And thanks for all the fish

Happy New Year! What a year 2005 was. Life changed in many strange and wonderful ways.

I have only one prediction for the new year: That my most recent alma mater and former employer will announce that they will house the Bush Presidential Library. The evidence keeps piling up. A neighborhood source tells me the school has bought a big office building near campus and kicked out the lawyers who occupied it. They've been buying up property toward the freeway and evicting tenants for a couple of years now. It all seems like a done deal. When it happens, tell 'em you read it here first. I also predict that Britney will dump the Federlout, Katie Holmes will give birth (complete silence, please!) to L. Ron Cruise and that the Olsen twins will share a small salad (no croutons). Call me Kreskin.

To everyone who has taken the ride with me over the past 12 months, I thank you. And that includes: blog readers near and far, especially the loyal bloggistas in Australia, Italy, Canada, Ireland, England and France; my fellow adjuncts for standing up and not being invisible anymore; the profs and their charges who've followed my bouncing ball since this thing started; my fave prof, Rick, for being the most liberal and compassionate person I've ever met; my former students Tiana, Carrie, Diana, Valerie, Vanessa, Don, Greg, Tish, Lauren, Melissa, Jonathan and all the Ashleys and Brads who really get it; Evan, the agent with attitude; the wonderful ladies I share the pool with, including Rachel, Lurline, Holly and Michelle; my editors at the Dallas Observer, Fort Worth Star-Telegram and Southwest SPIRIT who keep me gainfully employed; Roberta, the reigning diva of Toledo; my old pal Tom at the Corpus Christi Caller-Times, who likes the Surf Club, too, even though they smoke there; Dan, Michelle and baby surfer Zach; Wendy and Esme in Eureka, CA; the Eds, Stone and Martin; Bruce, who posed with Paris Hilton for his Christmas card and signed it "Ho!"; Tom beside Lake Erie for inspiring my work and life every dang day; the guys at Eagle Postal Center who read my stuff and stuff my mailbox; the baristas at the Starbucks in Old Town for playing good music and keeping the a/c running high; Sue, for the gift of the greatest massage to Don McLean tunes; Arnold, Jay, Mark and my other theatergoing buds; Coy and Nye for the laughs and playdates; my mom and brother for the support and all the fish dinners; and Kubby, the greatest and possibly oldest paraplegic Aussie shepherd on earth, for managing to crawl over to the desk to check on me at least once a day.

To my new and old acquaintances, I wish you love, peace and chicken grease for 2006.

More to come. And even better.