On a fresh supply of hope

More love; more joy and laughter. Can't hurt, right?

Okay, so I had this big long post started about the new year and my hopes and wishes and how lucky I felt to live in a free country and blah blah blah optimismcakes, and that would be a great way to start the new year, but we all know that's not me. So here's what is me: I love my country. I hope that, being perfectly capable of preserving people from disease and starvation, we choose to actually do it. I hope that people get jobs that actually pay the bills and put food on the table. I hope that people without homes are able to have them. I hope we don't screw the world up any more than we already have. I hope we don't voluntarily sacrifice any more of the wonderful freedoms that make the US what it is. I hope we don't voluntarily sacrifice any more of the human values that set us apart from the people we're fighting. I hope we don't forget that behind and between the people who want us dead (and want each other dead) are people who wish us no harm at all and just want to live their lives and maybe have some electricity. I hope I don't ever not feel grateful for always having more and better than I really, in all honesty, deseve. Death from natural causes and/or old age aside, I hope that no more people die, because we've had more than enough of that for several new years. I hope we stop being afraid of each other because of our skin color and religion and realize that, as sappy and Up With People as it is, all of that stuff is incidental to the people we are on the inside. I hope for world peace.

And while we're dreaming, I'd kind of like a pony.

Happy New Year, y'all.