red year, blue year, old year, new year

it's really lovely here right now. well, it has been. i guess right now, at this exact moment, 'slushy' would be a more accurate word. the streets are thickly iced and there's dirty snow in piles along the roads. i've fallen only once, and almost fallen 3.5 bazillion times. i'm quite glad to see my balance has improved as i've aged.

it's been a really nice holiday season for me here, anyway. movies, games, a snowman, great food, great friends, singing, music, dancing, gifts, arcades, and even a buffet.

the new years thing was kind of anticlimactic. we were rushing from a sushi restaurant to the stage that had been set up downtown, expecting to see a countdown or fireworks or something big... but our timing was a little off so we caught a ball-drop on a tv through the window of a miller-time restaurant, and got to the back end of the stage a moment after 12:00 struck, and the only thing that happened was the lights on the giant christmas tree went dead and the crowd that was there started heading home. ah, but we made our way to the german bar and got there just in time for song to give a little new-year speech and sing a carol for us, then he handed me the mike and it was suddenly our show. ian played some gorgeous piano while i sang the few songs we could think to play, and a tres talented drummer joined us. for our final song, kevin played our fave weezer hit, 'el scorcho' and we killed the ears of the audience but loved the hell outta it. there is no greater song to scream : )

anywho, here are a few pictures.

i hope, dear reader, that you had a wonderful time with loved ones as well. when it's so frozen outside and a year is ending, it's a necessity that you bask in the warmth of good company.

ps- i'm getting antsy here, and very much look forward to a plane landing somewhere in the u.s. with a bag of honey roasted nuts with my name on it.