“Happy new year, happy new year, May we all have a vision now and then of a world where every neighbor is a friend. Happy new year, happy new year, May we all have our hopes, our will to try. If we don’t we might as well lay down and die, you and I.”

“Happy New Year,” ABBA

Barely an hour into the new year, and I’m already in my pajamas. Matt and I had an early dinner at Cheesecake Factory, one of my favorite restaurants–not so much for the food, but more for the best part of the meal–the desserts! Our evening after that consisted of a lot of puttering around the house, working in the bathroom, putting away Christmas gifts, making a grocery list, etc.

Then at 11:30 p.m., we bundled up (more like *I* bundled up, putting on a pair of tights under sweats, wearing two pairs of gloves, and covering half my head with a warm scarf) and walked to the opposite end of 57th Avenue, where the street dead ends and overlooks Seattle, Lake Washington, and the surrounding areas. We could already hear the pops and booms of fireworks going off in the residential areas.

You could tell when the clock struck midnight, because you could see bursts of fireworks all over the place–on the Eastside, further down south, right over downtown, over the homes along the lake. It was hard to know where to look, because you feared looking at one show and missing something better elsewhere. We could see the fireworks coming off the Space Needle, too, and that show ended with a constant spray of glittering fireworks from the top of the needle. It was as if someone were standing atop the Needle with a hose going full blast. But instead of water coming out of the house, you saw streams of gold, red, and green glitter.

The excitement for the night was when a man standing near the parking lot where some of us had gathered began to yell out comments. Whenever he heard quick successions of pops from fireworks, he’d yell out, “That’s not fireworks–that’s a gun! Yeah!! Keep it popping!!” The first time he heard the “gunshots,” he yelled, “That’s right–you’re in the South End! This is N****rville! Welcome to 2008! Let’s see how many people get drunk and go crazy and end up in jail!” Well, that’s definitely not on my to-do list.

During dinner, I pulled out my “Things to do before I turn 30″ list, and realized that I had written up the list April 2005. So nearly three years had already passed, and I hadn’t accomplished all my goals?! The one original remaining item on the list that is unfulfilled is to have queried (and hopefully published) two travel articles (and get paid for them). Knowing that the deadline was looming, I grabbed the airline magazine from the plane on the flight home, hoping it’d give me inspiration. Also, early this year, in March, I added the goal of being able to do a handstand onto my list. I felt like I just set that goal, but already nine months had passed.

Aside from those things, I’ve been thinking a lot about other things I’d like to work on. And if you have some you’d like to share, feel free to leave a comment!