366 Days Later:

So in roughly 12 hours, East Coast time, it'll be 2009. 2008 was a pretty cool year:

-Barack Obama was elected president. Yes We Did!
-I started college! Learned a lot about computers, math, and life. Also started working on a beer gut.
-Gas prices plummeted for the second half of the year.
-The Dark Knight was released, and Heath Ledger DEFINITELY should win best supporting actor posthumously.

But some weak stuff happened too:
-Economic recession comes to light.
-Turns out this bastard Madoff stole, like, billions of dollars from a bunch of people in a glorified Ponzie scheme.
-Several Banks go under, get bought out, or get bailed out.
-American Auto industry comes crawling to DC on it's hands and knees begging for money.
-A ton of Middle East violence erupts.
-Russia invades Georgia.

These lists could both be longer, but I'd rather not think about 2008 more than I have to. I'd like to think about 2009.

2009 is going to have its own unique challenges. When old man '08 bites the dust while kicking the bucket, he's going to be handing off some ugly situations to the young 2009.

-More violence in the Middle East.
-Short oil supplies.
-A ton of endangered species and habitats.

And stuff like that.

But hey: 20 days in, 2009 will see the inauguration of President Barack Obama and the ushering out of George Dubya Bush.

2009 has a lot of potential. Let's hope that it doesn't disappoint.

Then again, the onus is kind of on us to make that happen, isn't it?