Janus

[steepholm]

I learned yesterday that my daughter had never heard of "Auld Lang Syne" (this while driving her to a New Year's Eve party).

"So what do you do at midnight, if not join hands and sing Robbie Burns?" I asked, realizing as I did so just how unlikely a scenario this actually was.

She looked at me as if I were mad.

As for me, once I heard the midnight fireworks I wandered to the back of Müller House, where there's a panoramic view of Bristol, and watched the green shoots and the white blossoms and the red flowers bloom prettily (花火=flower fire=hanabi=fireworks: my cognitive furniture has been shifted slightly by learning Japanese), while people half my age in novelty hats drank and cheered convivially all around. Not a bad end/start to the year, really - but next time I would like to be sharing it with friends, not friendly strangers.

I hope your 2015 started well, and as it means to go on.

Comments

[thistleingrey]

Some of my agemate friends and I sing "Auld Lang Syne," so it goes that far (fortyish), though I wonder now to what extent that particular group has been influenced by older anglophiles who do Dickens Fair, Society for Creative Anachronism, and the like.

p.s. I know that Burns was Scottish, not English. The friends of friends are definitely anglophiles, however.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

When I was a kid New Years Eve was all about Andy Stewart (wheeled out once a year on castors) and bagpipes and kilts and braw young lassies doing the Highland reel. That seems to have died the death. I imagine the Scots hated it as much as we did.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

They have Burns Night too, within a month (on my birthday, in fact) - it does seem like overkill.

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

Happy New Year, steepholm!

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

And to you!

[jobey-in-error.livejournal.com]

Happy New Year!

Good odds of spending the night with real friends next year? (I've been in a similar situation. Not having a daughter to chauffeur, I decided this year to simply get some sleep around 11. By the time midnight gets to California, I figure the new year has already arrived so many places…)

It is amazing what knowledge gaps there are. I'm surprised by the "Auld Lang Syne" lacuna, yet not surprised-surprised.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

Happy New Year to you, too!

Good odds of spending the night with real friends next year?

I never seem to get invitations - but perhaps I could send them? The trouble is, at ten minutes past midnight my beautiful ballgown is liable to turn into a dressing gown and a mug of cocoa, so I'll have to find a way of clearing the house as soon as the bongs have bonged. A hoax call to the emergency services may be indicated...

[jobey-in-error.livejournal.com]

That is a point I can completely understand.

How cold-weather are you? Here in southern California, I am envisioning calling a gathering in a neutral area, like a nice park or cove, at around 11:20. Light a bonfire, make s'mores, bring hot chocolate in thermoses, share New Year's Resolutions… and everyone agrees to drive away after midnight.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

That's a great idea, and although we're probably quite a bit colder than you that wouldn't be a deal-breaker (one can always don a sweater) - but this is England, so there's always at least a 50% chance of rain...

[ethelmay.livejournal.com]

as soon as the bongs have bonged

Oh, well, if it's that sort of party...