20 years ago, I asked a woman at an office Christmas party what 'type' of man she liked. I was new and she was in her mid 40s, single and manager of a division I worked with. She said, "I like any man who likes me."
33 years ago I threw a kit bag of clothes in a white '68 Dodge Charger and headed north on I-95 from Ft Bragg for a rendezvous in Reading, PA with a girl who 'liked' me. She was a singer with dreams of opera. Her brother, a voice and piano teacher, performed with the NY Met.
We shared New Year's Eve together in a tub drinking Cook's champagne out of plastic coupes. The next night her brother drove us around Manhattan as we lay in the back of his hatch back and looked up into apartment windows. We held hands and talked of living in the city. She would sing at the Met and I would...I would do whatever the world wanted me to do.
I liked any job that liked me.
I was asked how I celebrate the 31st. I don't like crowds. FPE's (Free Public Events) and rows of porta-toilets are the stuff of my nightmares. My plan with the Golf Foxtrot this year is take out Chinese, the last bottle of Billecart and a fire while we watch Casablanca. I don't expect either of us to make it past 11. But I'm in that apartment I dreamed of 33 years ago. I'll leave a window open so I can hear you drive by.
My kind of New Year's Eve.
ReplyDeleteI envy your ability to bring bittersweet memories to life. I wish you a prosperous 2011 and please keep your insightful blog alive and well.
ReplyDeleteYou open your window? Doesnt that make the sound of the machine guns more terrifying?
ReplyDeletewait... I forgot, you arent the one in Philly. My bad.
Happy New Year.
Lovely post. Happy New Year Tin. Thanks for all the great stuff in 2010. I look forward to 2011.
ReplyDelete--Matthew
One of your best posts!
ReplyDeleteNew Years Even in Times Square at 25: magic. At 65: torture. We're going out otherwise your formula sounds perfect but I'd switch the movie to The Third Man. That said I wouldn't mind being 25 again. BTW tried the Billecart with some Stilton and rice crackers. It lived up to your billing
ReplyDeletePoetic timing. I'm moving to New York next week with a dream in hand.
ReplyDeleteWhy let the clock dictate New Year's Eve? I like the way you articulate your romantic side.
ReplyDeleteOkay, bizarre. I just commented as you commented.
ReplyDelete2001 was such a crap year, i went to bed at 9pm on NYE, wanting to just wake up the next morning and have it be over and done with....
ReplyDeleteBill- I usually don't have a choice.
ReplyDeleteJames- Thanks. Where's all this bittersweet stuff been coming from lately? It's always party time over here. Isn't it?
Bro - That was a 9mm in Washington Sq South. By the report, I'm guessing it was a Browning hi powered automatic.
Matthew- More bittersweet stuff to come. Maybe I'll offer 70% cocoa next year.
bmack- Better than Bow Ties and Erections?
Joe- I love the 3rd Man but not sure it hits the romantic buttons like Casablanca.
I do have a friend who enjoys watching The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and her Lover with his girl friends. Trouble is, he never seems to have them around very long. Wonder why?
Hallock- You'll fit right in with those glasses.
Alice- You'd think we'd have run into each other in a coffee shop by now.
Skorp- New Years, 2001 I was listening to gun shots from Washington Sq South in Phila and low crawling on on my living room floor with the rest of the Laphroaig.
Phenomenal.
ReplyDeleteInteresting that you still have that Hotel receipt from all those years ago.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year to you and GF!!
My NYE will be at home---8 couples..Black Tie..Veuve Cliquot and a loin of wild boar ...
New year's day....Mummer's parade with the wife and kids...Fish House Punch and cold beers.
in front of the Union League...Mummers...another Philly gig I am sure you will lambast with great disdain...
LAS- Pull your pants up.
ReplyDeleteMain Line- Mummers are almost as bad as Veuve (Phew) Cliquot.
Good point. (NB: In my humble opinion, espresso is better at Cafe Cluny, than Joe.)
ReplyDeleteOf New Years Eve, my father said, "i'm staying home. Last thing on earth I want to do is celebrate on a night with a bunch of amateurs."
ReplyDelete"Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship" Bon appetite.
ReplyDelete"Joe- I love the 3rd Man but not sure it hits the romantic buttons like Casablanca."
ReplyDeleteI like the bittersweet quality of the love story in TTM. In the book Holly gets the girl. And Valli was a looker. Mirren's butt takes some beating (if that's the right expression) in the The cook etc. so I can see the appeal for your friend.
all the terrific posts have a wonderful backstory, story arc, and denouement. yours had them all. here's to a safe and sound 2011.
ReplyDeleteblessings. -Jg.
Sounds perfect!
ReplyDeleteReminds me of when I was in my 20's and always said the most attractive man is the one attracted to me!
The Trad received a good amount of recognition in 2010. Score one for the good guys.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year!
Happy new year, Tradman.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy reading your posts.
Kind regards
Graham, Denmark
Wow! Great way of summing up NYE.
ReplyDeleteA better film: the bottle, the movie and the gal for something you're cooking...hopefully in bed before midnight!
Thanks for all your work and my best for the next year.
Aw, so sweet.
ReplyDeleteI'm over dirty, noisy NYE activities, too.
This year I had been at a memorial a few days before that left me weak and contemplative for days.
So my NYE was spent at home, being creative and insular.
Which, it turns out, was just what I needed to ring in the new year fresh and bright.
Happy New Year, Tin Tin!