposed to be the year the world ends, according to some. Or it's a new beginning, the Age of Aquarius, according to others.

I personally figure I will continue to put one foot in front of the other, unless I drop dead from a heart attack or I'm hit by a train or something, and not much will change. But you never know. If there is change a-coming, I'm hoping it is for the better and is of the kinder, gentler nature.

Anyway, I thought I'd offer up 13 predictions (or maybe just things I'd like to see happen) for 2012.

1. The commercials for the elections of 2012 will be so stunningly bad that people by the millions will turn off the TV channels running them. The 24-hour TV news stations will wither and die, leaving a lot of blow-hards without work, and they will all retire to their large estates to leave the rest of us alone for a change. The resulting quiet on the air waves will help introduce a more peaceful, less stressful atmosphere to all the world.

2. Several hundred people will drink killer kool-aid like the Jim Jones folks did in 1978. This is because they don't want to burn up when the asteroid hits or whatever they think will happen. This could happen at the feet of some Mayan temple, so I hope those authorities are prepared for this kind of eventuality.

3. The stock market will be crazy this year, up and down, and the economy will continue off-kilter. However, it will level out and begin to improve in 2013. The improvement will not be in anticipated ways, however.

4. On December 25, after the world hasn't ended as predicted on December 21, a new period of peace and harmony (aided by the lack of TV news as in #1), will come to the forefront. All of the anger and rancor, especially apparent in the last 11 years, will dissipate and people will regain a lot of the common sense that was lost in Millennial Fever. People have grown really angry and mean in the last decade; have you noticed?

5. For me personally, these things will happen: I will finish my thesis; I will graduate with a master's degree, I will look for work or go back to freelancing (or both). I also hope I finally finish several projects I have started, and write lots of words.

6. People will realize that humanity has indeed contributed to climate change, and they will stop complaining about regulations that are put in place to clean the air and keep down emissions. Being asthmatic, this one has a particular place close to my lungs because I like breathing. It's kind of important.

7. Sunspots will knock out cell phones and wireless Internet access for a good portion of the world for 10 days. People will suddenly realize that they can look one another in the eye, touch each other, and have a conversation that doesn't involve looking at a screen. The new connections will have immediate, positive impact and will change the way young folks relate to one another and to their elders.

8. Speaking of elders, the up and coming generation will realize that the older folks have a lot of knowledge and things to offer to the world, still, and they will place their elders in a spot of honor, and not want to simply shove them aside and out of the way. They will realize that the old folks are people, too, white hair and all. It will usher in a new age of selflessness.

9. My husband would like to see the housing market pick up substantially so that his construction business will boom. So I hope for him this happens.

10. While I'm hoping for lots of peace and love in 2012, I fear there will instead be a lot of bombings and crazy events. Many people actually want the world to end, for some reason, so they will do whatever they think necessary to ensure this happens. I am expecting some really terrifying acts to occur.

11. Someone will invent a new technological toy that will take the world by storm, but ultimately it will end up being the One Ring, and Frodo will have to destroy it. That may not happen until 2014, though.

12. Gasoline will become obsolete, and transportation will change dramatically for Americans as they convert to solar-powered single-person transportation units. Some of these will be able to fly through the air but they will not be airplanes or jet packs, but something not yet conceived.

13. I will forget that it is Thursday on the first Thursday of the year, and not do my Thursday Thirteen until Friday morning after waking up at 2 a.m. and realizing what day it is. This is not a prediction. This is what really happened! Yikes.


Happy New Year, Anyway!


Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here. I've been playing for a while and this is my 223rd time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.