10. The Nigerian guy who tried to take down an airplane in Detroit did not succeed.

9. The US Healthcare bill is passed, even though it still doesn’t include the public option, and many people say that it really is not all it promised to be at first. But hope is alive and well.

8. The climate talks at Coppenhagen, Denmark are over and many valid and important issues have been raised about the threat to the environment. It is not a perfect situation, and not all governments present have agreed. But we’re more conscious now. Head over here and here to see a picture of fellow Fulbighters protesting in front of the White House.

7. I didn’t catch the flu. It didn’t snow much in Edwardsville. Thank goodness. I think I’ll make it though the winter after all.

6. I got to write some more poems and prose than I did last year. My Short Story Behind the Door will be published next year in Africa Roar, an anthology.

5. Nobody launched a nuclear weapon this year, and thus we’re still alive.

4. I met old friends. I made new friends. I met new people. I had pounded yam in abundance, twice.

3. I travelled more this year than I did in a long while, I saw more cities, museums, monuments, memorials.

2. I saw Up In The Air, The Blind Side, This Is It, among many other interesting movies of the year.

1. We’ve survived it.