**LJ Idol Season 4 Week 8 Entry: What the New Year Will Bring**

As 2008 rises from the ashes of 2007, I see many playing the speculation game.  For some, they hope that 2008 brings better luck than 2007.  Others want to make changes in their lives and see the world follow suit.  What do you want?

I come before you now, with my own set of predictions.  While I do not have a crystal ball, I do have the power of my Tarot cards, Runes, and my dreams.  Through a combination of these three, and some major meditation time, I feel sure that envisionment of the future will soon come to pass.

The year shall begin as most years do.  People across the globe have, by this time, prepared their lengthy list of resolutions.  Pray more, sleep more, get better grades, impress the bosses, lose weight, eat healthy… the lists go on and on.  Four days into the new year, some resolutions already lay discarded by the side of the road.

In my home, we already attend to our studies once more, striving for more education.  Order resumes, taking away the messes of last year, vacation, and life in general.  Caramon strives to improve his mad origami skills each day with his new page-a-day calendar.  My husband clears time for professional needs.

Across the globe, the same sort of story unfolds in each home.  But what comes after this?  What is next?

My vision year begins more locally, individually.  I plan to further myself by continuing in LJ-Idol.  Using it to make me not only write, but to share my writing with others.  I plan to do the same with my photography, a continuation from last year.  In this coming year, I see myself finishing two of my books, and selling one.  I see more of my pictures on display, bringing in a little extra cash for some fun spending on my part.  By the close of 2008, I will have taken a few more steps along my path of self confidence and self exploration.

However, that is not the end of what I see happening in 2008.  I see my mother becoming a strong leader in a community she recently joined.  I see one of my closest friends discovering a happiness she thought lost last year.  Several TV shows will debut early this year and perform far better than anticipated with the schedule being far more open due to the Writers Strike.

In the LJ-Idol house, I see several friendships reinforced.  Some already formed alliances will catapult people into the top 25 while others will quickly crumble away.  I see Spydielives winning a costuming award, Claudrainsrm receiving more cookies, sircaliban enjoying a new board game, lacombe earning recognition for a photograph, shay_writes polishes and sends out a copy of The Novel and receives the coveted First Rejection that solidifies true writer status.  Each of these achievements shall bring rejoicing and growth.  As for the winner of LJ-Idol, I saw that, too.  I shall keep it to myself though, for where would the fun of the game be if you knew the outcome?

Gas prices continue to fluctuate, but as usual people only moan about it instead of doing something productive.  Our ties to fossil fuel only becomes stronger.  The troops remain in Iraq, just as they remain in Germany and Japan.  Once more, people only complain instead of paying attention to history or logic.  Gay rights continues to be a forefront of hot and heavy topics in the political realm along with the happenings in Iraq.  Still more refugees from all over the continent of Africa flee to America and other countries in efforts to escape the persecution and genocide they know as a way of life.  Terrorists continue their work, causing more unrest for the world.

My sources gave no clues towards sports.  So hang up your hopes on betting on the Superbowl, the World Cup, The World Series.  I have no news concerning the Olympics other than my Netflix usage will spike higher than ever, and I am not alone.  Writers Strike + Olympics = Netflix stock shoots up overnight. Though I do see a great opening day for the new Nationals park in DC.  So long, RFK Stadium!

Things seem bright now, but I do see things not so bright.  Politically, in the USA, this year is unlike most others.  Not only is it a Presidential race, the field is wide open.  An event that does not happen often, this leaves the political world a complete mess.  Mudslinging is a thing of the past, the gloves are off, and the two major parties engage in open warfare with one another.  Many across the globe tune out in pure disgust.  November has an all time record low for voter turn out.  Unfortunately that means only 1/8th of the population in the great US of A truly elects the next major world leader.

Shortly before election day, a dark cloud will hang over the nation’s capitol.  Dick Cheney shall suffer from a massive heart attack, and this time he does not return to his duties as vice president.  He lingers, in a coma, at the hospital on the taxpayer’s dime.  The Huckabee-McCain train tries their hardest in the journey to the most famous address in the world, but in the end they run out of steam at 15th St.  The White House so close in their sights, they can almost reach out and touch it.  Clinton and Obama win thanks to voters in Pennsylvania and New Mexico.  Ohio surprised many by voting for the losing party for the first time in 11 elections, making it the third time they’ve voted for a loser in the last 108 years.  White the state population seems to be systematically voting out every republican inside their boundaries, they simply could not be swayed to vote for the combination of Clinton-Obama.  Polls show that had the democratic party chosen otherwise, a far different story would have emerged from the state where people continued to vote until 3 AM.

With continual attacks all year at various Clinton-Obama offices nationwide, immediate lock-downs are put into place to ensure the safety of the elected officials.  Clinton all but goes on self-induced house arrest to await Inauguration Day.   It is not enough, and someone manages to still shoot her.  Just who and how remains a mystery as 2008 draws to a close.  The holidays approach and no one knows just what 2009 will bring.  Unfortunately, they will not know before it is too late.

Just two weeks before Christmas, the nation will hear that their President-elect will survive her grievous wounds and that the current Vice President has finally passed after far too long in coma.  No one thinks anything of the news coming so close to one another until the December 30th press conference where the world learns the truth.  The entire, tragic, events were planned from the start by those we shall never know.  Dick Cheney now resides in Hillary Clinton’s body, through the miracles of modern science.  For the last month the two personalities of Clinton and Cheney dueled one another for ultimate supremacy before finally realizing they held the same agenda.  They formed a truce, teaming up for world domination.  With an official name change to Hillary Dick and the serving of divorce papers, we see the would-be First Gentlemen denied his chance to move back into The White House.

Interns through-out DC collectively sigh in relief.  Republicans immediately cry out about the unfit nature of a dual-identity president, but fail.  Seems that never having thought an issue, there is no law or precedent against such a thing.  Obama does the best he can given the strange situation, but after rmonths of being kicked to second-fiddle, not many take him seriously any more, so he settles into his role as whipping boy to Presient-elect Hillary Dick.

And yes, I did see a glimpse of life under President Hillary Dick, and needless to say, the Aztec calendar proves correct.  World Domination is the least of their goals and they lead the way to…

Deadline is here.  Guess you’ll need to go research the Aztecs for the rest of the answers to 2008 to know if you should fear or rejoice.  Ahh, seeing you squirm has been most enjoyable!

–Lady O

*I hope you have enjoyed my tale of the coming year.  I do not like to make predictions, but figured if I was asked to… I should at least make it interesting.  Interesting seemed to take a sinister turn, but hey… it’s election year!  I might as well have some fun before the politicians take all enjoyment out of it!  *GRINS*  If you like my entry, I hope you’ll vote for me on LJ-Idol when the poll is posted!  (And stay tuned for my true and personal look toward 2008 as well as look back on 2007.)*

Originally posted on ladyozma.vox.com