"...things which must shortly come to pass..."

[Peter]

Preterist:

My intent is never to divide among our family but to challenge critical thinking and consideration of facts. Don't worry about my ego, I'm not out to convert to my name or my philosophy but Revelation has a message that people it was written to would have had to have understood. John writing to them...

I am included in the "them".
John is writing to me too:

Rev 1:9 I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.

I will remain humbly honored to be my brother John's companion in the kingdom, and for our brothers and sisters in the Sudan and elsewhere that are being slaughtered at the hand of Islam, they are clearly his companion in tribulation too. Some counts put the number dead at 2 million, in the Sudan alone. Let alone Nigeria: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fbXvq_ZIbw

...about events that would take place 2000 years in the future...

This would, of course, simply confirm that John's book is prophecy, like Daniel's prophecies that spanned hundreds - even thousands of years for open eyes. http://www.islamchristianforum.com/index.php?topic=77.0

From chapter 4 on, the book of Revelation is a prophetic vision, the same kind of context as Daniel's dreams.

...when he clearly says "soon"...

Let's check Strong's and investigate what it "clearly" says:

Rev 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified [it] by his angel unto his servant John:

come to pass
New Testament Greek Definition:
1096 ginomai {ghin'-om-ahee}
a prolongation and middle voice form of a primary verb;
TDNT - 1:681,117; v
AV - be 255, come to pass 82, be made 69, be done 63, come 52,
become 47, God forbid + 3361 15, arise 13, have 5, be fulfilled 3,
be married to 3, be preferred 3, not tr 14, misc 4, vr done 2; 678
1) to become, i.e. to come into existence, begin to be, receive being
2) to become, i.e. to come to pass, happen
2a) of events
3) to arise, appear in history, come upon the stage
3a) of men appearing in public
4) to be made, finished
4a) of miracles, to be performed, wrought
5) to become, be made


The traditional continuous-historic view would concur that things were soon to begin to come to pass.
It's obvious that the verse cannot be construed as any sort of proof of preterism.

and Jesus says "this generation"...

The difficulty that holding an eschatology that depends on our 21st century western English understanding of just a few, translated Koine Greek words, is that the language is English and that this isn't the first century!

The terms "this" and "generation" are explored here: http://www.islamchristianforum.com/index.php?topic=43.0

When we see that the Greek word houtos, is translated as "the same" on 28 other occcasions, another "proof" of preterism goes up in smoke.

...would have been absurdly unprofitable for them and as well as for us.

Perhaps for you. I believe that:
2Ti 3:16 All scripture [is] given by inspiration of God, and [is] profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for