One Heck of a Noun

Tonight, at midnight, something crazy will happen - the end of a decade. Say it with me now: d e c a d e. Wow, what a word.

Being only 18, this is the first entire decade that I have seen come and go (although, having been born in 1991, it's really more of a technicality). I keep trying to think of these past ten years in the same way that I (and many others) think of those great decades past that I did not live through, like the 80s. What are the movies that people will tell their kids that they have to watch. What books from this era will they force their kids to read? What styles will we make fun of, and what will we say "if only we had seen that comming" for the years ahead?

And, perhaps the most important, what the heck are we going to call this decade?!?! The two thousands? Come on, we've got to be able to come up with something better than that.

All jokes aside, the end of a decade only occurs once in a blue moon - and since today happens to be both (yes, the last full moon of 2009 is also a "blue" one), I have come to the conclusion that today (and the new year to come) represents a new begining in so many more ways than just the annual "new year". It it a new decade. A new ten years with new chances and oppurtunities. It's no secret that 2009 has been both a difficult and assuredly significant year. But now we all have the chance at an especially special late christmas gift: a new start.

Just what we all need.