NYE

[Chai Guy]

I really hate NYE (New Years Eve), it seems like there is so much pressure to go out and have FUN on that night. This holiday is expensive and I'm often underwhelmed at my past NYE experiences.

This year looks to be one of the worst yet. I have to work until 5pm, and the love of my life is currently in South America and I'm so broke I can't even think about joining her now.

So my question is this, what were some of your best/worst NYE experiences, what are your plans for this NYE, and what are some alternatives to the usual festivities you might suggest for me?

[Sanjanaclouds]

I don’t often go out for NYE, but my best experience was about 3 years ago. At the last minute I decided to go to a party with a friend. I knew no one except the person I was with (who later disappeared from the party) but I left with a hangover and two great friends that will be with me for life.

Worst was babysitting during the year of Y2K and having 4 kids crying and screaming when the light flickered and neighbors set of firecrackers.

An idea for NYE that someone once told me about but I never actually tired was to invite some friends over and blow up 365 balloons and fill them with little notes threats promises, confetti, etc. At the stroke of midnight go crazy popping them all.

[SED]

My worst NYE was a few years ago when all I did was clean my basement, get drunk, jerk off and cry. I'll never do that again.

So Chai, if you're looking for something to do, I've got a stack of old pornos, a case of cheap wine and plenty of kleenex. And my basement needs cleaning again. Where should I leave the key?

[Sanjanaclouds]

Hey! Not fair, your idea is waaaay better than mine. I need to come up with some better stuff.

[Sylvia]

Well Sanja, m'friend, it's really a mess down here and the more the merrier, I say. You in?

[Sanjanaclouds]

Sure, why not. I'm always up for something new.

[III]

ayup. i feel the same way as chai guy. so back a couple of years ago i proposed a new years party out in the desert with only one rule:

no clocks.

none of this counting down to that one special second, none of the anticipation and none of the let down. just a party, away from all the other second chasers, with good friends.

this party has since been transmogrified. clocks happen, and there's a certain amount of counting down (though one year someone kept resetting the clock so that we counted down maybe 60 times ov er the course of the evening). however, this party now lasts several days, though no longer in the desert it's always at some remote locatino where we insulate ourselves from the rest of the world. having that much time, with just a few (if 200 is a few) friends completely changes the context of that night from frantic to reflective, for me at least.

[TestesInSac]

31 Dec happens to be my birthday, and some of those have been pretty miserable. Most sucked, a few were fun.

[stuart]

Once I embraced the power of NYE it became my favorite holiday. Probably my fav was for 2000 when about 10 friends rented a place on lake tahoe for a week. I did not leave the house for 5 days. Settled in and really got to know the folks I was with. On Jan 1 I was in the tub on the deck over the lake with my brother and friend as we watched the sun come up over the mountains.
This year it's downtown for the big bash as we did last year. It was so fun to break out my playa finest, blinky hat and all, amongst a massive outdoor crowd of relatively straight people. The reactions were fabulous. My wife made it her goal to talk to every person she possibly could who was not smiling and not leave them until they were. Not my cup of tea but it worked for her.

I fuckin love NYE.

[girlie]

>> completely changes the context of that night from frantic to reflective, for me at least

I completely agree. A party is just a party - i like using the day off as the
start to a nice long vacation.

Now that New Years has become a multiple day event for me i find that it
has become the highlight of my year (i'd sooner miss burning man then a
new years trip with my peeps). I enjoy having many days and nights to
contemplate the previous year, and get psyched for the next one.

I highly recommend that folks organize trips with their friends and family
to celebrate this time of year.

[blyslv]

One year my younger brother, sister-in-law and I spent NYE in a hut about 5 miles off the road in southern Colorado (Mount Sneffels). The skiing was so-so, but being there was great. This was the Y2k debacle and it was fun skiing back to town wondering at the potential carnage.

In 1999 I was in New York and saw Phish open with Prince's 1999. That was pretty fun.

My worst was a drunken stumblebum mediocre countdown night at some bar in DC and a girlfriend with whom I was on the rocks.

[Zane5100]

New Year's Eve, 1989

I'm living in Sicily at the time, still very wounded by the 'Dear John' letter I had received from the girl I thought I was going to marry.

I started off the morning by opening the bar and drinking a fifth of scotch. After going to the bathroom and having something to eat, I decided that it was time to party.

I walked over to a friend's room where we drank several gin and tonics before we headed over to a party. There I drank beer and ate chili until I realized that I needed to go wait by the phone for the call that I was scheduled to get from my mom.

I grabbed a bottle of Dom Perignon and drank it while I waited for the phone to ring. I had a brief conversation with mom, and then went back to the bar to keep celebrating until midnight.

Around 2:00 in the morning I crawled my way home and up the staircase to my room.

[Sanjanaclouds]

I highly recommend that folks organize trips with their friends and family to celebrate this time of year.

Not to change topics too much but... I'll be headed out to New Orleans NYE this year and the last time I was down there I was 12. Anyone got any good ideas of places down there to ring in the NY?

[aforceforgood]

Last year I got a call from one of the clubs I'm on a mailing list on "inviting" me to drop by on NYE. Oh, and just by the by, the ticket at the door would be $150, but if I bought now, I'd save $40.

My derisive laughter erupted spontaneously in bitter barks that this was what passed for entertainment/social culture in Los Angeles- paying too much for the privilege of losing hearing, dancing with strangers and overtipping bartenders for not ignoring me for too long.

The cost for being able to stand around in an overloud room with a bunch of nitwits who have more money than sense to be there instead of at a party where I could actually hold a conversation with someone was a mere $110. If I bought now.

And I know you're curious- no, drinks weren't included. That price only covered entry to the club.

[SED]

Well that's sounds like a steep price for a not-so-fun evening, but I'd pay a dollar to see III and Stuart kiss each other.