this is the last sunday night of 2018.  a little over 24 hours from now & we will be in the new year.  2019 sounds like science fiction.  indeed, the action of blade runner [1982] is in 2019.  so will the past be prologue for the future?  is it not always?  so instead of flying cars & replicants we shall all carry devices that plug us in to information, entertainment & news.  these devices are connected to our vehicles.  they are connected to our homes.  they are connected to our innermost layers of our lives.  instead of a 4 hr work week that was envisioned by a few futurologists, economists & the circa 1960s era animated sitcom the jetsons we have the gig economy [provided by that same device that connects us to almost nearly everything in our hyper socioeconomic societies] that forces many to work 60 - 80 + hr workweeks.  so what will the new year bring us?  more of the same, which means profound disruptions in our lives, for we are not done with our changes.  these changes, whether it be social, economic, political & environmental, can be very scary.  what to do?  surely we can grab the horse by the reigns & ride as best we can.  we can also remember life, as prince reminded us in his great song '1999', is a party.  'if i'm gonna die/i'll dance my life away.'  as for me, i was promised the 21st C would bring flying cars & jet packs.  i'm still waiting.  2019 is a sci fi kinda year.  but in the meantime, let me go old skool.  i'll celebrate the new year by unscrewing a bottle of cold duck, watching dick clark's rockin' new year's eve, & hope i have the gumption to face the bright clear morning of what will ultimately be just another ordinary new year's day.