There are two sorts of people awake at midnight on New Year’s Eve: those who are up to see in the new year and those who are there just to make sure the old one leaves. I didn’t really have plans for this New Year, but Andie had an extra ticket for the bash at Walkabout in Croydon and even offered to drive me so I could hardly refuse! We went with Antonia and, although the place was absolutely packed as expected, it was a really fun night. One of Andie’s uni friends was there, and I bumped into Richie from the old Vodafone crew and Lyndon too. It’s always great to unexpectedly get the chance to catch up with people like that. Oh, and there was the cute, bubbly redhead from church who was also there the only other time I’ve been to Walkabout, whose name I don’t know so shall be dubbed “Walkabout Girl”.
After a slightly subdued new year’s countdown, we headed back to Antonia’s where we met up with Adam, Dicko, Zaki and Jane who had all been up in London. Despite being horrendously tired (as the photos attest) we ended up drinking and chatting until about 6am when we finally dumped some mattresses on the floor and all slept in her living room. A proper sleepover, including prerequisite pillow fight (Andie vs. Dicko). While the others slept, I had to be up within about two and a half hours to meet my parents and go off to Harrow for our usual New Year family gathering. Despite being in something of a daze I managed to stumble through it all cheerfully enough.
So that’s 2004 done then. New Year’s resolutions? Not really. Mine is usually more a list of things I want to forget and put behind me. So when you raise your glass to the New Year, I’ll be toasting them for the last time. I’m not sure whether the world changes while we stay the same, or if it’s us that changes and the world that does not. Maybe it’s like they say in I ♥ Huckabees, “Everything is different and everything’s the same.” I kinda like that. So here’s to another year of new memories that are really just the same.
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