Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit, Happy New Year, and all that stuff. The snow is bright white beneath the cold deep blue sky. In the background, I hear the Rose Bowl parade on television. My mind is a bit foggy due to an annoying head cold I’m trying to shake off.

There are many things I want to write about, thoughts about the year that has just ended, hopes for the year to come, and reflections on what it all means. Yet I can’t concentrate, so this may end up being a bit stream of consciousness.

2008 was not a great year. It was difficult for us financially, as it was for many of my friends. Yesterday, I listened to Colin McEnroe do his farewell show on WTIC. I twittered parts of it, and friends listened in to WTIC’s live stream of the show. Another friend has sent me an invitation to the Facebook group, Bring Back Colin McEnroe. Colin is one of the few media personalities in Connecticut that seems to get what is going on. He appears to understand the role of the media ecology and the relationship between print, radio and online.

It is becoming popular to talk about the convergence of different types of media in the newsroom, but there is another part of convergence that should be considered. Colin, like a few other media personalities that seem to get it, also teach at various higher educational institutions in Connecticut. This makes a lot of sense to me. I wonder how many people started in journalism in hopes of educating people about what is going on. It seems like a convergence that should be promoted and nurtured.

Later, last night, I received an IM from a friend that lost his job a while ago, and has not had any luck finding a new job. We chatted and neither of us had a lot of hope for the New Year.

I read some of @BlinkyStJames tweets and her blog Anywhere But Here: Chronicling near(?) homelessness. I highly recommend her writing.

Around midnight, I was twittering with friends. One person from the left coast, still waiting for New Year’s in his town, asked those of us on the right coast if 2009 was any different from 2008. I responded that while it is good to have 2008 done with, it feels like New Year’s won’t really be here until January 20th. I’ve seen many people echoing that thought.

As I tried to find words to describe 2008, I remembered an old Calvinist joke.

What did the Calvinist say when he fell down the stairs?
Thank God, that’s over.

I guess that captures a little bit of my feeling about 2008. So, what’s on tap for 2009? I’m really not sure. I’ve kicked around resolutions to make. One is to stop rolling my eyes or shaking my head in disbelief every time the President of the United States speaks. It is going to take a little work, but I suspect I should be able to achieve that in about three weeks. With Kim’s Lyme disease currently seeming to be under control, we are hoping to get back into a little better shape. Personally, I would like it if our family could go for more walks on some of the wonderful trails around Connecticut. I would like to work on some sort of Social Media Relationship Management system, and do a better job of nurturing my relationships in social media.

Yet for big resolutions, I’m still at a loss. It feels like I should make a Sisyphusian resolution, to enjoy the view of the boulder as it rolls back down the hill. Yes, I would like to make a difference, to somehow help people find their voices and get more involved in the public sphere, yet that boulder seems not to be budging very much.

So, there you have it, out with the old boulder and in with the new. What about you?