The Last Post of 2007

Well, it's the end of another year and all I can say is "Thank God for that"!

It's such a pity really because 2007 started so promisingly. I began the year with a determined resolution NOT to make any New Year's resolutions, because I know I would break them before the end of January. So I can say with all confidence that I have done brilliantly on the resolution front, because I didn't make any in the first place!

The year 2007 was great and dandy right up until about June when my wife's cancer diagnosis threw a Stage Two spanner in the works of our normal lives. As I speak, in case you're asking, Annie is just about to start her radiotherapy. She is still a bit zonked from her chemo, but she is a bit better than she was before....

The second half of this year has been something of a bummer, to be honest. In fact, overall, the best thing that has happened to me in 2007 is that I have started blogging, and getting my writing muscles in shape for the book of short stories I am planning. Unfortunately, my physical muscles remain atrophied and jelly-like, which means I should this year make at least one resolution, to do something about my hideous waistline!

Now we have reached the end of it all, then, I thought I would try to put a line under the past, and think about the future, which is usually a good idea, psychologically. And because all the newspapers and web sites are full of people making predictions for 2008, I thought I would jump on the bandwagon, and provide a few predictions of my own for the coming year.

So, gentle readers, here are Prof. Madder's Totally Safe Predictions for 2008 - see 'em here before you see 'em somewhere else!

1. A lot of people will die in 2008, and a lot of people will be born too.
2. In 2008, some people will make a lot more money than they did in 2007, while unfortunately others will not be so lucky.
3. Sometime in early February, there will be a lot of firecrackers going off in Kuching and other parts of Malaysia.
4. By the end of the year, there will be a new President of the United States. And it will not be George Bush.
5. The President of Russia will, in 2008, be of Slavic extraction.
6. It will be very hot in most parts of Australia, South East Asia and India.
7. Computers will mostly run on electricity.
8. The Moon in the night sky will change its shape slightly every day.
9. The Pope will be a Catholic.
10. The price of petrol will go up in Malaysia.

The beauty of these predictions is that they are almost certain to come true, so I cannot be accused of talking crap come the start of 2009!!

So, here is my New Year wish, which is the same as the one I sent round to all my friends via SMS, so sorry for any duplicates:

Here's to the blood of your health,
Here's to the health of your blood;
If your blood isn't healthy,
Your health must be bloody,
So here's to your bloody good health!!

I hope my readers (all three of them!) have a wonderful 2008 and that your lives will continue to be so much more fulfilling and meaningful, just because it'll no longer be 2007!

Cheers!!!