May you live in interesting times

John Cook has this to say about 2013:

I’ve tried to think of something interesting about the number 2013 and haven’t come up with anything. This reminds me of the interesting number paradox.

Theorem: All positive integers are interesting.

Proof: Let n be the smallest uninteresting positive integer. Then n is interesting by virtue of being the smallest such number.

(Cook goes on to make an interesting point about continuous versus discrete solutions, but that’s off my point here.)

2013 promises to be personally interesting to me because I’m transitioning to retirement.

2013 promises to be interesting to those around me, since both my sons-in-law are getting their degrees and leaving school for …?

2013 seems likely to be one fiscal cliff crisis after another in the dysfunctional U.S. Congress, interspersed with Eurozone crises across the ocean and the various difficulties in the Middle East.