Greetings from Los Angeles, California, USA!
Photo taken on Tuesday, January 1, 2008.
HAPPY NEW YEAR! A few weeks ago, I wrote about my three rules for writing these weekly emails. I appear to have rules for everything because here's another one: celebrate New Year's Day in a different place each year. It's a fun challenge. I use street addresses to distinguish different places. For example I can't celebrate New Year's in different rooms of the same apartment as both rooms are at the same address. But I can celebrate it in adjacent apartments, as the addresses would be different although very similar. Got it?
I started the rule in 1990 and, like my other ones, it has been broken but only once. On New Year's Eve circa 1995 I was at my parents' house enduring the worst part of a cold. My only plans were to watch the midnight ball drop in New York's Time Square during Dick Clark's annual New Year's Rockin' Eve television show. My parents and brother had all gone out, leaving me on the couch with a box of tissues. Even worse, I fell asleep and woke up a half-hour past midnight, completely missing the countdown.
While that was my worst New Year's Eve ever, I hadn't broken my rule yet. On New Year's Eve of 2005 I was at my parents' house once again but planning to head out to a party in Pasadena. I had been feeling tired that day and ended up taking a nap in the early evening. I slept longer than expected, waking up less than an hour before midnight. There was just not enough time to drive to Pasadena before the new year arrived. The party was very close to the Rose Parade route making parking extremely difficult too. Out of options, I stayed home but did see Dick Clark's countdown this time.
Over the years I have counted down to the New Year in places from downtown Canberra (capital of Australia) to downtown Las Vegas (capital of greed) and points in between. I greeted 2008 at Tom Bergin's Tavern in Los Angeles. The bar faintly resembles the one in the television show "Cheers" - "where everybody knows your name" as its theme song goes. In fact the names of past guests are written on shamrocks that practically wallpaper the place. As the photo of the week shows, the clovers are even on the ceiling.
Hmmm... A few months ago I had a shot of beer taps on the ceiling of another tavern. Do I pass out at bars, then wake up staring at the ceiling and think, "I'll take a picture of that"? It's far from the truth. REALLY. You won't even find my name among the shamrocks at Bergin's. It's well hidden... Or non-existent. You decide.
Photo taken on Tuesday, January 1, 2008.
HAPPY NEW YEAR! A few weeks ago, I wrote about my three rules for writing these weekly emails. I appear to have rules for everything because here's another one: celebrate New Year's Day in a different place each year. It's a fun challenge. I use street addresses to distinguish different places. For example I can't celebrate New Year's in different rooms of the same apartment as both rooms are at the same address. But I can celebrate it in adjacent apartments, as the addresses would be different although very similar. Got it?
I started the rule in 1990 and, like my other ones, it has been broken but only once. On New Year's Eve circa 1995 I was at my parents' house enduring the worst part of a cold. My only plans were to watch the midnight ball drop in New York's Time Square during Dick Clark's annual New Year's Rockin' Eve television show. My parents and brother had all gone out, leaving me on the couch with a box of tissues. Even worse, I fell asleep and woke up a half-hour past midnight, completely missing the countdown.
While that was my worst New Year's Eve ever, I hadn't broken my rule yet. On New Year's Eve of 2005 I was at my parents' house once again but planning to head out to a party in Pasadena. I had been feeling tired that day and ended up taking a nap in the early evening. I slept longer than expected, waking up less than an hour before midnight. There was just not enough time to drive to Pasadena before the new year arrived. The party was very close to the Rose Parade route making parking extremely difficult too. Out of options, I stayed home but did see Dick Clark's countdown this time.
Over the years I have counted down to the New Year in places from downtown Canberra (capital of Australia) to downtown Las Vegas (capital of greed) and points in between. I greeted 2008 at Tom Bergin's Tavern in Los Angeles. The bar faintly resembles the one in the television show "Cheers" - "where everybody knows your name" as its theme song goes. In fact the names of past guests are written on shamrocks that practically wallpaper the place. As the photo of the week shows, the clovers are even on the ceiling.
Hmmm... A few months ago I had a shot of beer taps on the ceiling of another tavern. Do I pass out at bars, then wake up staring at the ceiling and think, "I'll take a picture of that"? It's far from the truth. REALLY. You won't even find my name among the shamrocks at Bergin's. It's well hidden... Or non-existent. You decide.
Angelo
