Thursday, January 1, 2009

And a Happy New Year to you!

So it's 2009.  Whoot whoot.  Here's what I thought about the 2008, New Year's Eve in general, my specific New Year's Eve festivities, and my resolutions and predictions for 2009.
2008 was a good year.  Not great.  We had some huge milestones (Obama!) and some grave disappointments (war, recession, prop 8, Harold Pinter, etc).  But overall, things were not bad.  Britney made another comeback, China held the Olympics, some 'dude' got pregnant.  Of course Bush is still president, terrorists attacked Mumbai, and Patrick Swayze is dying.  So things could be better.  Personally, life was good this year.  I did some theatre, read some books, went to some excellent keggers at Dave's house, got a kitten, sold a house, and started to plan the Maniak wedding.  Some family members have been sick, some have died, sisters have been wed, brothers have had babies (but not the way some 'dude' had babies), some friends have moved to Kazakhstan while others have seen me get 'married' to some Italian guy.  That's 2008, people.  It didn't suck.
New Year's Day is a national holiday because New Year's Eve is usually spent downing copious amounts champagne or some other alcoholic beverage so we need a hangover holiday to recover.  Isn't that silly.  I'm not complaining at all but it seems odd that we ring in the New Year by getting drunk and stupid.  We make all these resolutions for the New Year (eat healthy, run more, drink less) but come midnight we are shitfaced, stuffed full of deep fried olives, passed out on a couch.  I guess January 1st doesn't count.  We get a one day cushion before we really have to change our behavior.  And why do we have to make resolutions?  Why do we have to become better people because time is passing?  It's a odd holiday, all right.
That being said, I had a blast last night.  Friends, games, food, and drink.  FUN!  But just like the rest of 2008, it wasn't all fun and games.  We were reminded of the grimmer side of things when we caught Dick Clark hosting the countdown.  In the middle of all the New Year's festivities there was a man who's obviously suffered this year and it was very hard to watch.  But that's life.  Awkward and hard to watch.
My 2009 resolutions are simple and slightly generic, because I've already established it's a silly custom.  Go to the gym more, eat better, make more money, save more money, keep the house clean, get an agent and become a member of an Actor's Union.  Okay, the last two might be less generic but for the most part they're pretty common.  I think resolutions are just reminders to be better people.  To keep ourselves healthy and happy.  And so I predict that while I might not be able to accomplish all of my New Year's resolutions, I will be a better person for trying.  And I think 2009 will be a great year.  New president.  The end of the recession (hopefully).  The end of a war (hopefully).  A chance to do things differently.  A chance to make things better.  Hopefully!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Last night was fun. Good luck with your long list of resolutions.