In ten years I will live in Winnipeg and work as an ornithologist.

Happy New Year 2010 from Holland, MI. Photo by Ty Kennedy-Bowdoin.

I’m sure the town of Holland is preparing to drop the ball and ring in the new year, and a quick read of the Holland Sentinel’s reader comments about New Years Eve activities shows that my fellow citizens are either drunk driving, sleeping, or at church:

“I don’t have much planned for the new years. Probably will just get a case of beer and ride around town for a while.” -love to fish

“What is the make and model of your car and plate number on the back? I want to be sure to stay out of your path.” -DReading

“Nothing planned, doubt I’ll even be awake at the new year.” -brewsky

“Watch night service at church, what else?” -Tim Eno

I’m a designer, living in West Michigan, and it’s a blue moon tonight, but it’s snowing and I can’t see it.  On TV, Jennifer Lopez is wearing a full body alien skin suit that makes her crotch look like a barbie doll crotch.  Everything is arbitrary, and I’m happy to embrace it. I don’t know where I’ll be in another decade, but here’s a recap of some prevailing thoughts of the decade past and where I thought I’d be in ten years for ever year since 2000.

2000: I stayed up late splaying Snood with my girlfriends as we realized for the first time in our lives that our democracy was no longer democratic.  I will live in New England and work as a Geology professor at a liberal arts college.

2001: I was mid-air with my family on September 11 and think it’s strange that a large number of country music stars came out with America songs within a week.  I will live in the mountains and work as a Geology professor at a liberal arts college, and become an Olympic snowboarder, or at least be able to ride a half-pipe.

2002: I spent most of my time doing Kung-fu. Why do anything else? I will be a blackbelt.  I will need to balance snowboarding with martial arts. I will live in the mountains and work as a Geology professor, somewhere.

2003: Hakuna Matata. Santa Cruz has parades for even the most obscure of occasions. I will have a house near both the ocean and the mountains and oscillate between excelling at snowboarding and surfing.

2004: I will be a science writer for the New York Times, and make movies about geological phenomena.  I will champion the Adobe Creative Suite to scientists around the world.

2005: I submitted a TV sitcom screenplay to a contest with one of my girlfriends. It was called “The Job” and chronicled the absurdity of work.  “The Office” comes out in the next week.  I will write Hollywood screenplays while making animations about geological processes.

2006: Vans, hoodies, cruiser bikes, surfing, and too much organic sausage.  Why think about the future?

2007: Design teaches me an entirely new way of thinking. There are no good restaurants in Palo Alto. Everything seems attainable again but I don’t sleep much.  I will design constantly.

2008: Will mustaches ever be in style?  I will be cool enough to talk at TED. I will become a professor of Design. I will never work at a company again unless it’s my own.

2009: I wish Holland had restaurants as good as the ones in Palo Alto. I’m working at a company that’s not my own. I got married! I will write a design romance novel, live both overseas and in San Francisco, have two kids, and work as a designer on the projects that interest me.

Bring it on, 2010. In the meantime, I’ll start learning about Canadian birds.