Hopes for a new year

I don't have a hard, fast list of specific resolutions as I look ahead to a new year and a new decade (just a couple of big, overarching ones). I do, however, have some hopes.

1. I hope that another year will come and go without a terrorist incident, a school shooting, or an attention-getting "missing child" story that ends with the discovery of a body.

2. I hope that "Toy Story 3" will be as smart, funny, and downright enjoyable as the first two films were (and also that Mrs. Potato Head won't have too many lines).

3. I hope that this year we will hear considerably fewer stories about athletes, politicians, and other high-profile figures cheating on their spouses. (Coming soon in this blog: why do men and women incapable of fidelity bother to get married in the first place?)

4. I hope that Season 4 of "The Muppet Show" will be released on DVD in the early part of this year, not the later part. I also hope that it will be complete, without those horrendous edits imposed by copywright issues that marred Season 1. (You can't really enjoy the Vincent Price episode without his closing cover of "You've Got a Friend." You just can't.)

5. I hope that I will teach my students lessons of real value.

6. I hope that I will be able to mold my good but overlong draft of a novel into a publishable shape and finally see my fiction in print.

7. I hope that the 2010 Winter Olympics will bring moments of excitement, pride, beauty, and sportsmanship at its finest.

8. I hope "Chuck" and "24" will have good seasons and that "Fringe" and "FlashForward" will finish strong.

9. I hope that the movie-studio powers-that-be will take pity on us classic movie fans and give "The African Queen" a decent DVD release at last. (I also hope the person who borrowed my imported copy and never returned it has an occasional pang of conscience when he sees it on his shelf.)

10. I hope our nation will be blessed with honor, strength, courage, and peace.