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News & ArtsThursday, December 31, 2009
Life Ten Years Is a Long Time
Posted by Eli Sanders on Thu, Dec 31, 2009 at 5:48 PM
Ten years ago today I was in Goa, at a rave, getting hit in the face. Ten years ago today David Schmader was riding around in a cab driven by Grant Cogswell, because if the world was really going to end at the stroke of midnight on December 31, 1999, he thought it was best to keep moving. Ten years ago today Jesse Vernon was in Jamaica having a really horrible experience at an all-inclusive resort and "getting my hair braided in really fucked up ways." Ten years ago today Charles Mudede woke from deep slumber at his home: "I got up, and I looked to see what was going on in New Zealand, and I saw that nothing was wrong, and I went back to sleep." Ten years ago today Annie Wagner was skinny dipping. Ten years ago today Grant Brissey was at a loft party downtown, running around on the roof and yelling: "I'm not Y2K compliant!" Ten years ago today Dominic Holden was partying in a park with a bunch of hippies and drinking nice champagne and waiting for the Space Needle to explode. Ten years ago today Christopher Frizzelle was enjoying his first apartment on Capitol Hill. Ten years ago today Jen Graves was in Denton, Texas. Ten years ago today Eric Grandy was—well, here's what he says: "Man, we might have been having a house party at this house I was renting in Bellevue. And I might have been... uh... I can't remember. Clearly it was memorable."
And you? What were you doing at the dawn of the decade that ends tonight?
1
I was serving at a Ruby Tuesday's in Tennessee. At the time I realized it could only get better from there. Glad I was right.
2
I was at work, same as now. Same place, same job, doing the same damn thing, making sure the world doesn't fall apart.
4
I had just that day moved in with my good pals into an apartment right next to Seattle Center, so we had a party in our box-filled living room. At midnight we went out into the street to watch the Space Needle fireworks and the power went out for a minute or two and you could hear the whole neighborhood WHOOOO!!! But the lights came back on and the drunken behavior and debauchery continued. Good times.
5
I was working at a bank in Pittsburgh, and on the Y2K testing team for my department. I didn't drink or go out or anything because I had to be at work at 6 a.m. on New Year's Day. I was pissed because I had to take a cab (which meant being up to call a cab at 4:30) because my bus didn't run that early on the Sunday/holiday schedule.
Yeah, life is much better now.
Yeah, life is much better now.
6
i was doing a set at the back door lounge that included playing prince's 1999 (..for the last time ever..or so i think) and ending with polkacide's cover of thebeer barrel polka.. people polka'd so hard they fell down... rob and i ate 'e'e together for the first and last time..and then went dancing at rebar .we were still 'just friends. while on 'e'e he kissed me for the first time and i asked him why.. and he said ' i love you riz...and i want the whole world to know it. we've been together ever since.. and this past summer were married..
bite it haters...love conquers ALL
bite it haters...love conquers ALL
7
Ten years ago today I was working at my (and many, many others') dream job, where I'd been for 12 years already, but the changes had already begun that would lead less than three years later (through no fault of my own other than eternal optimism) to my world being turned upside down. Eight years later, with some very minor exceptions, life still sucks.
And yet, life is. The curiosity remains to see what the fuck happens next.
And yet, life is. The curiosity remains to see what the fuck happens next.
8
i was shrooming my ass off with my boyfriend and my best friend. my boyfriend was on the bed repeating, "am i dying?" over and over again, my best friend was in the other room, talking to the couch (and realizing for the first time that OTHER PEOPLE ACTUALLY EXIST, the asshole), and i was trying to explain how perfect and wonderful and interconnected the universe was, and wasn't it all so beautiful, it all makes perfect sense! i was so high i could make it be midnight again if i wanted to. in my head, midnight 2000 happened about fifty times. fabulous.
9
Probably at some crap party where some jerk was snidely pronouncing for all to hear that he knew Y2K was bullshit.
Tonight I celebrated Noche Vieja in Puerta del Sol, Madrid! Life is great, Walker, Texas Ranger is even WORSE in Español, and that guy is still a jerk.
Happy New Year Slog.
Tonight I celebrated Noche Vieja in Puerta del Sol, Madrid! Life is great, Walker, Texas Ranger is even WORSE in Español, and that guy is still a jerk.
Happy New Year Slog.
10
I was getting drunk for the first time. I was 18, and my parents had the excellent notion to put me and a friend in our basement tv room, and buy us several bottles of alcohol. I firmly believed at the time that I was not, in fact, intoxicated, and that I would be madly spinning around the little pillar in the middle of the room anyway. In fact, that I did that sort of thing all the time. I don't think my friend believed me, but she was on acid, so who knows.
11
I was at a fuckin' fantastic party at a friend's house near 23rd & Cherry in the CD. Legendary. Got home to my boring Bellevue house around 7:30 AM, feeling like you might expect. At 8 AM some dick from the Seattle Times calls.... see the last few two mini-paragraphs of:
http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.c…
http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.c…
12
I was in Dupo, Illinois, being sixteen and confused. I kissed my friend at midnight, because he'd kissed me seven days before. Led to two months of drama... possibly longer, as I may have blocked some of it out.
This decade encompasses the entirety of my adult life. Having graduated in the year 2000 makes for very tidy divisions between this and that. It almost seems fake, it's so convenient.
This decade encompasses the entirety of my adult life. Having graduated in the year 2000 makes for very tidy divisions between this and that. It almost seems fake, it's so convenient.
13
My first sergeant did not like me, so I was the Staff Duty NCO for New Year's Eve 1999.
I still managed to get away briefly and have a good time without anyone being the wiser.
It's a good story. Get me drunk someday and I'll tell it.
I still managed to get away briefly and have a good time without anyone being the wiser.
It's a good story. Get me drunk someday and I'll tell it.
14
In the middle of the California desert, because we figured if Y2K was going to be as calamitous as theorized, then the giant Mayan death serpents would attack the cities first. So we wanted that little head start.
16
Riz, that was excellent. Thanks for sharing - I'm so happy for you. You boys have a kisck-ass, safe, married (!!!) new year.
17
Ugh. That was the New Year's Eve that a guy I really, really liked dumped me after getting me really, really stoned. It was my fault: I started seeing him when he was still with his old boyfriend, and he dumped me when he found a new boyfriend. It was like living in a country song.
Oh well, I'm older and wiser now, but I still hate New Year's Eve.
Oh well, I'm older and wiser now, but I still hate New Year's Eve.
18
That was in the middle of the last time I went to my parents' home for all of the holiday break during college. I sent my friends texts at midnight because it was new and trendy and drank plonk with my family as Dick Clark and Peter Jennings counted down the year's final minutes over and over again.
I also tried to convince people that the new millennium would not start until the following year, but was mostly ignored on that point.
I also tried to convince people that the new millennium would not start until the following year, but was mostly ignored on that point.
19
I was sitting on my living room couch getting drunk with the wife. And watching TV as the new year hit most of the rest of the world first without any problems. I don't believe I really breathed a sigh of relief until it was midnight in New York, though.
20
Emily and I had just moved to New York from Seattle and were living in this horrible apartment in Hell's Kitchen. We didn't really expect any Y2K madness to happen but we didn't want to be anywhere near Times Square regardless, so we rented a car and took our first trip out of town, across the Catskills to Cooperstown. We stayed in this weird bed & breakfast above a sports memorabilia store and went to a couple smalltown bars and had some smalltown Chinese food (which is often good). It was fun.
21
I was isolated in the middle of the Sonoran Desert, just north of the Mexican border, tripping balls on a lot of amazingly strong acid.
It was the first time in my life I'd tasted colors.
It was the first time in my life I'd tasted colors.
22
I was at a nothing Y2Kish is going to happen party. I am now making plans for a nothing 2012ish is going to happen party for December 21, 2012.
23
In my parents' house in Orange County, California. As a totally lame, awkward 16 year old, I was most likely playing a computer game or something. It was almost certainly Planescape: Torment.
25
I was living in Olympia, drank WAY TOO much, poked a dead critter with a stick, then poked a friend in the face with the same stick. My fiance drove us home while I hung my head out of the car window like a dog. Ever since then, I've stayed home.
26
I was on a garage rooftop in Tacoma, performing for First Night with a fire circus. At midnight, we set off 2000 roman candles all at once, and I stood in the middle of an skyward-rushing waterfall of light and explosions.
27
I was at a Drum & Bass/Tech House party being thrown by a few of my friends in Buffalo, NY. One of my friends was the MC. He totally fucked up the countdown and no-one realized it was 2000 until about a minute after it actually happened.
29
I was in Florence (yes, Italy) watching fireworks from the hill overlooking the city. It's been a pretty good decade for me.
30
My jackass boyfriend was old enough to by champagne, so we got four bottles of really shitty Andre, rented a hotel room at the Silver Cloud in Renton, and listened to Dr. Dre's The Chronic 2001 all night long. Ten years later, I've lost the taste for Andre and the shitty boyfriend, but Dre is still my second love.
32
I was ten, and playing beanie babies and Nintendo 64 with the other kids in the basement of my dad's work. He and his coworkers were making sure the computers didn't shit themselves at midnight.
33
I was in my mother's living room tripping with a group of friends on acid and getting way excited about what a once in a fucking millennium event we were about to experience. I spilt my champagne on the floor and almost lit the house on fire
Good times. No, I mean REALLY good times.
Good times. No, I mean REALLY good times.
34
If I recall correctly, traipsing around downtown with my new roommate and some of his friends - I'd moved here about two months ago
35
I was in 6th grade, praying for the world to end because I hadn't finished my science project for next semester. It's a good thing I've always had my priorities straight, even as a child.
36
10 years ago, I was in bed for 9, because I had to cook brunch at the Sazerac the next morning. and the next morning, we were slammed by a whole hotel full of surly hungover people in need of protein, starch and grease.
37
I was the campaign manager for a guy who won the election to become mayor of a medium sized town. He officially took office at midnight, so he was briefed on what to do if Y2K was serious. (Did you know that local elected officials have almost dictatorial authority in times of civil unrest?)
Anyway, I was at a fairly swank party, along with the soon-to-be mayor, his wife, his nephew, and a bunch of local movers and shakers. He wouldn't drink at all, in case he had to command the SWAT teams or something. His nephew and I did, however. The (high-quality) booze was free, so we had a martini-drinking contest going (me gin, the nephew vodka).
Somewhere around 2:00, we compared notes and had finished off 10 each. The now-mayor's wife overheard us, and yelled "11!"
Anyway, I was at a fairly swank party, along with the soon-to-be mayor, his wife, his nephew, and a bunch of local movers and shakers. He wouldn't drink at all, in case he had to command the SWAT teams or something. His nephew and I did, however. The (high-quality) booze was free, so we had a martini-drinking contest going (me gin, the nephew vodka).
Somewhere around 2:00, we compared notes and had finished off 10 each. The now-mayor's wife overheard us, and yelled "11!"
38
I'd just gotten the girl I was seeing to trust me enough to let me live in her apartment on the Hill. My friends Greg and Terri came and got us and drove us to a happening party in an abandoned print plant in Interbay. Colored lights strung up on decaying cinder block walls. Terri passed on about six years later, Greg moved to Hawaii, but the girl and I are still in the Hill apartment.
39
Drinking. Heavily. Something called "Liquid Cocaine", as I recall, which may be some combination of Jaegermeister and Goldschaeger. I figured, if the world was going to end, I was going to be too drunk to notice. It worked, except that I woke up and almost immediately wished that the world actually HAD ended...
40
I was eight and running up and down the street until midnight simply because I was excited that I was going to see a new millennium, and wouldn't the coming years be AMAZING?
Sometimes, oddly enough, I think that childish wonder may hold some truth.
Sometimes, oddly enough, I think that childish wonder may hold some truth.
41
Standing in the middle of the street in downtown Pasadena with a zillion other people, throwing tortillas in the air. To this day, I do not know where the tortillas came from, but there were a lot to go around.
42
Ten years ago... body shots and dancing in the street. I was more than a little pissed that night.
43
Seeing as how I was an 11 year-old girl, I was talking on the phone with my bestie watching fireworks on the TV. We are still BFF so I consider it a successful decade.
44
Ten years ago today i was lying in a deep fever in a beach bungalow on a small island in Thailand while my travel partner smoked thai stick with the locals. I remember hearing the sounds of a truly awesome party going on outside my door on the beach...and fireworks went off sometime while i was stumbling to the bathroom to puke up some more of my intestines. I remember hating the damn doctor who convinced me to take malaria pills.
46
10 years ago...
oh yes-
I was doing community service!
The Advocate (The national gay & lesbian newsmagazine) > December 19, 2000
Journalist Dan Savage avoided a possible six-year prison sentence by pleading guilty to voter fraud charges November 7. The charges stem from an incident last year, when Savage, a Washington State resident, infiltrated the presidential campaign of antigay GOP candidate Gary Bauer and then cast a ballot during the Iowa caucus. Savage, a columnist for Out magazine, wrote an article for the online magazine Salon recounting how he had faked his way into Bauer's office to protest his antigay platform. In the article he also said he had licked doorknobs, doormats and toilet seats at campaign headquarters, hoping to give Bauer a bout of the flu. After pleading guilty, Savage was sentenced to a year's probation, 50 hours of community service, and a $750 fine.
oh yes-
I was doing community service!
The Advocate (The national gay & lesbian newsmagazine) > December 19, 2000
Journalist Dan Savage avoided a possible six-year prison sentence by pleading guilty to voter fraud charges November 7. The charges stem from an incident last year, when Savage, a Washington State resident, infiltrated the presidential campaign of antigay GOP candidate Gary Bauer and then cast a ballot during the Iowa caucus. Savage, a columnist for Out magazine, wrote an article for the online magazine Salon recounting how he had faked his way into Bauer's office to protest his antigay platform. In the article he also said he had licked doorknobs, doormats and toilet seats at campaign headquarters, hoping to give Bauer a bout of the flu. After pleading guilty, Savage was sentenced to a year's probation, 50 hours of community service, and a $750 fine.
48
At a house party in Chicago. Since the year 2000 had made its way through Russia and New York it was pretty evident that the apocalypse wasn't going to hit Lincoln Park when the clock struck twelve but the possibility was still remote enough to entertain.
49
I was in Blackfoot, Idaho, visiting home for the winter break from the UW. I went to a party where we all dressed up "fancy", which just leads to tragedy when you're a bunch of 19 year olds from small towns in SE Idaho. The pictures look like some farmer's version of burning man. My outfit involved a heavily modified green prom dress-waistcoat and platform patent mary janes. *shudder*. We drank lightly and debated the merits of the "Velvet Goldmine" soundtrack.
50
Playing a new year's eve symphony concert here in Spokane. It's pretty rednecky here, so people were actually doing stuff like stocking up on canned food and studying wind patterns to see where they should go to avoid nuclear fallout (because, y'know, the Y2K glitch was going to mess up the military computers and set off WW3 and everything)... so it was kind of neat when, in this faux-swanky ballroom at the convention center, they shut off the lights and began popping balloons. I still don't know if that was a boneheaded move on the management's part, or a snarky comment on all the Y2K panic.
51
I was...not so young. We had the usual 8-10 friends visiting from out of state. Went out about 11PM for a couple hours then stumbled back for a full turkey meal. People were cynical and ready to party after suffering through various Y2K crap at various jobs. ETOH, NO2, and THC saved the day saved the day including for those with security clearances!
53
Ten years ago? Getting wasted on cheap champagne, eating a lot of pizza, vomiting said pizza on my friend Victoria's parents' living room carpet, passed out when the clock struck midnight. Ah, the stupid shit you get into when you're 17.
55
I was with my wife on the mall in DC watching Clinton give a speech. . . Bono play "One," and two jackass women dance in the reflecting pool in 40 degree weather.
56
What was Unpaid Intern doing, hah?
I was in Olympia, downtown, and many were out of town to celebrate in a more happening city like Seattle. We freaking broke into the year 2000 yet everyone around me was very unenthusiastic. It was one of the fucking lames NYEves I've ever had
I was in Olympia, downtown, and many were out of town to celebrate in a more happening city like Seattle. We freaking broke into the year 2000 yet everyone around me was very unenthusiastic. It was one of the fucking lames NYEves I've ever had
57
I was 22 and in New Orleans, and hadn't learned the sin of mixing various alcohols on an empty stomach. At some point after midnight, I blacked out and don't remember anything. To this day, I worry that I'm on some girls gone wild video.
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