new year's eve (NYE).  

at the moment, I am watching season 1 of new girl from my dvd received last week this time.  

stacey (my roommate and giver of said hilarity) and I have laughed so hard remembering these past episodes.  this show is my new 'friends'. both of these sitcoms hold up for me and can be watched again and again.  

truly.  the quotables and the ridiculousness that helps me escape real life and turn off my brain.  

oh. my. word.  

so so good.  it also reminds me of a community I once had.  the dynamic is not identical, of course, but the interactions between close friends, most specifically guy dynamic is so deeply funny and familiar.  

we started a new tradition of taking down all the ornaments off the tree and simply leaving the white lights to ring in the new year.  my friend, erin, gets the props for this idea.  traditions...sigh, lovely.

when harry met sally (always watch on NYE. #tradition) is soon to be popped into the dvd player, and I will choose to stay in this "first night" (as they call it in beantown), as a cathartic alternative to being in the cold ringing in with the masses elsewhere.  perhaps next year I will venture in to see the giant ice sculptures and listen to live music.  tonight, I am content here.  and, thankful... 

thankful that my friend, sarah, in austin, appears to be on the upswing.  

thankful that my friend, karlie, has only a sore back from a very scary car accident yesterday.

thankful for life, health, and friends.

speaking of art that holds up, as ever david gray playing on my shuffle on the drive home from work today made me want to write this post.  even when I rotate the vast library of david off of my music mix, I leave a handful of dg as a fixture.  this song is one of those staples... have a listen.

'new horizons', david gray.     

(lyrics below for those of you who like to read along and remember the days of tape/cd jackets.)

Weight on my shoulders
But I'm walking so tall
Out into the new horizon
Wonder in everything
No matter how great or small
Howlin' like the midnight
Howlin' like the midnight sun
And this ain't no pale reflection
This is the real thing
New horizon
New horizon within

And your heart ain't yours to control
No matter how tight the reigns
Love will find it's own direction
A time to reap, a time to sow
And many a time to cry in vain
But now the time to celebrate 
The glory of this imperfection
Same thing that's scrawled across the stars
Is written under our skin
New horizon 
New horizon within

Things come too easy, I get suspicious
Things come too slow, I get bored
If it don't work out I get superstitious
But if it does, oh my word

So I'm gathering all the remnants of beauty
From this wilderness in spin
And now I'm gonna light my own flame
'cause I'm charged with the radiance of the dawn
That's been so long breaking
Now there ain't nowhere
There ain't nowhere I won't write your name
There's a time to search for understanding
Sometime you just gotta sing
New horizon
New horizon within

Baby there's no need to get precious
When you know that everything must change
Complacency, it can be so vicious
Turn this love into a cage

Same thing that's scrawled across the stars
Is written under our skin
New horizon 
New horizon within.

today this song seemed apt. hope you enjoy.

within this twenty thirteen 1st january and 31st december...
I hope to find myself in grad school at some point this year.
I hope to be employed by a university.
I hope to live in the midst of a community of people with whom I do life--knowing them and being known by them.
I hope to know boston better and have attended multiple sporting events involving celts and sawks.

just a few hopes of the top of my head.
most of all, I will choose to hope.
may your new year be blessed with life, love, and other mysteries.
(if you start singing when you read that...well, you are welcome.  this phrase just stayed in my head in the early nineties, what can I say?  haha.)

cheers,
kb.