Auld Lang Syne
Jan. 1st, 2004 03:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ravenAnd so, a happy new year to all. I hope it was good, and I’m not interrupting any hangovers.
Last night, then. It did not begin well. It was the coldest day of the year so far (why am I saying ‘so far?’) and I was moved to have a shower. There was no hot water. I had a cold shower in sub-zero temperatures, and consequently felt rather angry with the entire world. But I survived and warmed up in the end, following which Hannah arrived. She told me a few days ago that she had nothing to do for new year, and I suggested she come with me as I traipsed around Crosby. For some obscure reason, she agreed, and so she arrived at about six laden down with sundry paraphernalia. We had a good time going through the bags. She had three purple feather boas, glitter spray, shimmery stuff, some eyeliner, and a pair of angel wings and a halo. The angel wings and halo were for a reason, she said, and that reason was so she could take pictures of me wearing them.
Well, what do you do? I obliged. Thankfully, not with a digital camera, so it will be some weeks before the pictures surface. She did consider getting me a cigarette to hold, á la this picture, but we never got around to it. Nevermind. The existing pictures are embarrassing enough. And once we had decided what we were taking, we departed. While we were on the train, I texted![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
shipperkitten to tell her Beagle 2 did land, but they lost it, and Hannah and I attempted to go through the things that had happened in 2003. We didn’t do very well. That’s what LJ is for.
I may have mentioned the fact that New Year’s Eve is the only time of year at which I have a social life. We went to two parties. That wasn’t really the intention – I was intending to go to Jane’s, drop off the Discworld books, say hello all round, and depart. But somehow we ended up staying an hour, and it was fun. The party was the most intellectual party I have ever been to, and it was clear that Hannah and I were the youngest people there. We were asked by several people, “So, which uni are you at?”
We both perfected the awkward smile, and then, “Um...”
That said, it really was fun. Two guys (one of whom looked shockingly like Andrew McMahon) were playing a version of chess. I say ‘version’ because every time one of them captured a piece, he had to drink two shots of Strongbow cider. The idea was that the better you played, the more you drank. It was a great leveller. There were two ways of winning, as well – checkmate, or being the last person to fall off their chair. Hannah and I found it exceedingly amusing. We were both drinking Smirnoff Ice, and besides, I get drunk incrementally – I got slightly tipsy after that one bottle, but my head cleared within a few minutes.
Unfortunately, we didn’t stay long enough to see who won the chess game. We left at about a quarter past eight, having said goodbye to everyone, and walked straight into a torrential downpour. For the five minutes it took the two of us to walk to Becca’s, the heavens opened and we got completely drenched. It was not nice. Upon seeing me, Becca lent me a hairdryer. I dried my hair, donned my angel wings, and everyone else arrived. Bev was already there, and in addition to me and Hannah, Meg, Kat, Nicola and Emma came. It was rather similar to Becca’s birthday party, except Thomas’s friends were there too, and so were Peter’s. Becca was giving everyone Lambrusco. I have to admit I have no idea what Lambrusco actually is. All I know is that it tastes like sparkling, very sweet white wine. And we ate food from the buffet, and listened to Queen, and the time gradually slipped away. Emma and Hannah got on very well, and discussed everything under the sun. Emma and I compared notes regarding Medlink, which was fun, and after we’d talked about everything we could, we moved over to Becca and Bev (Becca had just poured herself a vodka and coke, set it on the table, and then said, “You know, I don’t like vodka and coke.”)
The others were all hiding behind the curtains for some as yet unexplained reason, and pictures were taken but not by me. Emma was enjoying herself. She was taking fairy cakes and mince pies, putting them on people’s chairs and waiting for them to sit down. Becca sat on a fairy cake. It was flat as a pancake.
At about a quarter to twelve, Becca’s dad came down carrying pillows. Apparently Thomas had drunk too much, been sick, and passed out. At about five to twelve, we put the radio on. They played crappy music until the very last moment, and then the last chimes of Big Ben rang out and we never got the chance to count down! In the end, everyone ran out into the street, hugged everyone, and then we all got in a circle and sang Auld Lang Syne. I don’t know the words. No one ever does. We made them up, and all around us, people were letting off fireworks. It was a magical few moments.
And then everyone yelled, “It’s freezing!” and ran back inside. Thomas missed it all, passed out on his bed upstairs(!), and Enid, who said she would turn up with Adam in tow (which Adam, I don’t know – either Adam Shackleton or vampire!Adam) never did. I was rather disappointed.
As it happened, only Bev was staying over. Everyone else had persuaded their wonderful parents to pick them up (with the exception of Meg, who had persuaded Katrina’s wonderful parents to pick her up) and Pedar arrived at about a quarter past twelve. Apparently they didn’t do much for new year – my grandmother slept straight through it as well, and he was just watching a film. But they were all awake when me and Hannah got here, and a happy new year was wished to all.
Hannah and I managed to stay up until three in the morning, talking about nothing in particular and the nature of consciousness, and we got up at eleven o’clock this morning and had breakfast – it consisted of coffee and chocolate biscuits – at lunchtime. Hannah has just departed homewards, and now I must revise Politics. Boo.
And a Pippin new year to all, again. It’s 2004! My birthday soon – and my provisional driving license comes into effect today, and stays in effect for fifty-seven years. The mind boggles.
(I am not hungover at all, incidentally, being Person Who Drank The Least. In the end I had two glasses of Lambrusco, one of wine, the Smirnoff Ice, and a sip each of Emma’s Reef, Hannah’s alcoholic Ribena and Becca’s vodka and bitter lemon. I was good.)
Should auld aquaintance be forgot (and why should it?) and never brought to mind (well, really), we’ll take a cup of kindness yet (mmmm) for the sake of (what?) auld lang syne...
Last night, then. It did not begin well. It was the coldest day of the year so far (why am I saying ‘so far?’) and I was moved to have a shower. There was no hot water. I had a cold shower in sub-zero temperatures, and consequently felt rather angry with the entire world. But I survived and warmed up in the end, following which Hannah arrived. She told me a few days ago that she had nothing to do for new year, and I suggested she come with me as I traipsed around Crosby. For some obscure reason, she agreed, and so she arrived at about six laden down with sundry paraphernalia. We had a good time going through the bags. She had three purple feather boas, glitter spray, shimmery stuff, some eyeliner, and a pair of angel wings and a halo. The angel wings and halo were for a reason, she said, and that reason was so she could take pictures of me wearing them.
Well, what do you do? I obliged. Thankfully, not with a digital camera, so it will be some weeks before the pictures surface. She did consider getting me a cigarette to hold, á la this picture, but we never got around to it. Nevermind. The existing pictures are embarrassing enough. And once we had decided what we were taking, we departed. While we were on the train, I texted
shipperkitten to tell her Beagle 2 did land, but they lost it, and Hannah and I attempted to go through the things that had happened in 2003. We didn’t do very well. That’s what LJ is for.I may have mentioned the fact that New Year’s Eve is the only time of year at which I have a social life. We went to two parties. That wasn’t really the intention – I was intending to go to Jane’s, drop off the Discworld books, say hello all round, and depart. But somehow we ended up staying an hour, and it was fun. The party was the most intellectual party I have ever been to, and it was clear that Hannah and I were the youngest people there. We were asked by several people, “So, which uni are you at?”
We both perfected the awkward smile, and then, “Um...”
That said, it really was fun. Two guys (one of whom looked shockingly like Andrew McMahon) were playing a version of chess. I say ‘version’ because every time one of them captured a piece, he had to drink two shots of Strongbow cider. The idea was that the better you played, the more you drank. It was a great leveller. There were two ways of winning, as well – checkmate, or being the last person to fall off their chair. Hannah and I found it exceedingly amusing. We were both drinking Smirnoff Ice, and besides, I get drunk incrementally – I got slightly tipsy after that one bottle, but my head cleared within a few minutes.
Unfortunately, we didn’t stay long enough to see who won the chess game. We left at about a quarter past eight, having said goodbye to everyone, and walked straight into a torrential downpour. For the five minutes it took the two of us to walk to Becca’s, the heavens opened and we got completely drenched. It was not nice. Upon seeing me, Becca lent me a hairdryer. I dried my hair, donned my angel wings, and everyone else arrived. Bev was already there, and in addition to me and Hannah, Meg, Kat, Nicola and Emma came. It was rather similar to Becca’s birthday party, except Thomas’s friends were there too, and so were Peter’s. Becca was giving everyone Lambrusco. I have to admit I have no idea what Lambrusco actually is. All I know is that it tastes like sparkling, very sweet white wine. And we ate food from the buffet, and listened to Queen, and the time gradually slipped away. Emma and Hannah got on very well, and discussed everything under the sun. Emma and I compared notes regarding Medlink, which was fun, and after we’d talked about everything we could, we moved over to Becca and Bev (Becca had just poured herself a vodka and coke, set it on the table, and then said, “You know, I don’t like vodka and coke.”)
The others were all hiding behind the curtains for some as yet unexplained reason, and pictures were taken but not by me. Emma was enjoying herself. She was taking fairy cakes and mince pies, putting them on people’s chairs and waiting for them to sit down. Becca sat on a fairy cake. It was flat as a pancake.
At about a quarter to twelve, Becca’s dad came down carrying pillows. Apparently Thomas had drunk too much, been sick, and passed out. At about five to twelve, we put the radio on. They played crappy music until the very last moment, and then the last chimes of Big Ben rang out and we never got the chance to count down! In the end, everyone ran out into the street, hugged everyone, and then we all got in a circle and sang Auld Lang Syne. I don’t know the words. No one ever does. We made them up, and all around us, people were letting off fireworks. It was a magical few moments.
And then everyone yelled, “It’s freezing!” and ran back inside. Thomas missed it all, passed out on his bed upstairs(!), and Enid, who said she would turn up with Adam in tow (which Adam, I don’t know – either Adam Shackleton or vampire!Adam) never did. I was rather disappointed.
As it happened, only Bev was staying over. Everyone else had persuaded their wonderful parents to pick them up (with the exception of Meg, who had persuaded Katrina’s wonderful parents to pick her up) and Pedar arrived at about a quarter past twelve. Apparently they didn’t do much for new year – my grandmother slept straight through it as well, and he was just watching a film. But they were all awake when me and Hannah got here, and a happy new year was wished to all.
Hannah and I managed to stay up until three in the morning, talking about nothing in particular and the nature of consciousness, and we got up at eleven o’clock this morning and had breakfast – it consisted of coffee and chocolate biscuits – at lunchtime. Hannah has just departed homewards, and now I must revise Politics. Boo.
And a Pippin new year to all, again. It’s 2004! My birthday soon – and my provisional driving license comes into effect today, and stays in effect for fifty-seven years. The mind boggles.
(I am not hungover at all, incidentally, being Person Who Drank The Least. In the end I had two glasses of Lambrusco, one of wine, the Smirnoff Ice, and a sip each of Emma’s Reef, Hannah’s alcoholic Ribena and Becca’s vodka and bitter lemon. I was good.)
Should auld aquaintance be forgot (and why should it?) and never brought to mind (well, really), we’ll take a cup of kindness yet (mmmm) for the sake of (what?) auld lang syne...
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on 2004-01-01 07:52 am (UTC)no subject
on 2004-01-01 07:54 am (UTC)