First week of the decade

New Years Eve was a good one, and a week later I'm in Boston. I started the 31st in Connecticut excited for the night to come. After part of the day there and a dinner with the family, I was on a train with my brother headed to Grand Central.

I'd snagged a couple beers for the ride knowing we'd be meeting with Mark and Will who were probably way ahead of us, it turns out even that was under estimating the situation. A subway ride took us into Queens, and a bus took us further. We walked a few blocks and met Will outside and went up to an empty apartment, empty except for us and one table with a record player and scattered liquor bottles with varying fullness.

Mark was laughing when we came in with another friend, pouring a few concoctions of one thing or another in big cups for us. Blake had a few drinks and was done, a preference for beer he said, my drink got taller. I knew I was behind, but later sounds vomiting in the bathroom proved that they were more ahead than need be.

Eventually Will disappeared to the bathroom when we were ready to move on, it was barely 9, hours shy of midnight. He went silent despite us pounding on the locked door, I slid a credit card down the crack of the door and got it open to find him lying on the ground with a smile, we roused him up and were on our way.

A confused bus ride later (mark following in a taxi for reasons I forget, but know were senseless), we landed at Will's family's house after some time. There we had some more drinks and food, midnight hit with cheers all around and we were ready to get to something in the city.

Things got hazy at this point, but a few of us managed our way into Manhattan apparently drinking beers on the subway ride, we weren't alone in that. I didn't realize until later, but Mark and Blake had shaken out to make their way back to Astoria where they found Sean and co. at the tail end of a champagne fueled night. Mark told me later he'd fallen asleep on the train and headed back to Astoria out of habit when he saw the 59th and Lexington stop.

The few of us managed our way to the upper east side though, a party that was still raging on, ending for some bodies seen passed out in dark corners, bottles everywhere and smiling faces wandering about. I found myself out on the patio in the back at some point, talking to the various travelers attending the party. A small bag of coke appeared in my hand at one point, dropped from who knows where or who, bottles swung through and by.

At some point I turned my head to see the twinkling eyes and bright smile of a girl from Germany, I'd been talking to her traveling buddy apparently. Before long the three of us were leaving the party in search of a continuation of the night. A hazy time later I found myself wandering the aftermath of times square with them, filled only with us and a bit of a cleanup crew, along with just a few others staggering through the wide open space.

We got into a few conversations, one with a comedian that the German girl later told me was "the New Yorker she'd been looking for". We got half way to the Blarney Stone in search of a beer before we got turned back around to the subway, hints of the sun reminded them that sleep could be a decent thing. We parted ways in the times square subway station, I headed for Astoria and passed out quickly after munching on some refrigerator gold.

I woke up in a haze with a dopey smile on my face, an unidentified wrist band and my friends looking at me with a laugh. Blake and I split for the train station, the cold air felt good, but I passed out as soon as I got to the train. Back in Connecticut I passed out again for only an hour before I was back in a car headed to my dad's place, passing out again over there. I awoke gently finally feeling a sense of my surroundings again and we headed back to Connecticut for the night.

We dropped my brother off at the airport the next day at JFK to go back to California, I let out in Astoria where Sean was hanging out and had an easy day. I shaved my grizzly beard the next day, then headed a few blocks away to watch the last sunday of regular season football with some friends. My friend from Montreal was in the city, she made her way over for an hour or so as well, I had to buy her an IPA to prove great beer is brewed in America, not just bud and coors. The night raged on over football and drunken jenga, ending in a nearby bar with a few rounds of darts after the games.

I stumbled back into the apartment at some odd hour waking mostly everyone up with various shouts suggesting they come on out. Sean entertained this, although not entertained, Kelly followed, I went on about the idea of someone wanting to travel whilst dealing with the love for a girl who kept him stable and so forth, thoughts that couldn't be construed as questions, answers or statements. Having done his part, he went back to sleep, I stayed up in a fit of madness talking to music, myself and the world. Mark apparently laid awake baring witness to my midnight ramblings from a room over.

I rose up in the late afternoon, showering into sanity. Carl appeared with a bottle on his mind, we went and got one, shots went around to all who entered the kitchen. Mark came back and told stories of my ramblings from the night before, Kelly had a shot or two coaxed by Carl and his girl. Eventually Sean came home with chili on his mind, but I was soon out the door headed to the upper west side.

An hour later I arrived, the German travelers invited me over to where they were couchsurfing for some home cooking, German Spaetzle. I met the guy they were staying with along with a couple other travelers, we had a quiet night of eating good food and ended with watching Pink Floyd The Wall.

The next day I trained it back to Connecticut again and spent the night there, picking up a shirt and some other things, the following morning getting a haircut and a good meal before training it right back to the city for an easy going night at the apartment. The next day I'd be going to Boston.