If I were to trust the news media as my sole source of information, then yes I would most likely be forced to conclude that the year that was should be viewed with great disapprobation. 2008 brought us some of the greatest economic destabilization that this country has seen in almost a century. That destabilization then proceeded to spread like a viral pandemic to all the corners of the globe. World leaders found themselves threatened by airborne footwear. There was of course good news, for those like me, with more than a small amount of liberal bias, the election of a new president provided great hope and optimism for the coming days. For fans of Art it was a very good year as well. 2008 gave us some very good movies and performances. Heath Ledger, he will be missed, gave us what will perhaps be remembered as the greatest tour-de-force performance of this decade. For those with a deep and passionate love affair with the English language, the writer Neil Gaiman gave us his dark and twisted take on the Jungle Book story in his beautiful novel The Graveyard Book. The music-phile, after over a decade of waiting, was presented with Guns and Roses very interesting new album Chinese Democracy.

I would not be the least bit surprised if my neighbors said that the ills of society and the economy far outweighed the gifts of art and hope that 2008 gave us. Anyone who knows me though, knows that I hold hope and defiance and art as the great gifts of human existence. I find myself agreeing with the above mentioned author when he wrote:

“I think… I would rather recollect a life misspent on fragile things than spent avoiding moral debt”

Fragile things, the beautiful and amazing and wonderfully great things that have happened to me this year are at their core, very fragile things. Although there bumps in the road and going down the road this year, they were challenges that have lead to greater happiness. I tried my hand at romance only a few months ago and it ended painfully. While driving to visit my family my car died at a stretch of road with no cell phone signal. Even those challenges found a way of being for the greater good. I finished my degree in economics in 2008, very appropriately I am aware. I started a new job that allowed me to go from being a tool user to a tool maker. With that job came a new beautiful state to live in, a new apartment, a new car. And before the year ended I tried my hand at love again and was meet with great success.

I will leave you with the same new years wish I left you with last year:

“May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you’re wonderful, and don’t forget make some art — write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself.” – Neil Gaiman

*(n) apology, apologia (a formal written defense of something you believe in strongly)

Tags: Apology, Live, New Years