�

Let's start with a long line of not-so-great New Years. I brought in the new millenium with hearing a drunk "friend" trash talk all over our 21 years of friendship. Luckily, when I went off to college and started dressing more like a girl, I also grew a set of balls. I confronted her about it immediately and not only killed the party and the fun, but also that friendship. A year later, Dr. No, my college roommate and another close friend went casting about our college town for a party and ended up at a gay bar drinking, somewhat uncomfortably, next to several large men dressed like the biker from the Village People, only with assless chaps. 2002 was spent at a bar in Beverly Hills for which I paid $80 dollars, and ended up getting two drinks, a huge stain on my new dress, and a big fight on the way home with a friend who wanted to do afterhours at 6am. The only afterhours at 6am is Denny's. The New Years celebration bringing in 2003 found me sitting at home with my family drinking sparkling cider and going to bed at 11.

This year, I've been invited to a killer bash in Chicago by my ambassador to LA who moved there a little over a year ago and whom I've seen twice since then. Not only is she renting out a bar for the night, but six of my friends from here in LA are going, four friends from high school who I never get to see, and a slew of college and post-college friends that all live in the Chicago area.

And where will I be? Sitting here in LA in my apartment by myself while I wait for my temp agency to call with an assignment because I'm so broke, not only can I not change my flight to fly back through Chicago, but if I don't utilize every single day of temp working potential, I will owe my parents double-digit grands, and I'm not willing to do that.

Once again, the New Years fun elludes me. This time from the southern windy shores of Lake Michigan.

Damn it!