NYE

New Years Eve was the first holiday out here where I had absolutely no plans.  I was completely alone.  It had the potential to be crushingly sad.  And while I admit a lot of champagne, a midnight kiss, and a room full of smiling faces would have been optimal, I think it actually worked out.

I had actually received two (mostly drunken) invitations to parties down in SoCal (Luke would cringe if he knew I was calling it that).  Palm Springs and L.A (though the Palm Springs invite had long since been rescinded).  They never would have happened, but it's a nice to be asked, right?

Instead I found a Walking Dead marathon on AMC and settled into a night of getting to know the zombie phenomenon.  I opted against breaking into my remaining Blue Moons; I did a lot of drinking the first couple days after Luke and I broke up, and I've gotta say I got over it quickly.  At the time it was nice to feel hollow and to find a way to stop crying, but after visiting Toph and taking a swig every time I had a hint of how I was really feeling I just started to feel scungy.  I stopped drinking half-way through the night, sobered up, decided it was better to feel sad, and drove home while Toph and his girl were asleep.  On my way back, I got lost on 395.  The only car on the road, I drove in endless circles and ended up in the very foreign feeling capital city.  By the time I got home an hour later, I knew I was over it.  Over drinking, over feeling sad, over feeling hollow, over it.  I wanted to come back to San Francisco and see those sunsets and those kids and feel excited and optimistic again.  I still had a couple more days left in D.C. and a couple more days of sadness, but I haven't been drunk since.  At first the idea of drinking at all was repulsive, but now the lure of a good party with good dancing is too strong.  The idea of drinking alone, however, still sounds awful; those Blue Moons might be there for awhile.

So anyway, I watched Walking Dead until about 11:45 when I switched it over to New Year's Rocking Eve with Dick Clark.  I know New Years had already happened in New York, and I was totally cheating by watching the recorded broadcast, but it's kind of a tradition for me to watch the ball drop at midnight.  I don't know if people do that here on the West Coast, but I did.  It was nice.  And I could hear the fireworks going on somewhere over by the bay.  I got a little misty eyed.  It was nice.  I sent/responded to a couple "Happy New Years" texts, practiced The Sound of Silence on my piano again, and went to bed.

And that was New Years Eve.  It was nice.

P.S.

A lot of people reflect and look forward at this time of year, I normally wait for my birthday to get all sentimental or bitter about the past year ("God, 22 sucked, I hope 23 is better"... It wasn't by the way, that first year out of college just blows).  Besides I reflect and look forward constantly.  But I will say this: if 2012 is even half the adventure that 2011 was, it's gonna be a good year.