New Years Blaaghh

After the Christmas party I hibernated. It felt great. I don't understand you "seize the day" people. I'm like a lion. I'm comfortable with functioning for about 7 hours a day. Preferably 3 hours in the late morning and 4 hours in the evening. That's livin'! Seriously, I get my best sleep between the morning hours of 5 and 10. This last week I spent more hours in bed than out. There were a couple of days there where I didn't even leave my apartment. Some days I didn't even bother to get dressed.

Our original plan was to get out to the country for new years but that failed to materialize. Nevertheless, we still managed to get 'er done right. A small group of us intrepid whities gathered at my boy Jason's apartment for some alcohol and conversation. I ended up selecting a warm Tsingtao from his fridge. This could only end poorly. Some beers (mostly European) are actually decent at warm temperatures. Tsingtao is not one. Blaagh.

Suddenly it was 11:30. We must make haste! Fireworks at Sukhbaatar Square at midnight. About a mile away. We ran through the frigid night. I was hindered by me del and quite likely out of shape. I felt like I was made of lead. Water vapor from my breath condensed into my beard and surrounding dreads giving me a true father christmas look.

We made it with ten minutes to spare. People in the square had already begun to light of fireworks. The government decreed that there should be none set off by the populace, a completely unenforceable law. I believe Uncle Chinggis simply didn't wish to partake in the expense of a public display this year. Since Mongol gov't knew that the people would light their own a ban on personal displays could "legitimately" be "punished" by a "cancellation" of gov't fireworks. Just speculatin', but...c'mon.

So we witnessed a bunch of crap fireworks with no government participation. Jason popped the cork on his oversized champagne bottle which dribbled off the lip unimpressively. His girlfriend lit a bottle rocket and threw it too early. It landed on the ground near a group of bystanders and fizzled until taking flight once more and crashing into the side of the parliament building. Bizarre echos bounced off the glass windows. It was all so surreal. And fuckin' frigid. We taxied back to Jason's where he proceeded to get way too drunk. I myself was no longer partaking as the warm beer and cheap champagne was giving me a headache. God I wasn't even drunk.

Headache all day the next day. We all just stayed in and watched tv. Welcome 2010. Hope you prove better than last decade. Somehow I doubt it.