Time for something more cheerful than the Westboro Baptist Church. Doomsday, anyone?

I found this image on NBC’s website. They asked a good question: At exactly what time on Dec. 21 is the world supposed to end? In the first moments? Later in the day? At the last minute? Then they launched into a discussion of various time zones around the world and whether it was the 21st there yet and whether the world was still spinning. Frankly, I got totally lost. It’s all I can do to keep up (barely) with Daylight Savings Time and the four time zones across the continental United States. Add all the world’s time zones plus the International Date Line and I’m left clueless. I know it’s now December 21 in London; that’s a good sign. But I’m not sure whether or not December 22 has dawned someplace yet, signaling that we made it. That the earth survived. That the Mayans were wrong — or just too lazy to extend their calendar beyond December 21, 2012. Oh well.

In any case, unless and until the world ends, I’ll be celebrating the 21st as the glorious winter solstice it is. It means the days start getting longer and once again I will have survived the darkest, most dismal time of year. (Hell, if the days didn’t get longer, I wouldn’t care if the world ended.)

Cheers!

(Update: It’s now Dec. 21, 9 am MT in Denver, and all’s well. So far, so good. … Drat, looks like I’ll have to do some Christmas shopping after all.)