Monday, Dec. 30, 2002
New Year's Pontifications, posted at 10:49 a.m.
Epiphany in Baltimore has moved to epiphanyinbaltimore.blogspot.com Feeling spoiled by an internet connection...The changing of the calendar should be a time of intense reflection, and I feel like I've been on the go so much this vacation that I haven't had the chance. Spending the night here at Jake and Anne's and some time with their beautiful one-and-a-half year old daughter Aurora though gave me a snapshot of where my life could be by the time I'm 30. I'm not sure if it will be, and if anything the last four days have transformed my perspective of the future - which was already up in the air - to something more nebulous. But, in a way, it's less so.
I'll be celebrating New Year's Eve with a core group of friends that I hope I spend every New Year's Eve with for forever. It's astonishing to me that this is only the fourth New Year's we've spent together, almost making me think that it has been longer. But my New Year's memories seem to start no sooner than 1999-2000; before then, it was as if my New Year's celebration didn't exist.
In 1999, I as a little freaked out about possible rioting or other unrest at the end of the year, and was unsure of going out. But Eleanor, the supreme New Year's organizor, convinced me otherwise, and a group of us went out to Rum Runner's. We spent $45 and got a table right up front. Gale came out, even though I don't think she knew us that well. I was fat. I got very drunk, so much so that the dueling piano players must have thought to themselves, "Hey! Look how drunk that fat guy is! I bet it would be funny if we had him lead the conga line!". And they did. I remember that Erin got tired and barely drank. We took Big Daddy taxi. I kissed Jenni for the first time at midnight. Thankfully, for her sake because no one should have come into my tangled web at that point in my life, nothing much came of it. By that time, everything was a blur.
In 2000-2001, Gale and I traveled to Boston to visit Simon. We had four days of fun and debauchery, seeing the sights of Boston for the first time. At that point, I was thinking about moving to Boston upon certification, but didn't like that intense cold of that post-Christmas week and never even saw one busker. We closed out the year at a bar called Dick's or Big Dick's or something like that, and I still have my "Dick's Big Ass Beer Mug" as a souvenier. Gale danced on a table on a dare. It was a good time, and actually a pretty great trip as well - we saw Salem, Niagara Falls, and all the big touristy parts of Boston. Erin, Jenni, Jeremy, and the rest of the gang celebrated at Rum Runner's back in Lansing, but we were together in spirit.
In 2001-2002, Erin, Andy, Hugasoul, Nate, Rocco, and Jenni drove all the way down to the Baltimore/DC area to spend New Year's with June, her boyfriend, myself, and Jeremy (and his brother who also came). Unfortunately, an unexpected separation took over the group, and half of us (Eleanor, Jenni, Andy, June, her boyrfriend) went to this Young Professionals Party in DC for $160 and the other (poorer) half of us went to a museum in Baltimore for $50. The latter group tried to get tickets to the former event when paychecks came in, but it was sold out. Neither group had a particularly great time, and the separation was a big bummer. My group - the museum group - were shocked to find ourselves to be the youngest people in the crowd, to find that the "swing dancing lessons" was actually a light jazz band that didn't give lessons at all, and that the alcohol was so watered down that none of us could get a buzz going on even after ten or so drinks. We were so bored that Jeremy's brother and I went across the street in the middle of the event to get a deck of cards. The fireworks were nice, but... it was a disappointment. We decided then and there that as long as the core group was together, we would be happy. No petty arguments over money.
It's now 2002 going on 2003, and Eleanor has purchased tickets again for Rum Runner's. The ticket prices have halved for some reason, and the core group will be missing June and her boyfriend but remain intact otherwise. It should be a good night.
Too bad I have to leave first thing in the morning to get back to Baltimore and teach on the 2nd.
My goal for today: see three movies. Lofty, I know. I'm hoping they'll be Adaptation, Catch Me If You Can, and Antwone Fisher.
Wanna know a secret? I'm missing Baltimore. Missing the way Tobey purrinngly divebombs my face with the top of his head when I pick him up and put him on my shoulder. The report from my catsitting roommate is that he's whining for me all the time. I'm missing Bally's, and feeling slothful because I haven't worked out. I'm missing the students and that sense of anticipation that occurs before the start of every class day. I'm missing Randy and Felicity, and even though about calling up Randy this break, but forgot which part of Michigan he was from and how long he was staying. I'm missing Teri and taking Holden over to play with her hellion of a dog. I'm missing my doghair covered bed, my messy kitchen, and my smelly backyard.