Don't Take Me Seriously - Book - Page 245
Your last-minute New Year’s Eve
Who knew we’d still be here?
f you had been counting on the End
of the World, so that you could avoid
thinking about 2013 and any New Year’s
resolutions you might need to make …
sadly, you’re still here and you’ve still got
time to set some painfully impossible goals.
Bummer.
But the worst part about us all being
here after Dec. 21 is that most of us didn’t
make any New Year’s Eve party plans,
figuring there was no need. And, at this
point, many venues are booked up for the
evening. Our Local Calendar, on page 13
in this issue, gives you a few suggestions
for local New Year’s Eve celebrations
that still had openings as of this writing,
and our Out There Events Calendar, on
page 6, and Out There Entertainment
Calendar, on page 10, suggest some
different choices.
As our cover would indicate, the
party at Persia Cuisine would be a great
choice, especially for the price. For
$100 per couple, you get a three-course
meal, appetizers, dessert, champagne at
midnight, music and dancing (and, I
suspect, some belly dancers thrown in).
The event begins at 8 p.m. on Monday,
Dec. 31, at Persia’s new location at 27600
Bouquet Canyon Road, #100, Saugus, CA
91350 (the former site of La Rumba). For
information visit www.persia-restaurant.
com or call 661-513-0077.
I
Jim Walker
Don’t Take Me Seriously
Now, beyond all that, dodging doom
on Dec. 21 might have brought you a
new outlook. If you had let things kind
of slide in your life, or even fully trashed
it, in expectation of an easy out last week
… well, now you have to pick up the
pieces and move forward. Sure you are
homeless, unloved and broke, but that
can be empowering, right? And, with a
new perspective, maybe you want to do
something out of character this New Year’s
Eve.
So, as we like to do in Connect SCV, let
us set aside the “typical” New Year’s Eve
celebrations and consider some unusual
12 | >>
WWW.CONNECTSCV.COM • DEC. 26, 2012 - JAN. 1, 2013
ways to mark the passing of 2012.
Lead pouring: In Germany
and Austria they use molten
lead like tea leaves. The hot lead
is poured into a bowl of water.
The lead forms some shape in
the water and that shape predicts
what’s going to happen in the
year ahead. For example, a ball
shape means good luck all ’round
the year, an anchor shape means
you’ll eventually need help, while
a cross means death.
I’d bet the cross shows up most
often, as inhaling fumes from
molten lead is poisonous.
Burning portraits: In Ecuador,
people gather together to burn
pictures of things or people from
the past year that they want to get
rid of.
Who knew all your exgirlfriends were Ecuadorian?
Yellow underwear: People
in Bolivia have to buy some yellow
underwear and wait for midnight. When it
comes, they run to a place where they can
change into the yellow underwear – and so
believe that their luck will change as well.
So, some of you guys out there must
always be lucky, if you know what I mean.
Throwing dishes: People in Denmark
break dishes on their friends’ doorsteps
on New Year’s Eve. The more shards of
broken glass you find on your doorstep on
New Year’s morning, the more friends you
have.
However, shards of glass inside your
house just mean you had a really good
New Year’s Eve party.
Great balls of fire: In Scotland, during
the Hogmanay Festival, men parade
through the streets holding blazing balls
of fire. They continuously swing these
balls over their heads. The balls of fire are
supposed to bring purification.
Of course, eating habanero chilies
accomplishes the same thing
Flying furniture: In Johannesburg,
South Africa, the New Year is welcomed
by throwing furniture and appliances out
the windows. That tradition, not without
risk for passersby, holds that “cleaning
house” on New Year’s Eve will allow new
and good things to enter.
Yeah, that’s kind of what your girlfriend
had in mind when your clothes and
flatscreen went out the window last year.
And, just in case you do make New
Year’s resolutions, I close with some
soothing quotes about them:
“A New Year's resolution is something
that goes in one year and out the other.”
“Many people look forward to the New
Year for a new start on old habits.”
“Making resolutions is a cleansing ritual
of self assessment and repentance that
demands personal honesty and, ultimately,
reinforces humility.– because breaking
them is part of the cycle.”
Comment at jwalker@signalscv.com or at
http://Twitter.com/DontSeriously.