| I was where I thought I ought to be. It wasn't where I wanted to be. My New Year's Resolution? To be where I want to be next New Year's Eve. |
| London is supposed to be the centre of the Millennium celebrations - because of the Meridian line in Greenwich from which all time differences are measured. There was so much pressure to enjoy yourself that it was almost impossible to actually do so. I had spent about four hours sitting in the mud on an inflatable sofa freezing my arse off in front of the Houses of Parliament when I decided I couldn't stand being cold and crowded any more. I managed to fight my way across London to a party in Bond Street, where on television I got to see the fireworks and drama of the place that I had left forty minutes earlier. But I was warmer and less grumpy! Happy Apocalypse! |
| On the floor of the Forum in Inglewood, watching the Red Hot Chili Peppers, taking pictures with my smuggled camera. I'd started the year with a concert (and a smuggled camera) and I was ending it with one. (How long do I need to do it illegally before I'm good enough to do it professionally? I've had enough of irritated security guards.) Doing what I do, I sometimes lose sight of the music and the moment; I'm too busy counting through choruses and watching for guards, too busy anticipating the next good moment to enjoy the one I'm supposedly in. Karen's not that way. The giant screen behind the band counted down from 30. Balloons dropped; confetti cannons fired; 15,000 people cheered until they were hoarse. Karen closed her eyes, put out her arms, and turned her smiling face up to feel the confetti gently rain on her. I leaned back, tried to focus in the jostling crowd and snapped a few frames. Where was I at midnight? Where I spent the entire last year: stuck in my head, wondering how to touch the world instead of just look at it through a piece of glass. I won't make a mockery of the resolutions process, but a change this year would be nice. |
| Drunk, with friends, celebrating the new century. happy new year etc! |
| Starting out I had low expectations for the evening, but then again last year I spent new years eve alone in a basement working. Anything had to be better than that. We arrived at a party with 5 friends and 15 people I didn't know. By 9pm everyone was getting loopy. At 11:45 we walked out to one of the middle bridges over the Rhein in Cologne and watched as throngs of people lit off fireworks all around us. The city's fireworks were paled in comparison. It was a beautiful view over the river, the cathedral surrounded by smoke and haze. The officers in the police van seemed to ignore the firecrackers going off under trams, under cars, under people, and wished everyone a happy new year to the cheers of the crowd. I called my parents in the states to say happy new year, and then the 20 of us who had gotten to know eachother fairly well in drunken friendliness went to a small club space and danced out butts off till the wee hours of the morning. I was missing my friends and family, but I wouldn't have traded that experience for anything. rhen de la truckstop {rhen@roadkill.de} |
| Where was I on New Year's Eve? I originally planned to go partying like the folks downtown Kuala Lumpur, whom will be partying outisde the world's tallest buildings, or at least somewhere in the city at my home state where they have all the street parties but instead I ended up watching the fireworks display from the padestrian walkway somewhere close to the Penang Bridge... The fun part comes later, after the watching the fireworks galore, I went home, booted up my faithful PC and logged on the Net! Happy New Year! David Lee {dlps@tm.net.my} |
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{ 12.31.99 - posting to this story has been suspended because it's 2001 }
