I'm not one for looking backwards at this time of year. I don't do year-end roundups, just as I don't pay a lot of attention to the Year's Best editions of magazines. I don't think of New Year's as a very interesting holiday, and I'm not at all fond of the parties. I never make resolutions based on calendars. Really, I'm just a big crab ball about it all.
But I will say 2000 has been an extraordinary year for me. We bought a house, something I never expected to do, and I passed algebra, something else I never expected to do. Quite a year. Hope the next one is just as surprising and wonderful.
I've been socializing like crazy this week. Joe arrived Tuesday and since then things have been a blur of activity. It seems like I haven't had a moment to myself. We've been out to dinner three times in five days, we've spent hours at a coffeehouse quaffing brews with an assortment of old friends, we've been to the Haight and the Hayes Valley to buy books and CDs, we've had Denise over to the house. Tomorrow we're scheduled to see "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and then go to Spike's in the evening to watch a Chow Yun Fat movie on DVD before all going to San Jose for the New Year's Eve party at Mike and Karen's. The fun never stops! It's wearing me out!
So in addition to being a crab ball I'm a big fat party pooper, obviously. I confess I want nothing more than to sit around reading my new books, or writing, or catching up online. I need to get my chores done. I haven't spent much time just watching my plants grow and playing with the cats. I need a lot of down time.
To that end I've announced that Monday is my day off and I'm not going to do anything with anyone. Joe and John can entertain themselves as they wish; I'm not even going to get out of my pyjamas that day if I don't feel like it. I have the newest Margaret Frazer mystery to read, I'm halfway through the third J. Gregory Keyes fantasy novel, and I just bought three new paperbacks which tempt me greatly. I'm going to save the paperbacks for the train, but I definitely plan on indulging myself by finishing the other two and that means no gadding about. I am looking forward to it.
I got new glasses, by the way. They're tiny compared to my old ones, and my eyes are having a bit of trouble adjusting to the limited peripheral vision. They're really cool, though. I'm going for the "constipated German intellectual" look. In fact, I look quite modern now with my short hair and my pierced nose and my teensy glasses. I'm ready for the new millennium.
Best wishes for a happy new year, dear readers.
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Border graphic by Jade Leaves Designs in memory of Ginkgo