The First of its Kind.

I’m fairly sure I’ve never made a New Year’s resolution. Never saw the point. I don’t even see any point in celebrating the New Year at all; it’s only a change of one digit on the calendar, isn’t it? That happens every day. But this year I’ve decided to make one, and here’s the story:

I was just watching a video of a rock and pop classic from the 1980s, and the chorus consisted of a bunch of black people in New York singing their hearts out and wearing them on their sleeves. I thought: ‘You know, some people can be so fuckin’ beautiful sometimes.’ (Please excuse the expletive; I’m in a warts and all mood.) And then the conversation began.

‘You’re on the last lap of your life now, JJ.’

‘I know.’

‘You’ve done some pretty bad things over the years, haven’t you?’

‘I have.’

‘And a few pretty decent ones, too.’

‘Thanks.’

‘So why not make the last lap a good one? Make a concerted effort to stop being quite so cynical. Start to recognise and appreciate the beautiful people instead, wherever they might be found. Do something you’ve never done before: make it a New Year’s resolution. What d’you think?’

‘Mmm… sounds like a good idea. But what about the rest?

‘The rest? Oh, I see; you mean the tyrants and the warmongers and all that crowd?’

‘Right.’

‘Well, one day you’ll probably have to learn to love everybody, but it can wait until the next time around or the one after that. There are no rules.’

‘OK then, agreed. But one last question.’

‘Yes.’

‘Who the hell are you?’

‘Just another fragment of the universe, as you are, here to keep an eye on you. Think of me as the Ghost of New Years Yet to Come, if you like’

‘Good analogy, so another last question: Can I still be cynical about Tiny freggin’ Tim?’

‘If you must.’