Our current tradition calls for the two of us to fall asleep on the couch while watching TV around 10pm, get awaken by illegal fireworks (some of them commercial grade being set off a block away) and gunfire, wish each other a HNY, then go to bed and try to fall asleep through said fireworks/gunfire. Spawn2 will be staying with us but will probably go to their in-laws for NYE, so we’ll just tell them not to wake us when they get home.
I’m kinda hoping for rain, but that doesn’t seem likely.
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That’s one of the things I miss about NYE (or 4th July) celebrations in the US - they are unbelievable boring and lame. I remember the first time we went to 4th July celebrations and fireworks and everybody told us how big and great they were but that wasn’t even 1/1000 of what you would experience in Germany. I had an US friend who went once for NYE to Germany to my city in Hamburg - he came back and his only words were “holy fuck - now I understand you”. NYE at Landungsbruecken is special
I take the view that folk do not know the meaning of loud fireworks unless they have been in a Spanish town on the night of the Fiesta de San Juan. Now, the Spanish will set off fireworks for even minor village fiestas but San Juan is something different.
I LOVED that coat! Wore it well past its wearability. Pretty sure this isn’t it, but the color is very close to what I remember.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1698924176/seventieseighties-rice-coat-company-teal
Oh no–the M1000s going off in my neighborhood of small, close-together houses cause enough noise and vibrations to shake the house. It really feels like a war zone here on the 4th of July.
As for what we’re doing, we’ll be taking it easy, with just the 2 of us and our cats. We do have early reservations at a local tiki bar (like before dinner), and will play catch-as-catch-can regarding dinner (or late lunch). We’ll watch the SF fireworks on TV at midnight.
Teal is a long-time favorite color of mine.
Godspeed. That never works with mine!
I hear gunfire, too. Not (AFAIK) in my immediate vicinity, but sound carries. So I try to be asleep early. Same phenom on the 4th of July. It’s not all fireworks.
I’ve run the gamut of NYE celebrations, from giant club events, large parties, small gatherings, vacation spots and at-home avoidance of the hazards of going out. That progression has generally, and inexorably, advanced with age.
From this age and perspective, NYE seems to be an extremely “forced” occasion to celebrate, with a slosh of desperation.
One exception in my life was NYE in 1999, when we took my aged parents near the Dateline. But it involved a quiet, private, moonlight dinner on a westward-facing beach with some fabulous food and a tanoa of some rare 'awa.
It’s been a long time since I’ve willingly stayed up for my local timezone’s NYE midnight.
I’ve always thought of NYE like that.
I found that to be an amusing take. Who is “forcing” any grown-ass adult to do anything they don’t feel like? I thought perhaps his attitude is based on his age, which he alluded to — but our host tonight is in his 70s, and a real party animal 
If we didn’t feel like bidding farewell to the old year together with our friends — tho not sure how excited we all are about welcoming the new one — well… we’d probably stay home and watch tv or do whatever else floats our boat that night. 
Judging from the manifold responses, everyone here seems to celebrate (or not) exactly how they wish to.
The beauty of difference.
They’re figuratively forcing themselves, mostly based on their and others’ expectations. Thankfully, those expectations wane, as does caring about them.
The same things happen with other party-excuse holidays, like Halloween, Saint Patty’s, Fat Tuesday, etc. Except with those, there’s not as much pressure to drink past midnight and pass slobbery kisses.
While you’re welcome to make random assumptions about other people’s motives to celebrate whatever occasion… that doesn’t mean you’re correct about them.
A lot of people enjoy parties — Halloween & Mardi Gras in particular come to mind, actually — regardless of age.
You don’t. And that’s a-ok.
Back to European fireworks on NYE: a British friend living in Warsaw posted this short clip of the fireworks there tonight.
Thank you for sharing. Almost makes me a bit homesick.
Almost 
For a long time now just me and my bubbles, I always stay up to toast in the New Year. My neighbors shoot off their AK-47s, or whatever the gun de jour is.
Wow 
I neglected to mention that this year, we’re having our regular Christmas dinner for NYE on account o’ we were on our own for Christmas but Spawn2 was able to come home this week. We typically honor Mrs. ricepad’s family tradition and do it German-style, with rouladen, red cabbage, and mashed potatoes, and this year is no different.
Tomorrow, I’m getting up early to prepare a traditional Japanese spread for Oshogatsu, with several different kinds of sushi, nishime, kinpira gobo, and sunomono. Tomorrow evening I plan on collapsing in bed, possibly still fully dressed.
All of this sounds wonderful!
I plan on doing absolutely nothing tomorrow, save for spending a lot of time in my pajamas, catching up on reading, and cuddling the cat. Simple pleasures.
