Year in Review: 2004

[RobertGraves]

I thought we might post some thoughts and observations about the year that was over the next couple of week. Just in case you were distracted for the last 12 months, here's a helping hand:

www.abc.net.au/news/yearinreview/2004/default.htm

[Tenarke]

Outside of gaining a new granddaughter and the fact that my health remains good, 2004 has not been one of my better years.

I started with some optimism; we had given Bush and his buddies plenty of rope and surely by any reasonable measure they seemed to be busily hanging themselves with it. The economy was in a mess, as predicted. Administration special interest cronies had been caught, hand in till, as predicted. No WMD or Iraqi/Al Qaida ties had been found to justify the “ preemptive regime change”, as predicted. In sort our whole national position both at home and abroad was a patent mess, as predicted.

And yet we put him back for another term. Un-(insert appropriate expletive here)-believable!

Much as I would like to accommodate you Robert, I would really rather not dwell on 2004, much less review it.

[RobertGraves]

Yeah, I know how you feel. I felt reasonably optimistic that Howard and Bush would be voted out based on an obviously poor record of telling the truth to the electorate - wrong.

So maybe 2008 will be brighter *gulp*

[pinkozcat]

Mark Latham ?? Ouch !

The alternative HAD to be better.

[RobertGraves]

I don't like Latham but prefer most alternatives to John Howard.

[pinkozcat]

My politics are a lot further to the right than yours are - I've always known that - but I usually make a "meaningless" vote. I love the All Australia Party which advocates transcendental meditation for the masses and they mostly get my vote.

However, this time I was really concerned about Mark Latham so I went for broke. If it had been Beasley I might have done things differently.

What nobody expected was the result in the senate but I get the feeling that there were a lot of us out there who felt as I did this time around.

[RobertGraves]

The ALP is not too impressive at the moment but the Libs are heading soooo far to the right that despair.

I vote Green.

[demgoddess]

Saw this article and thought of your year in review forum...http://entertainment.msn.com/celebs/article.aspx?news=176692

For me personally, it's been kind of an up and down year. But I feel like I'm ending it by heading back up again, and that's all we can really ask for.

Looking back politically...umm, well, I'd rather not. The US election results are just too depressing.

[pinkozcat]

For me 2004 has not been a very good year and my Christmas was miserable.

However, I fulfilled some of my resolutions for 2004 by getting out of my comfort zone and heading for Europe for a couple of weeks. The rest sort of evaporated, though! I'll try again next year.

The Australian Stock Market took off in a big way so ON PAPER I'm richer; I guess that is an up for me in a generally bad year.

[Aravis]

I cannot emphasize enough how badly 2004 sucked. Here I am at the end of it, hurting and mildly bitter. I was permanently injured, Bush was (re?) elected, natural disaster has struck, we're still in Iraq and will be for some time, and my father, uncle, grandmother, old friend and my dog have all died. Well, Greta is still alive for another 10 hours. The cancer has taken its toll and we have to let her go. I can't stop crying.

I have managed to salvage some things from the ashes, no pun intended. I will be receiving training for a new career after I get my disability rating in March. The elections opened my eyes as to how half this country feels, making me think about things more even if I don't agree with the opinions I am considering. Problems abroad make me aware of how lucky I am in the larger scheme of things. The vacation in Alaska was one of my dreams come true and I'll never forget it. The deaths of my family members- all on my father's side- allowed me to get to know that side of my family better. Long story. My friend Chad's sudden death on Christmas Day at the age of 26 reminded me of the value of living every minute. He did. The line at his wake went around the block; he was a good man.

The pain of losing my Greta has been intense and I can't talk about it for long, even in cyberspace. She and her male counter-part Sam have been with Randy and I for almost ten years and have become an integral part of our lives. I'm going to miss her so very much. Losing her has been teaching me many things: how to be a friend, how to cherish every second with a loved one, and how to let go even when every part of you screams that you can't. Loving can be so painful, no matter who or what it is.

But I will have my memories of her, and I know she loved Randy and I every bit as much as we loved her. She has never been stingy with her affection! When I grow up, I want to be just like Greta and Sam.

These are the things that I have learned from 2004.