"Should auld acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind? Should auld acquaintance be forgot and days of auld lang syne? We'll take a cup of kindness yet for auld lang syne."

Huh?

Okay, loosely interpreted into Pittsburghese, this means "Should we forget about the Stiller teams of the past n'at or the days of Isaly's chipped chopped ham? No way. Yunz guys go ahead and remember the good old days and have a can of Iron City."

But should we really?

I'm not one to argue with tradition and heritage — and singing this awful Gaelic song once a year certainly classifies as both. But should we never forget about the past?

If I never forgot the past, I would still be trying to beat up Paul Slater for stealing my kickball in fifth grade. Or worse yet, I would still be trying to get back in my wife's good graces for a multitude of transgressions and screwups, many of which occurred as recently as 20 minutes ago.

But there's a fine line here. Certainly all of the incidents leading up to today have made me who I am. They also prepare me for future incidents.

Is that why we never forget the great teams of the 1970s or the taste of Burger Hut french fries and gravy from high school? Does it help us keep memories (although somewhat faded and skewn) of times gone by? Were those days really the good old days?

Sure they were. And in a way, they weren't.

You see, our mind takes pictures of selected memories, good and bad, to help us form opinions and desires as we move forward. These pictures are snapped at one point in time and we aren't able to recognize the surrounding landscape that they were taken from.

For instance, the 1960s reflected social strife and Vietnam but we think Woodstock, rock 'n' roll and free love. Today it's a war in Iraq, but we see technology, gizmos and keeping up with the Joneses.

The band Last Goodnight has a song out right now called "Pictures of You." The lyrics, although painfully simple, paint a vivid image of truth.

"Pictures of you, pictures of me hung up on your wall for the world to see. Pictures of you, pictures of me, remind us all of what we used to be."

Is that why auld acquaintance should not be forgotten? Is it painful to remember what we used to be, rather than what we've become?

The beauty with the upcoming year is that as human beings, we're allowed to make mistakes. We get plenty of do-overs, as my son and daughter call them.

And like the newest digital camera out there, if you don't like the picture you see, it can be deleted and taken again and again until you get one that you like.

Each of us might have demons that make a not-so-pretty picture right now, but each has been given a new camera.

What are you going to do to change the picture so that you're happy to hang up a new picture reminding you of what you are now, rather than what you used to be?

We can't stop time, but we can change the future. Happy New Year and make the pictures you hang up on your wall be from 2008.

Christian Ola, a community columnist for the Butler Eagle, resides in Mars with his wife, son and daughter and can be reached at christianolac@aol.com.