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Adventures with an unreliable narrator.

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Jan 1 06: day one (again)

Had a few people over last night, as we often do. There was eating and drinking; there was laughter. At a few minutes before midnight we took the surviving champagne up to the roof. We live far enough from Times Square not to have been awash in tourists, but still close enough so that at midnight we could hear the roar, and watch the silver glass of its surrounding buildings gleam with reflected fireworks. Because, through some bizarre turn of events, we had a good-sized quorum of a capella singers, we did a couple of numbers for the ‘entertainment’ of the other guests and our own amusement. Then we went back downstairs, because it was cold.

We also engaged in our own weird little homegrown New Year’s tradition last night: the Shredding of the Regrets. It started the year the party was at Cesar’s house. Somebody had given him a dinky little paper shredder, and somebody got an idea. Now we do it at our own party. Each of us took a moment to scribble our regrets for 2005 on a sheet of paper. You don’t have to share them with anybody. You don’t have to meet a minimum number of things. This is just a chance to put onto paper any of those gray rags that may be draped across your mental furniture. Then you put them through the paper shredder. Adios, 2005. Perhaps we didn’t make all of you that we could have; perhaps we wish we had spent you otherwhere, or otherhow. But that doesn’t matter, because we are free of you now.

Eventually everybody went home. It was 4:30 before the glassware was washed and we got our sorry asses to bed, very tired but very happy.

Hope you and yours are safe and warm, and that you can step forward into 2006 with renewed vigor and a fresh batch of optimism.

Commentary

YALP! (Yet another lovely party). Thanks for again opening your home to wayward travelers and miscreants.

posted by Grendel, Jan 2 06 10:22 AM

Always a delight to usher in the new year with those you love.

Thank you for your hospitality and your provision of an abundance of items wrapped in pork. More pork in 2006!

How’s that for optimism?

posted by Miss Creant aka sari, Jan 2 06 8:14 PM