IF it were possible to be an optimist and a pessimist at the same time, then I would fit those descriptions. It's impossible to be both according to the English Dictionary, as they are complete opposites. Hoping for the best and expecting the worst.

However, I'm not alone, particularly among those people with whom I share the title of "senior citizen". You don't get to 70 without having a seriously jaundiced view of the world in general and Homo sapiens in particular and I have compiled a Wish List for 2005 -- positives under (a) and negatives (b) -- which reveals my duel personality.

(a) I very much hope there will be an end to the violence in the Middle East, particularly Iraq, and that a peaceful transition to democracy follows the planned election there.

(b) Extremists are unlikely to end their campaign of death and destruction, aimed at polarising Sunni and Shia and teaching Messrs. Blair and Bush that colonialism of the region is just as impossible now as it has been in earlier centuries.

(a) I very much hope that whoever is responsible for television schedules calls a halt to the appalling, so-called "reality shows" like Big Brother and I'm a Celebrity, which carry as much likeness to reality as I do to Brad Pitt.

(b) They won't, because in a medium where the word "entertainment" has now become virtually meaningless, viewing figures indicate that the Great British Public has become, in the main, a nation of voyeurs.

(a) I very much hope we won't see or hear any more Pop Idol, X Factor, Fame Academy, programmes which attract thousands of wannabes, some talented, many excruciatingly not, who consider television exposure, humiliation and crushing disappointment, worth risking in pursuit of "stardom".

(b) We won't because Simon Cowell and other movers and shakers in the world of popular music know this is the route to riches -- for them, that is.

(a) I very much hope the price of vehicle fuel is cut as we will soon be presented with a choice: eat -- or own a car.

(b) It won't as fuel tax constitutes a large chunk of Gordon Brown's incomings and you can't underwrite the health and social services, not to mention the business in Iraq, which experts say could drag on for another ten years, without somehow balancing the books.

(a) I very much hope that whoever is responsible for clearing our roads of snow and ice listens to advance weather warnings, and takes the appropriate action, instead of telling people to stay home unless their journey is absolutely necessary.

(b) They won't because the Brits are a nation of shoulder shruggers who have accepted that even though our European neighbours can cope with extreme winters, we grind to a halt at any temperature below zero and two inches of snow.

(a) I very much hope that Ant and Dec spend much less time on the TV because the awards they win and the praise heaped upon them is totally out of proportion to their talent.

(b) Mediocre opposition makes this highly unlikely. No. Impossible.

But have a Very Happy New Year anyway.