Happy New Year!

N to the ZED is back! I know you haven’t left your laptops since late December. Sorry. Just because I’m unemployed doesn’t mean I don’t deserve a holiday vacation.

New Zealand was one the first “major” countries to ring in the New Year. I thought this would lead to all sorts of excitement. After all, it is not that often that New Zealand has the opportunity to lead the world in something. I forgot to take my own advice: “don’t expect much.”

Perhaps the atmosphere would have been different if I had been at a big outdoor event or a bar. Instead, I was in a residential home. I thought, “House parties are fun. We’ll watch the ball drop on TV.” Well, there is no ball! Not even a crystal sheep to lower from the mountain tops! We watched “party music videos” on C4 TV. There was a digital clock in the upper left corner of the screen. One minute, it was 11:59pm. The next, it was 12:00am. No countdown. No anticipation. No Auld Lang Syne. Boooring.

Someone asked if it is tradition in America to have a new year’s kiss. I said yes, but the truth is that my tradition involves meticulously timing my drinking so that I’m in the kitchen topping up the bubbly at the stroke of midnight. It beats awkwardly watching other partygoers make out and then accepting pity hugs at 12:01am. I have my pride, thank you!

On January 1, I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was still 2008. Around 5:30pm (11:30pm EST), I poured myself a glass of holiday cheer and turned on CNN international. Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffin were in Times Square. I counted backwards, watched the ball drop , watched the Clintons dance, and celebrated the arrival of the real new year.

I wish you all the very best in 2009, dear readers! The new year has a lot to live up to because my 2008 was pretty great.