the thought spot

What follows are my 25 things I’d like to see happen to the world in the next year, till my next birthday.  If some of these happen, I feel like my 24th year on this earth will be a fine one (As I’m turning 23, that’s how that works, right?)  They range from large issues to non-existent, selfish issues of my own.  Enjoy!

1.  I need some kind of solution in Iraq.  I am not interested in victory, I am interested in rebuilding the city and letting the Iraqi people take care of their home in the way that they see fit.  I have yet to grow old and bitter enough to not believe in them and their success.  If that requires our troops to stay, so be it.  We owe it to them.

2. Originally, when I started writing this post, I wanted the Knicks to fire Isiah Thomas.  THAT JUST HAPPENED!  Ok, new one…I’d like to see big music catch up to its fans.  Stop suing your fans, find a way to survive, fire your employees if you need to and stop living off the excesses of the CD boom of the 90’s.  Realize that you actually have to provide a good product if you’re going to expect to make money off of it.  

3.  I’d like to see Michael Psilakis, arguably the best Greek chef in the country, explode on a national television scale.  The guy is fascinating, and his restaurants have undeniably some of the best Greek food any of us will ever eat.  Check him out HERE, and check out his restaurant reviews HERE and HERE.  You can get pitchers of beer!  Stay tuned for a restaurant review on his places in the future…

4.  I hope that the new Death Cab for Cutie album coming out is going to be good.  I feel like they’re messing with their fans with the release of “I Will Possess Your Heart”.  Here’s hoping the album is filled with the lushness and slightly left of center feel that they’re known for.

5.  I sincerely hope that the Smashing Pumpkins play in the tri-state area this year.  I drove out to Toronto in September to see them!  While that was a phenomenal trip, I’d like to save on the gas miles this time.  Play Mayonaise!

6.  I would like a happy November for Mr. Obama.

7.  I’d like to see Joba Chamberlain remain in the setup role.

8.  I’d like to meet up with many of you who are likely reading this for happy hour at the Brooklyn Brewery one day this summer.

9.  I may catch heat for this…but that’s what blogs are for…I would like to see Jim Cramer’s advice be taken on a more serious level not just in the stock world, but politically.  His views on energy, food supply, corporate mergers, and politics in general have really surprised me with their insightfulness and knowledge on the issues.  He is not just a stock picker…

10.  I’d like to not see the slice of pizza go to $3 a slice…the price of flour has almost doubled over the past few months, partly because of rising fuel costs, which is why now, you’ve got to fish in your pocket for one extra quarter when you get a slice.  The price of a slice should stay the same as the cost of a single ride on the subway!  It should be law!

11.  I’d like to see Apple come out with a product that isn’t a beefed up iphone or a thin laptop.  I am not impressed with the MacBook Air.  Where is the market of people who are willing to spend 3k on their TRAVELING computer?  I’m glad that millionaires now FINALLY have this accessory. The thing doesn’t have a cd-drive, and it really can’t be your only computer…as I wish this weren’t the case, but we still use cd’s, we still need cd drives in computers.  

12.  I hope nothing bad happens to anyone else on the bridge which connects the route 9 parking lots to housing across the street at Marist College.

13.  I hope to be able to post the perfect recipe for Sangria on this blog before the conclusion of the summer.

14.   I hope to see the Microsoft-Yahoo merger happen.  The competition that would be created between Mr. Softie and Google would be rough on their stocks, but man, would we see some serious innovation from these two companies.  The possibilities are very, very exciting.

15.  While we’re on technology…I’d like to see facebook defeat myspace as the number 1 social networking site in America.  I like the interface, I like the interaction possibilities, and frankly, I like Mark Zuckerberg (who is actually kind of prickly in interviews) more than I like Rupert Murdoch.

16.  I’d like to see Roger Clemens imprisoned for lying under oath.

17.  While we’re on that topic…I’d like to see a urine test for HGH.

18.  I hope during the olympics this year that special attention is paid to the air quality in Beijing.  The world needs to know how bad the situation is there.  I have read that most of the United States team is going to be wearing masks when they have to be outside.  It’s that bad.

19.  I hope to play at least one game of beer pong.

20.  I’d like for this site to get about 150 unique hits a day.

21.  I’d like to catch an Iron & Wine show.

22.  I would like to see bankers do their work with a greater sense of morality than they do.  Yes, there are many people who are not fiscally responsible, or simply do not understand or care about debt.  But it cannot be ok to set someone up for bankruptcy in this country.  It should not be ok for banks to sell someone into credit card debt.  Yes, the individual is almost always at fault, but I’d like for banks and investors to try and educate and save these people, rather than take advantage of them.

23.  I’d like to see another Sweet 16 appearance from the Marist women’s basketball team, and an NCAA tournament appearance for the Men’s (hey, i can dream big, right?)

24.  I’d like to see the ice cream flavor known as strawberry-cheesecake incorporated into every single ice cream place in the universe.

25.  AND THE FINALE….I hope to learn the art of making home-made, italian cooking.  This will depend on my girlfriend and her mother’s patience with me.