Happy New Year!

Today on new year’s eve this slightly grumpy old man was trying to remember details about past new year’s celebrations. A couple of days ago I was asked by a friend what my plans were for this year. My answer was that I don’t have any and I’m OK with that. At my age this is perfectly acceptable, but if memory serves, when I was younger, having no place to participate in some sort of new years eve ritual would have been a bit embarrassing. 

New years along with Halloween is one of American culture’s most diversely celebrated holidays. Although the origins of all the silly things we do to ring in the new year – excessive drinking, noisemaking, wearing silly hats, kissing strangers, etc. – can be sourced to ancient pagan and christian rituals from thousands of years ago, I’m not sure many people could explain why we do the things that we do on new years eve today. To this day I have never understood what would compel millions of people to subject themselves to the horrors of Times Square on new years eve. Once on new years eve I went to see a Broadway show with a large group of friends and got separated from them in the crowd trying to get to a restaurant where we had after-show reservations. I never made it to the restaurant and went home feeling a bit embarrassed that I was the only one who didn’t make it there, but secretly happy to be home in front of the TV at midnight with a glass of milk and PB&J sandwich instead of in an over crowded noisy restaurant.

My memory is a bit fuzzy on new year’s memories, but a quick survey in my head comes up with about 50-50 good and bad memories with a lot of years just blank. I guess there were a lot of years that were just unmemorable. While it can be pleasant to toast the new new year with a few close friends, I have often over the years found myself in a situation where I’m toasting the new year with one or two friends plus 20 or 30 strangers who I will most likely never see again. I think large new years eve parties are prone to collecting lots of acquaintances and friends of friends and tag-alongs which can be a recipe for boredom and/or disaster, especially when booze is being abundantly consumed. The festivities can often feel somewhat forced as you go through the required rituals. Does anybody even know what Auld Lang Syne means? 

I have happy memories of a big new years party saying good bye to 1976 and the end of the bicentennial year. I distinctly remember feeling lucky and happy to be where and with whom I was that year. I feel lucky to have been young and in NYC at a time so full of fun and unlimited possibilities. To those of us who survived, there will never be party that could come close to party that was NYC in throughout 70’s.

I also had some good times at new years eve at The LGBT Center when I worked on the Center Dance Committee. The new years parties we put on there were lots of work, but also lots of fun. One year I spent hours rigging an elaborate system to drop confetti on the dance floor at midnight. It worked well but a lot of people were pissed that their champagne glasses filled with soggy confetti before they could toast the new year. Another year I was the entertainment just before midnight in blue sequins and a red wig lip-synching like a veteran drag queen. I’m not sure who’s idea this was, but the crowd did not boo and I got to yell “Happy New Year!” at the end of the song, so they had to applaud and cheer even if it wasn’t for my performance.

I guess in retrospect the best new years celebrations are the ones that are planned carefully, so that you're with someone or several someones that you care about in a comfortable place where you want to be. Even if that means your by yourself, it’s OK as long as you can raise your “cup of kindness” and remember all the people from times gone by that made your life interesting and worthwhile. From a Scots poem by Robert  Burns written 1788 later set to a traditional folk tune, that’s what “Auld Lang Syne” means. 

Here’s to times gone by and Robert Burns!