oh one oh one oh four
January 01, 2004, 7:55 pm

First day of the new year, and do I have any insight or profundity to impart to my dearest, darling friends? Do I have something to share with you and myself to hold up as a beacon of what this day, this year, has meant to me so far? Do I have some earthshatteringly amazing advice to give to the world, on this, a day of new beginnings?

Riiight. I can tell you that this morning I was pulled over while zooming home and I'm STILL hungover. 2004 has gotten off to a rousing start.

I will tell you this: this is a year of change. I spent my New Year's Eve in the comfortable company of my Shore Boyz and their respective wives/girlfriends; I was the only Singleton in a house of Smug-Marrieds, and as the ball fell and kisses flew, I called my family and friends to tell them I loved them. I hugged my company and I drank champagne (fine champ-ahh-ggg-na) and I laughed. I went outside and I stood out on the porch, under the stars and the chilly night air, and I realized I was all by myself.

Slowly, I'm realizing that by myself is not such a bad thing to be.

So instead of ushering in the new year amidst a stranger's closet with my thong around my ankles or puking in a college toilet, I thought about the difference this year was going to make in my life, and I thought about how 2004 would inevitably be my year of independence, for better or worse. I thought about how lucky I am that I surround myself with good people, and I have a terrific family, and that somehow everything will be okay.

Then I went back inside and did another Flaming Dr. Pepper, which reminded me that no matter how philosophical or grown-up I imagine myself, I still love being the life of the party, and that's okay, too.

So Happy 2004: may it bring you prosperity, wisdom, and delight, and also may it carry on the better parts of 2003.