True enough, I’m not the “festive” kind. I don’t actually begrudge people their own holiday celebrations, but I do fail to understand when they celebrate as if the holiday were the best thing to ever happen to them.
Did you graduate? Did you just accomplish something admirable? Have you saved humanity from croc shoes? Then there’s reason to celebrate as if there were no tomorrow!
But holidays aren’t really anything special to me. You didn’t earn your birthday, it’s not an accomplishment. Christmas has that whole “made to cover a pagan holiday” thing going on and we humans invented the calendar, so New Year’s could be just about any day of the year.
But then people say “well, it’s just an excuse to be happy and have fun, what’s wrong about that?”
And it’s true, there’s nothing wrong about that – except why do you need an excuse to be happy and have fun? Just go ahead and be merry any time you want! That’s what I do, and my baldness stands as proof of it.
Now Halloween… there’s something to celebrate!
Good hunting;
O
NOTE: Nevertheless, I’m curious about what you’re all doing for New Year’s. Customs change around the world, and I want to know what different people do.
NOTE2: I will accept no arguments about Halloween. Either love it or go home.
batey l;ike a sir with a pinkie in the air
, and O really doesnt mess with halloween does he?
I feel this exactly. I don’t understand all the commotion, ever.
O’ such a bah humbug sort of person.
They give a sense of closure. We do accomplish something; we survive through a year after the last time we celebrated whatever holiday we’re celebrating
The thing that got me about Christmas was actualy well explained in one of the new Dr Who episodes – it’s the Winter Solistice, the longest night of the year, the darkest of the dark… And if you survived thus far into winter, then there’s more hope for you, since now it will get better with each day. So on that bleakest day of all you gather with your loved ones to appreciate that they’re there, yu make merry, feast, exchange gifts and most importantly – wishes and warm thoughts of comfort. So that’s why I still celebrate thie Christian festival with my mostly-atheist family (me myself being Buddhist).
But then of course I’m far into the Northern Hemisphere, so for you it would be probably more sensible to celebrate your middle-of-the-winter holiday.
For NYE I’m taking my girlfriend out to a theatre, we’ll see three films that will not come out in this part of the world until mid-Jan/Feb (one of which based on The Life Of Pi, one of our favourite books ever) have a warm meal, dance some and share a glass of Champagne at midnight.
And in Alabama, I will celebrate the new year by flying somewhere it’s actually celebrated
It doubles the fun to be merry together.
And anyway, most holidays have religious origins, so that’s why people celebrate.
I’m not young enough that adding a year to my age is a big deal, and I am not old enough that staying above ground is much of an accomplishment, so birthday = meh.
i am not Christian and i live at 36 degrees latitude so winter as not a big deal so Christmas/Solstice = meh.
New year’s is just a different time to celebrate the same thing as a birthday so again meh.
I’m with you O.
(and Halloween is indeed awesome)
I live in the US – I’m in Ohio, and I have a bunch of friends in California. I’m about 3 hours ahead of them, time zone wise.
My tradition for New Years is to call my California friends (usually drunk or at least slightly tipsy) and wish them A Happy New Year from the future. So far if its annoying them, they have not told me to stop :3.
And yeah, Halloween is the best.
I live in Switzerland – I will most likely spend New Years at friends. Having fun, nice food and way to much alcohol
Here in the Netherlands, New Years Eve is about lighting up fireworks, but also coming together to have dinner, atm my parents have a indoor barbeque dinner with some friends
Those that live close to the beaches, going to do the new year’s dip, running into cold water and out again
My brother and his friends had in the past years organized get-together at which cards would be sold before hand, for the money to buy beer and such
Here in wales I’ve been invited to two different parties for new years, it’s common for people here to gather in someone’s house and try to drink themselves sick.
personally i don’t enjoy that part of new years so instead of going to a party me and a small group of friends will see the new year in by playing games online together.
Halloween RULES!! I even got married on Halloween for just that reason (and the fact I won’t forget my anniversary) “Here Babe, it’s a bag of candy! Happy Anniversary!! Can somebody shut that crying kid up? It’s ruining my celebration.”
A birthday means you survived another year. Might not seem like an accomplishment, but with all the shit out there trying daily to kill you, that you don’t even realize is there, that’s something. So enjoy it. Eat some cake, get a BJ and have a good time. You earned it. As for Christmas, I don’t know, I have kids so they like it more than I do. And New Years is just the end of the month and the first part of the month where my birthday comes up. So that’s something.
Actually there is good reason to celebrate your birthday. You survived yet another year in this world since from your birth. You were healtly enough, you were smart enough and you were lucky enough. Also, free stuff!..
There is good reason to celebrate the new year.
Not only did we survive the mayan apocalypse (I am sure we all have great tales to tell of our battles with the zombie hordes, everfarting lich-giants and rainbow-feathered rape-dragons) but this new year shall be a new chapter in my life!
I am not so stupid as to postpone my efforts of personal betterment to the actual new year as nobody keeps new-year promises, but come january the countdown starts and at the next new years eve all my goals of excellence must be fulfilled!
This Halloween I was saying how it was the best Holiday. A work friend said, “I think you’re forgetting one” I said, “If you are talking about Christmas, I took that into consideration.” He said, ” I think you are forgetting the REASON for Christmas” I said “No, I took that into consideration, too.” After that it was just awkward silence.
I’ve worked every New Year’s Eve since roughly 2004…I couldn’t tell you what I did for any of them before that, with the exception of the Millenium new year, during which I happened to get laid.
If I could manage that every New Year’s, I’d have a reason to celebrate.
Hey! I survived a whole nother year of life! I deserved that birthday.
Screw Christmas/New years and the like, the only reason to “celebrate” (if you could call it that) the end of the year is that it’s the only possible time I can get any time off work, 51 weeks a year leaves you ready to celebrate even half a day off.
Normally, new year’s eve in Germany is filled with a (light) dinner, some partying and by midnight blasting the crap out of the old year with rockets and firecrackers. My old habit of making my own custom bangers dwindled when i got family and pets (poor things can’t understand what the silly humans do out there and are in sheer panic). That and the last homebrew explosion unexpectedly annihilated a bench made from concrete. I stopped out of reason but with big tears in my eyes BECAUSE I LOVE THE SMELL OF BLACK POWDER in the night. *sniff*
Considering the statistical probability of my existence happening to begin with(along with being the third attempt after two miscarriages) it doesn’t seem too bad to have a birthday cheer. The fact we’re all alive at this particular set of circumstances is actually pretty slim compared to other things that happen in the grand scheme of the universe. Introspection ahoy.
In Italy we use to make firecrackers and rockets explode, too. But the New Year holiday is not, traditionally, a family holiday (while Christmas is): I spent it with my friends in an holiday house, all together all the night and we came home only today in the evening. But in the town we were in, they built a giant man made of straw and then set it ablaze, to symbolize the old year.
And while you don’t necessarily need an excuse to be happy nd have fun, holiday is an easy occasion to do so.
I have a “Scroogey” behaviour towards Christmas because I don’t like how people talk about love and friendship and charity in that one singular instance like it’s only reserved for that single time of year, when most of what is happening is just an economy boost.
I endorse being loving and caring and charitable around the year. That, unfortunately, is harder to sell.