New Years 2010: A Decade in Review

And what a hell of a decade it’s been.

So, for something ever so slightly different, here is my recap of the last 9 years of New Years celebrations, complete with photos and the journal entries I made at the time (as well as the grammatical errors), and a few thoughts on 2010:

2000: Mammoth, CA

Gonna party like it’s 1999...
“Last day of the Millennium!!!! I’m with my family in Mammoth, and we’re at the Stove restaurant. It’s finally here, I can’t believe it! The last day of the year, the decade, the century, and finally, the millennium.”

2001: Matt's house and Senior year of high school

“Happy New Year!! For New Years Eve we had a party over at Matt’s. We ended up playing video games and launching water balloons off the balcony at the hotel roof down the hill. We went inside at midnight to watch the Ball drop in Times Square. 2002. Year of the palindrome. I can’t believe it came so quickly. It’s gonna be a big change this year: school, college, friends, everything. It’s so scary. I should probably make some New Years Resolutions: 1. Stop biting my nails. 2. Pass Algebra II. 3. Start playing piano again. 4. Give 100%. Happy New Year :)

2002

I can’t find my journal for this one, but we went to Matt’s and Mark did kareoke to Billy Joel:

2003

“Happy New Year!! Last night we all went over to Matt’s house for New Years again. It was just like last year, except this time we had a Back to the Future marathon. It was fun, but it made me so nostalgic :( Anyway, just to recap a few things, I had my 18th birthday, I saw a midnight showing of Lord of the Rings, Christmas came and went - the CVCS group went over to Shelly’s for a Christmas party - and then today is Tom’s 17th birthday!

2004

New Years at Shelly’s house!

2005

New Years at Shelly’s house, again!

2006

"This New Years is the first one since everyone moved back home, so to be a bit more cheery here is a photo of Lindsay and me having just turned 21..and we're zotting, apparently!"

2007: San Francisco/NorCal

“We’re going to San Francisco for New Years Eve! Here’s to the end of 2006 and the beginning of a new year. And anything can happen. :) Green cards, driver’s licenses, drama and English degrees, tipsy evenings, a journey home, a new life, a new love. Who knows? :)”

2008: My first New Years back in England. There was a lot of Twister involved.

"I'm at home in England, in Tamworth. It's just gone dark outside and it's a few degrees above freezing. I'm in the living room watching You've Got Mail, the boys are upstairs and Mum and Dad are out in Lichfield. In another week I'll be back on a plane to Los Angeles, back to my apartment and my minimum wage job and my bachelor's degrees, ready to find another job and start auditioning as much as I can.

This year has been such a change. But then hasn't every year? This year I've finally gotten my (temporary) green card, gotten a minimum wage job, finished university, come home for Christmas for the first time in a decade, and turned 23. The last quarter of college was so busy that I literally didn't have time to go out or sleep. I was sick three times, worked on Much Ado and The Pajama Game, took five classes and closed four out of five days a week at Starbucks.

It's been so great to be home with my family. I went down to a West Ham vs. Man Utd. game on Joe's birthday with Dad, Steve and Joe, and afterwards we went past St. Paul's Cathedral, down Fleet Street and around Nelson's Column. I love London. The moment I'm there I feel at home in a way that I don't know that I've ever felt anywhere else. I love California, and at the moment it's home, but England will always be my roots, full of people and places and history and childhood experiences that make me who I am.

I don't know what to anticipate for next year, except that it will be different than 2007. For the first time in my life there's nothing I actually "have" to do. From this moment I can hypothetically go anywhere, do anything, meet anyone. Now I need to choose what it is I want to do with my life. I know that I want to work in the theatre, and I know I want to act. If that's what I want, I need to go for it. I'm auditioning for grad school to keep that as one of my options, but even if that doesn't pan out there are so many other things I can do, and I won't allow myself to feel discouraged. I love comedy and classical theatre, and of course the darker side of musical theatre. But I also want to do something that matters to other people, and not just follow my own (somewhat selfish) pursuits. I owe my family so much, and I've been fortunate enough to have access to an incredible education, and now I need to find a way to use what I've learned to do something for others. I've always had an interest in traveling and teaching, and more than anything I'm passionate about children; maybe there's something there. I usually somewhat detest Christmas and New Years'. There's so much pressure and nostalgia. But at the moment I'm holding my breath in anticipation :) This whole entry has just been a scattered combination of random thoughts running through my mind over the last few weeks and months. I'm not writing so that anyone will read; it's more a way for me to get some of these things out of my head and spilling onto the page. I love writing in my actual journal, but at this point I think I need to start a fresh one with the new year.

Happy New Year, and Good Bye to 2007!"

2009: A Yacht Club New Year

“Shit gon’ be fiiiiiine in 2009!”

Party with the Yacht Club at Mandrake involving a lot of champagne and sunglasses.

Some quotations from the evening included:

“Pat, how do you get the key in the ignition?”
“You turn the lyric to the left.”
“What?”
“The whiskey.”

“We’re not going over the hill. That’s Nathan’s.”
“But where’s my hill?”
“You don’t have a hill, we’re on the street.”
“But it’s my street, right?”

“Do I have pants on?”
“Do I have pants on?”
“Yes.”
“You’re wearing underwear.”
“No, are you wearing pants?”
“Yes. Why, do you need something?”
“I need my pants.”

“Why do we always take pictures when we’re eating or drinking alcohol?”
“We should take them when we’re exercising / mowing the lawn.”
“We don’t mow the lawn.”
“Well we don’t exercise.”
“Why don’t we take pictures when we’re sober?”
“Remember the exercise thing?”

And now here we at New Years 2010.

This last year has been a trip. It started at the Yacht Club and will be ending at Lindsay’s apartment with a champagne-filled celebration. A lot of things happened this year, and in many ways things turned out in ways that I didn’t expect. I had six jobs, two breakups, two addresses, five panic attacks, one trip back home, three prospective internships, one green card, more than a few hangovers, a thousand bus rides, and I probably equalled my weight in alcohol. I’d say I wouldn’t have changed any of it, but truth be told it’s been a pretty rough year. But in spite of it all, 2010 is looking pretty good from this side of the clock. I feel happier than I ever did last year. I don’t think I even knew how miserable I was until I started looking back through my journals - January was especially dark. I miss the people in my life last year dearly and I’m nowhere near where I want to be yet. Some things are hurting and that’s only to be expected, but I feel calm and clear headed and...happy. And right now all I see are possibilities: a new year, a new road, and a new life. And maybe if I’m really lucky, a new bed.

A few memorable moments of the 2000s.

Y2k didn’t happen after all.
Clinton ended his final term in office.
The Sydney 2000, the Athens 2004 and the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games all took place.
The Anaheim Angels won the 2002 World Series.
Harry Potter and Starbucks took over the world.
Disney started vaulting movies.
The series finale of Friends, Fraiser, and Seinfeld all aired.
Hanging Chads. Seriously.
September 11th, 2001.
Columbine
Hurricane Katrina
Enron
A new Pope.
The genocide in Darfur.
The March 11, 2004 Madrid train bombing and the July 7, 2005 London bombings.
Brazil and Italy won the World Cup.
8 years of the Bush administration.
Tony Blair resigned and was followed by Gordon Brown.
Michael Jackson, Arthur Miller, Ted Kennedy, Bea Arthur, Eartha Kitt, Dom DeLuise and Patrick Swayze all passed away, to name a few.
Lou Dobbs resigned. At last.
Gay marriage was finally legalised in England, Spain, Mexico City, a few other European countries and...Iowa.
The election of the first black President in 2008.

Oh, 2000s. Touche.

-Kate