Andy Chase

It's 9:49 PM, Eastern Standard Time. Not a lot going on... a Monty Python marathon on BBC America.

It's a long time since New Year's Eve was an Occasion. Growing up, I remember a few things:

1. Channel 38's Marx Brothers marathon.
2. A ceremonial family game of Monopoly.
3. The novelty of staying up until midnight.

In the early 90's when my family lived in Keene, the city had a First Night celebration that was a lot of fun but was eventually discontinued because it was a money-losing proposition.

When we lived in Los Angeles, our instinct told us to stay inside and bolt the front door, if only to avoid celebratory fire (Having seen the bullet hole in one of the windows in the loggia of the Ennis house, I was inclined to take the threat of falling bullets seriously.) New Year's Eve 1999 was especially interesting, watching the clock count down and wondering whether we would soon be living in a postapocalyptic Y2K wonderworld. In L.A..

Nowadays, staying up until midnight is not a big deal, and every other cable channel is running a marathon of some sort, and the changing of the year does not represent as much of a milestone as it does when you're in school... so here I am, sitting on the couch and writing one last entry for 2005.

Tagged:

• 2005
• newyearseve