The last time I posted was the day before the spaceship Atlantis slipped those surely bonds of earth and made its historic final voyage into space. A few days later the ship safely glided back into the earth’s atmosphere and brought home not only the crew of space cadets, but a long history of ingenuity and innovation. The astronaut’s midnight walk from the landing strip to the transport vehicles was an underwhelming curtain call and an homage to the dreams of a baby booming generation who made science fiction a common reality. The shuttering of the space program continues to be, in my opinion, a metaphor for a larger narrative playing out across the world: the end of eras.
After toppling a murderous dictator and after nearly a decade of occupation, on December 18th, 2011 the US finally withdrew its last combat brigade from Iraq. To some, the Iraq invasion was a prudent, humanitarian effort aimed to topple Saddam Hussein and release millions of Iraqis from the vice-like grip of a dictator. To others it was a miscalculated, conspiratorial invasion based on revenge that resulted in the deaths of thousands of American soldiers and countless more innocent Iraqis. Either way, we know the war was governed by a scorched earth policy that left the country in ruin and teetering on the brink of full blown civil war.
The day prior, Kim Jong-Il—the man who supposedly learned to walk in three weeks and talk in eight; who supposedly scored five (or by other accounts eleven) holes-in-one during his first round of golf; and who did indeed commission the kidnapping of his favorite director and actress to make films in North Korea—died of a heart attack. He left behind a quarantined country, riddled with famine and swarming with a population ignorant of humanity and equality. His son, the supreme successor, appears to be as vindictive and obdurate as his deceased father. We can only hope that this new leader, who is as young me and has nuclear capacity, is guided by a more finely tuned moral compass and rejects the ridiculousness bequeathed to him by his father.
And on smaller scales, in all of the universes in which we are the center of, daily events continue to shape who we are. For me, 2011 was the year I dealt with cancer, finished my CPA testing, and chose to find a new job. My recovery from cancer and chemo treatments taught me that I’m not as invincible as I once thought, and that if I have any hope of hanging around for a while I better take better care of my body. Passing the CPA exam marked the end of the “student” era in my life, and from now on I carry the responsibility (and the honor I’m very proud of) of being a professional who represents not only myself but everyone else who holds the same distinction. And when I left my first real job, I made the conscious decision to leave a comfortable place to take a path that I feel may lead to a more successful destination.
My point here is that the ends of eras mark new beginnings. The Iraqi people may have been left in a situation as fragile as a dry winter twig, but are before an empty work bench on which they can construct their own future. The tenderfoot North Korean leader has the opportunity to bend the moral arc of his country toward justice instead of succumbing to the inevitable fate many leaders of Middle Eastern countries faced this year. And in my own little world, I have the opportunity to take my cancer scare as a wake-up call to live a healthier life and to use my recent career opportunities to open unmarked doors.
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My New Year’s resolutions are as follows:
1- Watch one movie per week in a movie theater;
2- Watch one classic movie per month (January – Casablanca; February- Citizen Kane );
3- One biography a month (January- Steve Jobs; Feb- American Lion, Andrew Jackson)
4- Pay a little more attention to the details in my work and in my life
What I'm Reading Today 