A little over a year ago, I made an innocent but passionate one dollar bet with a friend of mine: Osama bin Laden would be caught or killed by the end of 2002. It was a sure thing, a no-brainer, a can't-miss bet. No way would the big bad United States of America put up with titter terrorists of al Qaida. Um, well, what a difference a year makes. Somewhere along the way, Osama bin Laden turned into Saddam Hussain, and the headquarters and source of evil went from Afghanistan to Iraq.

2002 became the year of the sequel and remakes. UN weapons inspectors, North Korea (still) has the bomb, South American governments are going kaput, Palestinians and Israelis want to kill each other, Men in Black 2, I Spy, Star Wars Episode II, Stuart Little 2, Spy Kids 2, Star Trek 10, James Bond 20. Even in the post 9-11 world, we still get repeats.

Oh, by the way, 9-11, 9-11, 9-11. September 11. We just couldn't get enough of that number this year. We couldn't get enough of that phrase. Too many people keep saying 9-11, and I want them to stop. It's a different world since September 11. Yeah, yeah, yeah. In the immortal words of Cheech and Chong, things are tough all over. Because of this barrage of September 11 talk, I instinctively look at the clock twice a day to find out the time is 9:11. The world is actually the same, but our perspective is different.

Of course, our perspective changed after the Patriots won the Super Bowl, our opinion changed about Barry Bonds after he made it to the World Series with the San Francisco Giants, our view of American soccer improved after the World Cup. Hopefully, we change our minds about many things throughout our lives. 9-11 changed our view, but don't make it the end-all-be-all life changing moment that forces you to hunker down and worry about safety for the rest of your days.

Personally, my perspective changed when a little baby named Max entered my family circle. That kid is going to be all right, and I'll tell the simple reason why: he has two, that's right, TWO parents who love the fact that he exists and will keep him the center of their lives. If you want to know why there are so many undesirable people in the world, much of it can be traced back to the fact that they were undesired as kids by one or both of their parents. My folks recently celebrated their 35th anniversary, and while they will admit that not every moment was precious during those 420 months, their longevity and tolerance has given them rewards that not many people fathom experiencing. Family and friends are worth their weight in gold. Don't ever cash them in.

Backwards and forwards, 2002 still looks the same. I directed my first play, which was a stage adaptation of Catch-22, and the world around me reinforces the relevance of that story every day. Only a crazy person would digest all of the strange happenings on this Earth and still find a way to live and thrive, but if you admit that all the events are making you crazy, you are actually very sane in thinking madness. And you still have to find a way to live and thrive. Catch-22? Catch-22.

2002 had it all. On international, national, local, personal, professional, and spiritual levels, these 365 days were full of success, failure, distress, anticipation, exhilaration, despair, war, peace, intellectual dialogue, pointless ramblings, love, hate, indifference, sober clarity, drunken confusion, triumph, loss, and moments that could never be categorized. I guess that could be said about any year at any time. The point is that it has happened before and it will happen again.

Looking into the upcoming year, I can honestly say my crystal ball is very cloudy. We could be at war in the Middle East in a couple weeks. We could dive into a serious depression or spring back to a sustaining economy. The world might come together in a common cause or break apart into several chunks with sharp edges. That's the funny thing about the future, you can prepare your entire life for events that have yet to come, but you can't actually do anything about it until those potential moments make that transformation to the present. The one thing I do know is that I will owe a friend of mine a dollar come New Year's Day.

Happy New Year, SUIT readers! I have no idea what I will talk about in 2003, but something will happen worth pounding out a few hundred words each week. All the best to you and yours.

Chris Jungle is an apprentice soothsayer.