WASHINGTON -- I experienced some interesting feelings as I typed in the date on this piece. We writers and pundits will have an emotional ride during the next few weeks as we put pen to paper -- or fingers to keyboard -- for the last time in this century and millennium. The temptations are rife: to be profound, to be reflective, to capture moods or feelings . . . to say something important.

I must confess, I was one of the early millennium buffs. Forget the technicalities that have some of my friends hung up about whether this is really the beginning of a new millennium or not; I bought into Jan. 1, 2000 as a very important date to celebrate several years ago. I was on this project even before the Easter Islands got themselves moved into a different time zone to be the first place for the new millennium to arrive, before the cruise-ship operators concocted their scheme to sail over the international dateline and back to celebrate the same moment twice.

I plotted and I planned. I rejected several ideas. The most compelling rejected plan was one developed by my friend Jim Muldoon. Also an early millennium man, Muldoon rented an island in the eastern Caribbean for the celebration and invited friends to join him. The event has been sold out for months.