New Year: Big Deal or Not?

I've always thought of New Year's Eve and Day to be rather artificial as holidays go. Seems to me that it's just an artifact of the calendar that we choose to use. But many people put stock in the change of year. They make resolutions, many of which are quickly broken, but which nonetheless help them focus on moving forward.

What does the New Year mean to you? Is it just a couple of days off and a reason to party? Does it mean a chance to clear your mental ledger for the coming year and make new plans?

I'm curious to see how others approach New Year's Day.

 

It means nothing. Zero, zip, zilch.
I can remember just one memorable NYE. I was age 13, visiting my hometown of Toronto, staying at my cousin Patti's. She is 2.5 years my senior and she was a wild child. Naturally, she insisted that we head to downtown. I was a good girl so no sex, drugs or drinking for me. The big thrill was at midnight when I first bore witness to the majority of the other highrise dwellers stepping out on their balconies and banging noisily on kitchen pots and pans at midnight. That was something, that having left the city for a small cow town in Connecticut years prior, I'd not ever experienced. Very cool to my 13 yo self.
Nowadays on NYE, I snuggle into something warm and comfy and read a book or watch a favourite film or TV show. I just make sure to not be out driving anywhere.
I do like calendars though, so I change em all out about the house on the 31st. That's it for meaning and tradition on this date.

 

New Years Day is an excellent day to go skiing with zero traffic and uncrowded slopes. I'm too damn old to party all night and go skiing the next day. I'd rather ski and will be in bed by 10.

 

I like having the idea in my brain that a new year is, well....New.
It makes me feel more motivated to make resolutions and/or try new ideas and make new plans for my life. I have finally quit smoking cigs and feel determined that I won't regress. And I'm doing it cold turkey, because that's better than using other nicotine drugs and Chantix.
Wish me luck! I can do this!!!!!
Good Luck to Anyone else kicking cigs or "whatever"! And Happy New Year!!!
And thanks tfp for another great year!

 

My new years eve and countdown typically includes some time to think about the year we are ending, and what did or did not happen that should have, shouldn't have, or I would have liked to have done/accomplished and did or didn't get there. Also some time to think about what the new year might bring, and things I'd like to accomplish in it as well.
There is some family specific traditional snackage involved. God knows why, but Gino's pizza rolls and some odd mini egg roll things MUST be had, among other things. It's a family thing, and can NOT be gotten around - everything else is flexible, but not those two things.
For many many years NYE involved New Years Rockin' Eve with Dick Clark, and we watch the people that are doing it now in his place, a little sad and missing Dick, and with an inward chuckle about the only dick I miss these days, is Mr. Clark on NYE.
No one on MY side of the family drinks but the very newly minted 21 year old (turned 21 on Dec 27th), and the newness will wear off and she'll more than likely join the family ranks of designated drivers that aren't "in recovery" just people that alcohol simply does nothing and holds no interest for.
The SigOth would likely "tie one on" because its a special occasion, but is on medication at the moment that does not permit alcohol consumption.
I am a stay at home type of person not prone to attend parties for holidays/events where there will be any kind of drinking because I have a near zero tolerance for being anywhere near anyone who is or has been, drinking, unless its to pick them up and run them home because they can't or shouldn't, drive.
I don't do the new years resolution thing, as I've never personally encountered anyone who ever kept one, so I can't be bothered.
I would likely be in bed early now that Dick Clark is gone, but I stay up because of neighbors and fireworks and a dog very intolerant of them, so will bark. No sense in going to sleep KNOWING he will unintentionally wake me up, and as its not something he will stop doing, there is no sense in yelling at him for doing it, which I would be VERY likely to do if I were sleeping when it started.
So. Tea made, pizza rolls & egg rolls in the freezer ready to go as well as some other assorted snackage... Just have to sit back, and wait for the SigOth to get home from work (she is in retail) and I'll be all ready to curl up under an afghan with snacks, the partner, and watch some tv and let the old year melt away quietly around us.

 

Yeah pretty much a big zip here.
We made a really nice shrimp cocktail with dinner but that's it.
I have reflected a bit on the past year. It has been a good one for our family. We need to keep doing the things that are working for us and the coming year can be even better.
But I will still be in bed sleeping at 10 pm tonight.
Now get off my lawn you damned kids!

 

I like time measurement, if that be a year, month, day, minute.
Tonight Ill have hot buttered rum and take a walk through the hood around midnight, maybe to the river.
I might pretend as I sometimes do, that its Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur coupled on the Gregorian calendar.
Make some noise and shed some sins.

 

As I mentioned in another thread, I hate New Year's Eve, but I didn't know that until my wife helpfully pointed it out.

I slept through the 1999/2000 rollover.

 

I forgot this was new year's eve until someone called me earlier today. Does not fall under a holiday or merit special attention in my opinion.
Just read the first post on here again, and I have to ask -
What is this "day off" business? Just another work day for me. December 31st just happened to fall on my Sunday this year.

 

Well, I love pretty much ANY holiday, so of course I make it a big deal.

This year's kind of a downer for me, though...Eden is sick, so no kiss at midnight for me. And NYE, for me, has always been about the midnight kiss. Sad face. Still. I have some champagne. I'm going to try the "Black Velvet," half champagne and half Guinness. It will probably be terrible, but whatevs. I also have some leftover sparklers from Independence Day that I'll be dancing around the yard with at midnight.

I should also add--I haven't gone OUT for NYE for...ummm...five years? Six? I enjoy staying in, sometimes with friends, sometimes not, and just chilling until 11 or so, when I tune into the Times Square shenanigans and start counting down.


I will be the first to acknowledge that I suck at resolutions...but it's the symbolism of it. The proverbial blank slate. The whole year is ahead of us, what are we going to do with it?

 

Not. It is usually a night for spending time with friends.
I'm drinking a glass of cava in the Bayou alone.
Usually we just hang out at someone's home and light shit on fire.

 

Until 1752, in Britain and its colonies, including what's now the U.S., the year started on March 25.

Yes, that's right, you'd have March 24, 1731, and then the next day would be March 25, 1732.

In September 1752, in order to join up with the Gregorian calendar (which had been used in Catholic countries since 1583), Britons skipped eleven days. The beginning of the year was also moved from March 25 to January 1.

When George Washington was born in Virginia, it was February 11, 1731. But under the Gregorian calendar, that same day was February 22, 1732.

Note that, by 1752, a number of other countries, including Scotland, started the year on January 1; there was potential confusion even within the British Isles.

So, in the decades just preceding 1752, dates from January 1 to March 24 were often written with both years, as follows:

February 11, 1731/32.​

So, when you see a date from the 18th century written that way, that's what it means.

Note that changing the beginning of the year to January 1 occurred at the beginning of 1752, even though the 11-day jump wasn't done until nine months later. So 1751 was a short year, from March 25 to December 31.

And if you think all this is a big complicated headache for anyone doing historical studies, it's just a snap compared to what some other countries went through.

In the Netherlands, different provinces switched to the Gregorian calendar at different times.

In one of the countries of Scandanavia (I think it was Sweden), they wanted to have a gradual transition. I think the idea was to skip one day per year until they caught up with the Gregorian calendar. But after they started doing this, they forgot to skip dates, and ended up being very confused.

And then there's Alaska, which, under Russian control, was still using the Julian calendar in 1867. More than that, Alaska was west of the International Date Line. When the Americans took over, Alaska joined the rest of North America on the east side of the International Date Line.

Hence, in Alaska, Friday, October 6, 1867 was followed by Friday, October 18, 1867; two Fridays in a row because of the date line shift.

 

Actually, I take that back. We went to a friend's house a couple years ago. I got smashed and gave a pack of sparklers to some teenagers who lived in the neighborhood, because they didn't have any fireworks (and we were yelling New Year's greetings to each other for like, 10 minutes.) I also insisted, when it was time to go home, that I ride in the back of the truck. Eden finally said okay (because he was tired of arguing with Drunk Cinna, probably), and it was amazingly beautiful.


Anyway, whether you think it's a big deal or not, I wish the very best for my fellow TFPers. May your 2014 kick ass.

 

I'm not a big drinker, but I do like a glass or two of something on occasion. This year I split a bottle of bubbles with Mrs Daniel, and noted the passing of the year.

2013 was and odd year, and the change of digits is an artefact of counting, but still, the new number marks a clearing of decks.

In 2014, unless existing plans fall down, I shall have a new home, new role at work, and various other new potential good things.

I don't make resolutions for the new year, but I will leave the thought I try to live by; try to make sure that when you leave, something is better than when you arrived, and try more to ensure that nothing is worse.

 

Thanks, @CinnamonGirl. I hope you have an amazingly spectacular 2014!
To me, every day is a big day (with birthdays being super-big). Every day is a new adventure.

 

I like ringing in the new year with friends, usually with fireworks and lots of laughter.
The new year itself isn't that important except that I hope it always goes better than the old.

 

I was sort of looking forward to starting a new year with the Big Dog behind me.
He just called.

I think I hate him.