Happy New Year

It is 1:30 am, January 1st 2006 here in Sydney. The new year doesn't hit the States for another 14.5 hours. Tonight we ushered in 2006 by watching the fireworks from atop the hill in Sydney Park, with a panoramic view of the city and the four coordinated displays taking place at various points around Sydney Harbour. It was strange to think that here we are celebrating the start of 2006 while back home it is barely sunrise on New Years Eve.

Normally I wouldn't be sitting on a computer just 90 minutes into the New Year, but I'm tired and heading to bed. Is this a bad omen for 2006??

Best of 2005

What can I say about 2005? I laughed, I cried, I tooks meds. I saw some great places in the world, met some fascinating people. Yadda yadda. I'm ready to get on with a new year, but not without a quick review of some of the highlights:

1. Had a snowball fight with my Krista in Times Square in the middle of a January snowstorm
2. Hiked one of most beautiful beaches on Earth in New Zealand
3. Got a mullet
4. High Tea at the Savoy
5. Climbed to the top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge
6. Swam a race in Auckland Harbour
7. Walking the streets of London at night.
8. Hijacking the jukebox at the Capitol Lounge.
9. Decided I'm going to be a nurse
10. Fueled by M&Ms and Red Bull, drove from Portland to Chicago on 5 hours of sleep, a full moon setting the snow of the Utah and Wyoming mountains aglow around me
11. Woke at dawn on my birthday and watched the sun come up over St. Paul’s Cathedral, walking along the Thames as the city of London slept.
12. After a night of clubbing, walked through the Royal Botanical Gardens in Melbourne as the sun came up
13. Stayed awake for 64 straight, incredible hours during Sydney Mardi Gras
14. Got stripped buck-naked by the waves body surfing on Bondi Beach
15. Got a(nother) tattoo
16. Hitchhiked in NZ. More than once, too

Although not likely, I hope 2006 gives me even a fraction of the highs that 2005 gave me. Now let's get a drink.

Sure Signs the Company XMas Party is Over

Below are just a few signs that your annual Company Holiday Party has gone on too long and that it is time to go home. Note: no one single sign below should necessarily constitute your departure; but I'd say if three of them happen, well, it's time to head for the coat check. And if five of them happen, it's probably time to hit Monster.com. (Note: of the eight listed below, seven of them happened to me last week.)

1. Someone is allowed to stand up and recite poetry.
2. A coworker points to another coworker and confides in you that he'd like to "tap that."
3. There's a conga line.
4. "Celebration" (while always a favorite) is played.
5. Someone - not currently (or ever) in a relationship with you - grabs your ass (unsolicited). *
6. Someone - not currently (or ever) in a relationship with you - grabs your crotch (unsolicited). *
7. Someone - not currently (or ever) in a relationship with you - in no uncertain terms propositions you (unsolicited). *
8. Your "ride home" leaves the party without telling you.

Quote of the Day (from TubeTalk):

"It wasn't a Charlie Brown Christmas. It was.... a Charles Manson Christmas."

* Extra Special Bonus if that someone in #5 and #6 and #7 is a different person.