Counting down to 2015: here’s what to look forward to

It’s December 31st, which means it’s time once again to say goodbye to another fantastic year. Everybody knows the best way to handle goodbyes is to buy a puppy and pretend it never happened. Alternatively, if you’re not a pet person, you can also start a list of all the things there are to look forward to until you forget why you were sad in the first place. There are already plenty of events lined up for next year that make me wish we could just skip that awkward New Years phase and move on to 2015. For example:

1. Judy Blume is releasing a new book.

Judy Blume, author of Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret and Forever, is releasing a new book. Targeted for adults, the novel will take place in the 1950s and focus on a series of plane crashes that occurred in New Jersey. Expected to hit the shelves in June, the book (titled In the Unlikely Event) marks a monumental step for Blume, who hasn’t released a book for adults since the publication of Summer Sisters in 1999. If you’re not already bursting with excitement, here’s a picture of the book cover:

2. Taylor Swift launches her 1989 world tour.

After appearing on the cover of Time magazine and climbing her way to the top of the charts, Taylor Swift can easily claim the spot for “most talked about person of 2014,” in a good way. But her reign isn’t over quite yet. According to her site, the pop star is kicking off her world tour in May, bringing her catchy tunes to Japan, Ireland, and Canada, among other places. We all know where this story is headed so we might as well put it out there now: Taylor Swift for President 2016, amirite?

3) Jurassic World comes out.

I think we can all agree that People made a grave mistake in choosing Chris Hemsworth as 2014’s Sexiest Man Alive. I’m not denying Chris’s beauty in any way because anyone that has watched Thor knows the man is flawless, but 2014 was so obviously the year of Chris Pratt, I find it hard to believe he wasn’t picked for the spot. With the release of Jurassic World in June 2015, Pratt may just earn another chance at the crown. The film follows the launch of a new theme park, Isla Nublar, and the subsequent escape of its many dangerous creatures. Why it has taken four movies to determine that bringing dinosaurs back to life is a bad idea, I will never know, but I’m sure Pratt will make us all proud.

4. Star Wars: The Force Awakens premieres at the end of December.

I’ve never really been a Star Wars fan so the controversy behind this film eludes me, but if the headlines I’ve been seeing recently are any indication, The Force Awakens is bound to be a smash hit, even if half of its audience consists of people hate-watching.

5. The first line of Apple Watches will go on sale.

Let me preface this point by saying I have no intention of buying the Apple Watch. I already have a hard enough time staying off of my phone, I don’t need another device pinging and dinging and ringing every second of every day. However, that doesn’t mean I don’t think the device is revolutionary. Many sites have already predicted the item’s success and I’m interested to see how long it takes for them to release iContacts or iFullBodySuits after witnessing the watch’s blockbuster sales.

6. A bunch of new albums are being released.

I want to retract one of my previous statements: Taylor Swift has been wildly popular this year, it’s true, but that’s only really because Adele has been on vacation. The Grammy winner is rumored to be dropping her next album, 25, sometime next year, along with Fleetwood Mac and Florence and the Machine. (To be clear, they’re not releasing one giant joint album, as cool as that would be.)

7. HBO GO is going solo.

And they will use that tagline to advertise it, probably. If they team up with Lucasfilm, they could create a massive dual-campaign: “HBO GO is going Han Solo. Buy your one-year subscription and get a ticket to the Star Wars pre-screening event! Includes one Wookie doll and a photo op with R2D2.”

8. The next World’s Fair will be hosted in Milan, Italy.

In Meet Me In St. Louis, Judy Garland and her family make a big fuss about staying in Missouri to attend the World Fair, which makes me wonder how amazing this fair must actually be to convince an entire family that living in Missouri is a desirable option. The tradition will continue in 2015 with the opening of the 2015 Expo in Milan and will feature exhibitions related to the fair’s theme: Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life.

9. NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft is expected to pass Pluto, finally.

NASA launched the New Horizons spacecraft in 2006. While we’ve been complaining about our TV’s poor connectivity and contemplating the absurdity of celebrity scandals, that spacecraft has been spiraling past all of the planets in our solar system. It’s expected to reach the definitely-real-planet Pluto around July.

10. Avengers 2

I don’t think this really needs an explanation.

What are you looking forward to in 2015?

Featured image via WordPress.org.