December 31, 2001

3:33 PM

coming to the stark realization that i will probably be sitting in front of a terminal when the new year arrives i was wondering how any other socially maladjusted people will be spending new year's eve. of course, you can always watch everyone else have a good time over at earthcam but if there's something more exciting i can point my browser and beer at, please enlighten the group.
posted by boogah (37 comments total)

We're doing a toast via webcam for the East Coast ball drop (9pm Pacific) over at CitizenX.com.

You're all invited. Bring something to purge.
posted by halcyon at 3:40 PM on December 31, 2001

Boogah - Happy New Year! Don't even dream that people are having a better time than you. Choices is choices! Being alone is a luxury. What if the Internet hadn't been invented yet? You're in a majority. And you've started a party of your own right here. I applaud you, sir.
All the best!
posted by MiguelCardoso at 3:42 PM on December 31, 2001

I like to bring up the clock and, beginning at 12:00 GMT, celebrate New Year's Day every hour, on the hour, until I'm too drunk to work the mouse.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 3:45 PM on December 31, 2001

Okay, I think Miguel got into the champagne a little early. :)
posted by jess at 3:48 PM on December 31, 2001

I'm going over to my brother's house to ring in the new year and lament the old with my old friend, Bud.

Then i'll walk across the street and pass out on my parents' living room couch.
posted by schlaager at 3:48 PM on December 31, 2001

I used to get semi-frantic about New Year's, mainly because I used to put so much emphasis on any "holiday" that has built-in emotional expectations. My expectations about New Year's were that I needed to have a good time (or be considered an old fuddy-duddy) and that the kiss at midnight somehow was different, more special, more meaningful than other kisses at other times.
As it turns out, I was wrong.
My husband and I are spending a quiet evening at home, playing many hours of Blast Thru. (Got the game free when I bought Norton Systemworks recently, and it's addictive. Just like the old Breakout game, only better!) We'll try to stay awake til the ball comes down, but I'm not going to feel deprived if I fall asleep before mignight. He'll kiss me on the cheek, if nothing else, and even though I might be sleeping, I'll know.
Happy New Year. Happy New Me.
posted by Corky at 3:53 PM on December 31, 2001

halcyon: to clarify, do people need to be a member of citizenx to check out the toast?
miguel: i'll probably be joining some festivities at a friend's house. belive me, a good time will be had by myself this evening.
crash: here here!
posted by boogah at 3:54 PM on December 31, 2001

btw: it seems to be dead air atm but somafm is doing a new year's eve house party stream if you plan on having people over and you don't feel like playing dj.
posted by boogah at 4:00 PM on December 31, 2001

I'll be getting some good sleep.
posted by Big Fat Tycoon at 4:01 PM on December 31, 2001

Well, there's always online pr0n if you're looking for "exciting". (Depending on your tastes...)
posted by Steven Den Beste at 4:45 PM on December 31, 2001

Well its new year plus 36 mins here in Wales. For once we didnt go out didnt have people over didnt treat it any different to any other day,until just about midnight.And its been great.
No wondering how the hell we will get home,no fighting to get near the bar to pay mad money for bad drinks.
Kids,6 year old apart ,who saw in his first new year and had his first glass of bubbles, in bed.Wife surfaced for 5 minutes before crawling back to bed.Reaffirmation,very lovely.
Spectacular firework display extending over 2 towns from our elevated position.
Good food ,good wine,no queues.
Staying in has to be the new going out.
Wishing evryone a very happy and peaceful new year,bugger the prosperity.,Getting messaged from a long lost pal,almost forgot that.
We should stay in more.
Fantastic soul programme on radio 2
posted by Fat Buddha at 4:50 PM on December 31, 2001

Well, there's always online pr0n if you're looking for "exciting".

watch some balls drop for new years?
posted by boogah at 4:51 PM on December 31, 2001

boogah:All are welcome to join the toast. You only need to register to have your webcam image show up in the bottom frame. (It is pretty cool to see the faces of people around the globe sharing the experience with you.)

If you don't have a cam or don't care about being seen, just drop in and change your name from "Anonymous" to whatever.

Happy New Year!

posted by halcyon at 4:52 PM on December 31, 2001

Boogah - Tonight I had a choice between hanging out here at my computer and visiting my in-laws and look where I wound up. So don't feel bad, be like me, pick up a case of beer and some buffalo wings and jalapeno poppers and have a party at the keyboard. Drunk driving can kill you, but drunk posting can be fun...

All kidding aside, too all the MeFi'ers, even the ones I've brawled with on occasion, Happy New Year and best of luck for a good 2002!
posted by jonmc at 4:56 PM on December 31, 2001

halcyon: smoove. i'll try to convince the little shindig i ended up getting invited to last minute to put up one of their cams and tune in.

time to go get the fixin's for irish car bombs...

sláinte! [that'd be gaelic for "to your health"]
posted by boogah at 5:01 PM on December 31, 2001

Myself, I'll be sitting here in my warm apartment, drinking Diet Pepsi, doing a little surfing, snacking on some food, and listening to my newly-purchased TOOL, 'Lateralus' CD. Nothing all that exciting; just me and my cat and some good music, but it's going to be the best New Year's that I've had in 4 or 5 years, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Happiness is golden, no matter what the circumstances.

I hope everyone else is happy and has a good New Year's, too.
posted by lizardboy at 5:20 PM on December 31, 2001

Staying in has to be the new going out.

Sshh!! Now everyone will want to do it!
posted by pudders at 5:21 PM on December 31, 2001

sláinte! [that'd be gaelic for "to your health"]

I always thought it was slaínte :)

Whatever, all the best everyone.
posted by jackiemcghee at 6:04 PM on December 31, 2001

Me and my SO just toddled over to my parents', ate some puff pastry items, and now the boys are watching football and I'm showing my mom pictures of our cats that I posted the other day. They'll go to bed in an hour or so and we'll head on home to crack open a bottle of champagne and watch the ball drop. A quiet evening, which is the way I like it!

By the way, did anyone else see the HUGE red moon hanging low in the sky earlier? I almost drove off the road.

Happy New Year!
posted by kittyloop at 6:05 PM on December 31, 2001

kittyloop-
that's freaky, I was driving home down i-84 tonight(fellow nutmegger) and noticed the moon as well, it is something to see, I wonder if it's looking that way throughout the region? sure is cool though
posted by jonmc at 6:22 PM on December 31, 2001

I saw the big red moon tonight too. I live in northern Virginia.

I'm at work, getting paid double for basically nothing. My co-worker was thoughtful enough to bring a bottle of wine. Happy birthday to the euro. Any happy new year's to the rest of y'all.
posted by Loudmax at 6:33 PM on December 31, 2001

We're also avoiding the amateur drunk drivers by staying home...surfing, watching Marx Brothers movies and maybe logging into DAOC to ring in the New Year with guild friends. :) (We are such a geeky household.)

And it looked like a blood red harvest moon here too...weird.
posted by dejah420 at 6:35 PM on December 31, 2001

The wife and I are at home, celebrating in our own special way (the details of the tradition will not be publicized ;) ) but rest assured that the champagne ("after all, it's only champagne if it's from the Champagne region of France...") will be free-flowing...
posted by elvolio at 7:00 PM on December 31, 2001

It's 2002 over on this side of the puddle (Korea). Greetings from the future : and a Happy and Peaceful (deity of your choice willing) New Year to all Mefites!
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 8:43 PM on December 31, 2001

#mefi.
posted by kindall at 8:46 PM on December 31, 2001

And happy new year to you, Stavros.

I will try to stay up until midnight--I have a view out of my window of the Space Needle. It's become th focus of New Years Eve for the last few years. One of the elevators serves as the ball and when it goes up--or down, I get confused on how it's done here--fireworks shoot out of the Space Needle. Rather silly fireworks, to be sure. But it will the last time I see them from this place--I have to be out by the end of January. I hope this next year will be better than this rapidly dwindling one I'm in right now.
Happy New Year to you all.
posted by y2karl at 8:55 PM on December 31, 2001

I'll be going to a Sweaty Nipples show in Portland with a bunch of other aging hipsters/slackers/confused 30-somethings all wondering when the music got so LOUD and when we became so old. Nothing like being reminded of the inexorable march of time in such an overt and embarrassing way: "Could I retain my dignity and slip out before the stroke of 12, and where did those earplugs go, anyway?" Cheers to all the people smart enough to stay home!

But I love Sweaty, and their Nipples too...
posted by readymade at 8:58 PM on December 31, 2001

I'm boycotting this year. I'm sitting with a pack of smokes, a slurpee, old 97's on the headphones, laundry in the machine, and several free hours to write. Life is good.
posted by hipstertrash at 9:24 PM on December 31, 2001

I have a view out of my window of the Space Needle. It's become th focus of New Years Eve for the last few years.

The Space Needle New Year's Eve event has been happening since 1982 (Space Needle facts)

I'm sitting here listening to a radio show about the song 'Round Midnight (how it was created, who has covered it, etc.).
posted by gluechunk at 9:41 PM on December 31, 2001

The wife and I are also enjoying a quiet celebration, and will see a grand fireworks show off the lanai. 99% or more of the world will celebrate before we do. Happy New Years to all! And the warmest of Aloha.
posted by scottymac at 9:58 PM on December 31, 2001

New years on bourban street is always interesting, although it's too late now.
posted by justgary at 10:12 PM on December 31, 2001

well, i annhilated my parents at trivial pursuit.

i feel fucking cool. heh.

happy new year to everyone, and happy birthday to me. here's to hoping 2002 is better than before, because i don't think i can handle worse than 2001.
posted by sugarfish at 12:39 AM on January 1, 2002

Well, people used to go the public market and play saxophones under the clock. I have an old Lynda Barry poster of that. I went down for the first time after they moved everything to the Needle... Downtown was deserted except for winos and crack dealers, so I took a bus home. Wished everybody a happy new year on the bus.

I don't think they've been doing the fireworks since 1982 but since I've lived in Seattle since 1967, and this building since 1977, 1982 is a few years ago to me.

I let the tenants go up to watch the fireworks tonight. That was a hit. Jupiter was so bright and the moon as well. And the firewroks were far more extensive and elaborate this year. You could hear people yelling alll over the Hill and downtown
posted by y2karl at 12:41 AM on January 1, 2002

An arbitrary demarcation between years. I did walk outside light a couple of firecrackers in the lightly falling snow, quite a sight. Oh well back in front of the computer ho hum.
posted by onegoodmove at 1:54 AM on January 1, 2002

I DJ'ed....in a nightclub....and got drunk....Happy New Year to all MeFi'ers...
posted by mattr at 8:33 AM on January 1, 2002

New Years Eve is my least favorite holiday. (My favorites are Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Halloween.)
I had to work my normal 'building maintenance' evening shift and could've left early to go to a small party. I instead opted to call and convince my superior to stay the night over for 'freeze-protection' watch (25 degrees and under) and get paid time and a half to watch the ball drop and sleep over! Hee-hee.
posted by ooogiebooogie at 9:51 AM on January 1, 2002

I spent New Year's Eve on a Greyhound bus, going home to the SF Bay Area from Santa Barbara, a 10.5 hour trip. It was relatively quiet, considering. The reassuring murmur of the teenage girls who got on in Salinas to go partying in San Jose was one of the highlights of the trip. They got on in normal clothing and no makeup, and by the time we arrived in San Jose, they were in full warpaint and daringly costumed, ready to go out and take San Jose by storm. The 1hr. 25 min. layover in Oakland was really interesting. I was the only white person in the terminal until the bus from Portland got in. The last leg of the trip, Oakland to Petaluma (50 min.), was spent with a very smelly man - I swear he stank from every possible orifice and a frantic woman who, afraid she had gotten on the wrong bus, kept asking where we were as we crossed the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge. She didn't remember that we had to cross water to get to her destination in Santa Rosa. San Quentin looked harmless, just another gated Marin housing community, in the sodium vapor lights. Now I'm home, Happy 2002, everyone.:)
posted by Lynsey at 1:38 PM on January 1, 2002