As I mentioned yesterday, I made it through 2011 alive. As bad as 2011 was financially, physically, emotionally, it's impossible not to feel optimistic and hopeful about 2012. Even if only because the world might end this year.

To quote the lesson taught by another famous survivor:

Rising up, back on the street.
Did my time, took my chances.
Went the distance
now I'm back on my feet.
Just a man and his will to survive.

So many times, it happens too fast.
You trade your passion for glory.
Don't lose your grip on the dreams of the past;
you must fight just to keep them alive.

Wisdom of the ancients, indeed. If 2011 taught us anything, it's that we should hang tough and stay hungry. And always keep at least one eye on the tiger.

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Good riddance, 2011!

I'll have another post tomorrow, but I just wanted to take this opportunity to kick Old Man 2011 in the nuts as he limps out the door. Call it a learning experience for Baby New Year. Shape up, young man, or you'll get more of the same in 12 months. Punk.

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Damn it's cold out this new year! Record breaking temperatures, snow on Christmas Day: curse you Al Gore and your The Day After Tomorrow! What lesson should we learn from this drastic weather shift? Should we turn our back on the pollution-producing ways of our forefathers? Should we continue to grasp at the fool's promise of experimental green technology?

When the familiar becomes unfamiliar, perhaps you need a foreigner to show you the way:

You're as cold as ice.
You're willing to sacrifice our love.
You never take advice.
Someday you'll pay the price.
I know.

I've seen it all before.
It happens all the time.
You're closing the door, you leave the world behind.
You're digging for gold, yet throwing away
a fortune in feelings.
But someday you'll pay.

Oh, that explains everything. Thank you, voice of reason. I think we all feel much better now.

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I don't care for the New Year's Eve holiday. I'm too old to be excited about being another year older and too young to be excited about surviving another year. I'm not nuts about crowds anyway, and I don't drink alcohol.

The New Year's Eve television coverage leaves me cold as well. I don't care to listen to rock concerts. I don't care to watch radio DJs. And I have no idea what Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffen have in common, but I'm pretty sure that I don't care.

That said, there is something to look forward to on television on New Year's Eve: University of Georgia football! Georgia has been invited to the Liberty Bowl this year to battle the University of Central Florida. Consider the following facts:

• No SEC team has lost in the Liberty Bowl since 1991.
• Despite UCF's 10-3 record, they haven't played any team that has approached SEC-level talent.
• The UCF head coach is George O'Leary, who went 3 for 7 against UGA during his tenure as head coach of Georgia Tech a decade ago.

What does all that mean? Hell if I know. But get out of the way, Dick Clark; here come the Bulldogs!

Bonus Trivia note: This is the first time in the Liberty Bowl's 52 year history that it will be held twice in the same year. The 2009 Liberty Bowl was played January 2, 2010.

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The end is near! When I revised the Wriphe.com blog from an all-Flash format in 2002, I created gifs for the dates for the blog through 2010. That means that today begins the final year for the original date graphics of Wriphe.com before new dates must be created for the blog for 2011. Think of this coming crisis as the WRIPHE2K11 bug, which I assure you is every bit as dire in consequence as the pending end of the Mayan calendar though with a much worse agent. (As of yet, I have no movie deal.)

Facing such a potentially disastrous future, I think it may help sooth those fraying nerves with some encouraging words by the immortal David Coverdale:

I don't know where I'm going,
but I sure know where I've been.
Hanging on the promises in songs of yesterday.
And I've made up my mind.
I ain't wasting no more time.
Here I go again, here I go again.

Though I keep searching for an answer,
I never seem to find what I'm looking for.
Oh, Lord, I pray you give me strength to carry on.
Cause I know what it means
to walk along the lonely street of dreams.

Here I go again on my own,
going down the only road I've ever known.
Like a drifter I was born to walk alone.
I've made up my mind.
I ain't wasting no more time.

As we all face uncertain future, let us waste no more time hanging on the empty promises in songs of yesterday and move on with our lives. Truly words to live by.

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As I did last year, let me begin this year with a poem. Though written in 1986 (the year of Vice City!) by a future actor and professional football team owner, I believe that it speaks to a truth that holds relevance even in this day of economic and political uncertainty.

Once upon a time, not so long ago:

Tommy used to work on the docks.
Union's been on strike, he's down on his luck.
Its tough, so tough.

Gina works the diner all day.
Working for her man, she brings home her pay
For love, for love.

She says, "we've got to hold on to what we've got,
'cause it doesn't make a difference if we make it or not.
We've got each other, and that's a lot for love.
We'll give it a shot.

"We're half way there.
Livin' on a prayer.
Take my hand, and we'll make it, I swear.
Livin' on a prayer."

Yes, as true today as it once was. Remember, These Days, when that Lost Highway through the New Jersey of life becomes Slippery When Wet and you're a Bounce away from either a Crush against the frying pan or a fall into the 7800° Fahrenheit fire, it's more important than ever to Keep The Faith. Now go out there and Have a Nice Day.

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As the year end approaches, brace yourself for the deluge of retrospective lists for 2008. For example, it's only the second day of December, but the dam is already bursting:

• Yahoo has announced that "Britney Spears" was their most-searched subject for the fourth consecutive year (which may say more about the remaining users of Yahoo than Britney Spears' popularity).
• Ask.com announced that their top question in 2008 was "how do I get pregnant?" (pushing "what is the meaning of life?" to fall to lowly 7th place).
• Merriam-Webster has announced that the word of the year for 2008, based on online web searches, is "bailout," not "change." (Always a bridesmaid, "misogyny" barely cracks the top 10.)
• iTunes announced that Coldplay sold more digital album downloads than anyone else in 2008. (I suspect that no one even keeps track of cd sales anymore, but I'm sure that there is a list in the works that will prove me wrong.)

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Though I don't care for parties, champagne, ball drops, singing, resolutions, hangovers, Dick Clark, or anything else that is traditionally associated with "New Years" ("why do you have to be so negative all the time?" grumbles my father), I do like to start the year out on the right foot. Therefore, I present for you my favorite poem, written almost 2 decades ago by a man destined to be a reality tv-show star, to get you in the proper mood for the New Year:

We both lie silently still in the dead of the night.
Although we both lie close together, we feel miles apart inside.
Was it something I said or something I did?
Did my words not come out right?
Though I tried not to hurt you, though I tried.

But I guess that's why they say,
"Every rose has its thorn.
Just like every night has its dawn.
Just like every cowboy sings his sad, sad song.
Every rose has its thorn."

Yes, it does. You'd do well to take these words to heart. That's not negative; it's just the way it is. I'm sure that the lesson that you learn could get you into Heaven one day.

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