Thursday, January 1, 2009

Everyone Should Celebrate the New Year with Inadvised Rambling

I think a week is the longest I've ever gone without posting. I'm blaming my new video game, Fallout 3. According to its clock, I've spent 40 hours on it so far. And yet the post-apocalyptic civilization is still unsaved. Tragic.

For the aforementioned blogging class, I've read a numerous amount of blogs, and one thing that seems to be in common throughout is that most bloggers make posts while dru---no, let's rephrase that. Most bloggers make posts under the influence of certain fluids that they later regret. (I admit nothing--I drink nothing but glacier-fresh water and ingest nothing but whole wheat bread.) So, in my post-celebratory state, clearly the only way I can properly acknowledge the events of the New Year while in a fluid-influenced state is to make today's post THE MOST AWESOME POST EVER.

I think I first need to establish that past New Years celebrations, to me, have not gone well. I spent 2000 in my parents' basement. 2001, I spent snowed in with my 16t year old brother and his friends after giving him a ride to a farm party. 2007 I spent at home with a migraine. And as the crowning achievement, 2006, I spent at home. With my mother. Watching Love Actually.

So the bar for 2008 was not set particularly high, I must admit. But that aside, I enjoyed myself immensely. I went for a New Years' celeb at a grad student friend's house (well, her brothers' house, but let's not quibble.) and the party was everything I wanted. There was enough fluids to ensure I overcame my own sense of ill-ease, enough friends to make sure I had people to talk to in a familiar way, and enough new people that I felt we weren't just going in circles, but that I was accomplishing something.

(And isn't it strange that I label meeting new people as an accomplishment? Or is it? Striking outside one's circle of friends is always a strange experience--it's an opportunity for redefining the self. What aspect do I want people to know about me? Or to not know? In my personal case, as defined by tonight, it appears that I really want everyone to know I watch Avatar: the Last Airbender. Another friend I've talked to over this vacation stay said that a turning point in her life was when she realized that she didn't have to have a huge circle of friends anymore--a few close friends that she could talk to a few times a month was enough. I think that's an interesting point in a person's life--when he or she realizes she doesn't need more friends to be happy. Have I reached that point? I dunno.)

Anyway, the party itself was a fun experience. Someone brought a yule log cake in the shape of an actual log, complete with marshmellow mushrooms. While the cake was not to everyone's palate, I approve of the general concept of marshmellow mushrooms, purely for the alliterative aspect. I hope that this results in similar products, such as fudge fungus and chocolate chalk deposits (ok, that last one is clearly reaching.). The talk seemed a little morbid for New Years--within the fifteen minute mark, the main topics of discussion were self-mutilation and suicide--but then again, since my previous New Years' Experiences consisted on such conversation as "But Mom, you're forgetting Hugh Grant's mystique," I feel I have no adequate mark to judge.

I was starting to feel antsy around 1:00 am or so, and made my excuses to leave. And on the way out, I had a chance to chat with a friend, which was also something of a strange experience. I wasn't entirely sure where I stood with her, and the chance to clarify (in an entirely good way) was welcome. (And as a general comment on the evening, The University of Blank is a wonderful university with a wide variety of lectures and guest speakers appearing on a regular basis, and as such, there are any number of reasons to come for a visit. So there.) Whenever you leave a party and you're no longer sure if you're wearing the correct shoes or coat, I think it's a good sign that you shouldn't have stayed any longer, so at least I have that.

I think I've mentioned before that while drinking and driving is entirely wrong and horrible and bad for the children, drinking and jogging is jolly good fun. I ran home in blizzardy conditions, and it was really good, to be honest. It seems like a nice way to start a New Year. ( I even invented a term for it--jrunken. See, you that the j from jogging and stick it at the beginning of "drunken." I briefly considered the phrase "drogging," but really, I think it's the liquid consumption, not the running, that deserves the emphasis here.)

So to recap: good friends, good new people, good logs. SECOND BEST NEW YEARS EVER. (Sorry for not giving it number one, but that one story about the porn couple who fell in love? Priceless.)

EDIT: Almost forgot:

Later Days.

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