Monday, December 31, 2007

A Time to Live, And A Time to Die

2007. In just a few short hours, it's officially history.

Truly history, in so many ways.

A year of births-a precursor of great things to come.

Like MyndFood. It was birthed in 2007. And I think we all agree that it bears the early fruits of true literary greatness.

And Jamie Lynn Spears' child. Well, it wasn't born in 2007, but it was conceived; and it's received enough news attention to last two or three lifetimes. But truly a momentous occasion for all humankind. Imagine: another Spears-a true gift to each and every one of us! At some point, you think they'd outlaw Spears children. First, the mothers have consistently proven that they're profoundly incapable of rearing them. And they grow up to be psychological train wrecks. The Spears family, frankly, is the only American institution that is more entertaining than the Big Bird lady on American Idol.


Oh-and speaking of entertainment, in 2007, Americans reached new heights in quality entertainment. In 2007, Borat received a Golden Globe award for his work in "Borat: Cultural Learning's for Make Benefit Great Nation of Kazakhstan" (which was originally released in Nov. 2006, but close enough to 2007 for this post; especially since MyndFood wasn't around then). Need I say more?

All in all, truly a year of great beginnings!

It was also the year of may tragic deaths.

Green Valley Development, the business that Dad and I partnered in (along with Shane, for a time), gasped it's last, shuddering breath in 2007, and finally expired, after a long, painful decline. I promise-I'll tell you more about that in coming posts.

Merv Griffin, the legendary entertainer passed away this year. As did Benazir Bhutto, Pakistani Opposition leader, and former Prime Minister of Pakistan. And Saddam Hussein (well, actually he died on December 29, 2006, but since, as I've already stated, we weren't around then, I'll take literary license and include him here).

But no death so profoundly affected us this year as did Anna Nicole Smith's. No one has so captured our hearts (well, not since the Big Bird lady on American Idol), like Anna Nicole Smith.

I'll admit: I am profoundly fascinated with Anna Nicole Smith. I have never seen anyone turn such an overabundance of nothing into an entire lifetime of celebrity. She had no talent. She was (forgive me Lord for speaking ill of the dead) not particularly sharp (that's a nice way of saying that she was a classic blond). She wasn't really very pretty at all. She wasn't wealthy (despite her pathetic attempts to con some old, dying man into believing she loved him). Yet she continuously made the front page of virtually every disreputable news rag available. It's unbelievable. For that reason, I felt she deserved a place in these hallowed halls of history.

And so as we take a moment to collectively reminisce-looking back at the happy newness that 2007 brought, as well as the sad (and not-so-sad) departures of the past year, we look forward, in wonder and anticipation, at what 2008 might bring.

I know that, for me, I intend on using the blank canvas of 2008 to paint some new paths for my life-dreams I've always had but never actively pursued, will perhaps be born this year; and the dark clouds of past failures that have hung over me for far too long will die this year, at the hand of new successes that crowd out those dank memories.

What, I wonder, will 2008 hold for you?

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