If you randomly surveyed ten Americans and asked whether they were pessimistic or optimistic about the future, I’m willing to bet a month’s salary that at least 60% would say pessimistic. The specific reasons for that pessimism would vary. Our schools are crumbling. Our morals are disintegrating. People want to kill us. Indeed, a quick scan of the daily news offers ample persuasion for staying in bed and watching endless reruns of Good Times.

While we may have plenty to feel glum about, the deep thinkers at the Edge Foundation want to remind everyone it’s okay to have a little hope. It asked dozens of scientists, academicians, writers, and policy wonks to name one thing about which they are optimistic. Their answers span the range of human knowledge and endeavor. An emerging boom in the development of green technology. Falling levels of global violence. The decline of religious fanaticism. Whether you agree with the answers or not, these mini-essays provide fascinating reading.

As for me, I’m optimistic that we’ll have universal health care in the next two decades, and it will likely be single-payer. Big corporations are starting to realize that our current patchwork health care system is a drag on both their profitability and the economy. Eventually, the political will necessary to break the chokehold of the insurance companies will push lawmakers to a comprehensive and lasting solution.

You didn’t think I was going to let this year come to a close without some sort of retrospective and completely subjective list, did you?

Best Movie I Saw: United 93  Paul Greengrass has enough artistic maturity to get out of the way and let the events of the hijacking unfold without embellishment or gauzy revisionism. An important film both for its historical accuracy and intellectual honesty.

Best Book I Read: Case Histories by Kate Atkinson  I really like Kate Atkinson’s dry wit–you Brits do dry and witty with so much more style than we Americans. The book isn’t a great mystery, but it’s a great character study.

Best Song I Heard: “Stars above Us” by Saint Etienne. This song got my groove on for much of the past summer. It makes you smile, but not in a dopey sort of way. It makes you want to throw your own roof party and invite all your hip, urbane friends. I still can’t figure out how this band flew under my radar for so long.

Best Album I Purchased in its Entirety: Fox Confessor Brings the Flood by Neko Case  Gorgeous voice. Gorgeous arrangements. Neko’s work with the New Pornographers is impressive, but this album conclusively demonstrates that she is more than a power-pop chanteuse. Country music couldn’t figure her out, but so much better for the rest of us.

Best TV Show I Watched: The Wire  I enjoyed both Battlestar Galactica and The Office, but this season’s run of The Wire was stunning. Its devastating tale of Baltimore’s barely functioning civic institutions (schools, city hall, and the police), told by a cast of bureaucrats, cops, assassins, and politicos, was as compelling as any well-written novel.

So there you have it. 2006 as seen through my personal pop culture lens.

My hopes for the new year remain the same. Still need to finish the book. Still need to kiss a pretty girl. But mostly, I’m just waiting to see what one more spin around the sun will bring.

It’s snowing pretty heavily as I write this. I hope 2007 brings you something grand. Thanks for putting up with me.

According to an AP poll, Bush is Villain of the Year. He even beat out bin Laden and if I didn’t have a pounding headache, I’d make some pithy observation about that fact.

By a smaller percentage, he was also chosen as Hero of the Year, which only makes my headache worse.

My brother, the professor, is in need of a new car. I believe he’s narrowed it down to two favorites of the Bay Area liberal elites: the Mini Cooper and the Toyota Prius. I’m trying to nudge him towards the Prius for a few reasons:

• He’ll save more on gas (the cost of which will only go up, especially in California)
• It’s better suited for highway driving
• It’s roomier

The Mini certainly has flair, but I don’t think it’s ideal for a daily commute between Santa Cruz and Monterey. Thoughts?

A friend of mine and I, in celebration of the holiday season, went to see the rather bloody Apocalypto today. Mel Gibson may be an anti-Semitic crank with a drinking problem, but I’ll give the man credit: he can make a damn entertaining film. Apocalypto has a simple plot, but it’s briskly told and many of the visuals are stunning in their sweep. If you want look for a deeper meaning (perhaps something about how the decline of civilizations can be foretold by their use of manipulative spectacle), that can be found as well.

The theater was nearly empty, which was both pleasant and a little eerie. There wasn’t as much of a communal viewing experience, but there were also fewer distractions (if I had heard a baby crying in the audience during this film, I would have called social services on the spot).