New Year's Eve

  I realized this year that I haven't really gone out on a New Year's Eve without being the bartender in I don't know how long. And it's been at least a coon's age since I have even BEEN a bartender (without a golf cart anyway)...

  So last night, there was no way we were sitting at home, so we wandered down the hill to The Holey Cow because we were enticed by the delicious sounding Community Dinner. As it turns out, it wasn't only delicious sounding, I was actually thinking about licking my plate...but we hung out with Jamie and her daughter Lily for a bit, the grownups toasted the Old Year while the kiddo did dishes, and it was the beginning of a pretty epic night, but not epic like in the olden days...and I don't even know what that means, so don't ask...

  Then we dragged our fat and sassy butts up the hill, got the truck and headed to Northwood, or The 'Wood, as we call it when we need to sound extra cool. The Thugz were playing. HippieFest, Northwood edition. YES!!!

  So we walked in and looked around for a bit. It was quite a crowd. One of the first people we saw was my pal C. He was dancing with his lady, singing all the words like he does...I used to think C was a really serious Thugz fan because he could sing every single word. Then I remembered that The Thugz play a lot of The Dead. A LOT lot. They're kind of known for that...

  There's nothing quite like a HippieFest night. That's what we started calling Thugz night a long time ago, by the way. I think I came up with the name, actually...you can tell because it's not terribly creative. None of my nicknames for stuff are...HippieFest, Creepy Tom, Yucky Tom, Visor Boy, Bad Mike ;) You get the picture. But back to HippieFest...there is such an awesomely eclectic crowd ALWAYS, no matter when these people play. Ya got C and his lady, then, I saw Moss. All you locals know who Moss is, even if you don't know you know...he's the guy that is either on a skateboard, a bicycle, or a skateboard with a handle. He's maybe 60ish and likes to color his hair and has a very festive way of dressing every day. But guess what? This was special. This was NYE. Moss was wearing a black cape. Not only that, he knows the rules of wearing one. In the cape wearing rule book it clearly states that if one is wearing a cape, one must allow it to swing in an awesome way when one turns whilst walking...Moss nailed it.

  We grabbed some seats and proceeded to people watch and sip our beers. Always the observer, I noticed that white people do this thing on the way to the dance floor. About halfway between wherever they're sitting and the dance floor, they make the dance face (it's different for everyone, but usually is some version of the duck face) and start dancing their way to the dance floor. I've watched a lot of people, and it's usually just us white folks. I do it too. Whether there is music or not. Well of course, soon after that I have to join the fun on the dance floor. BF thinks I laugh at him, but I always giggle the entire time I dance at Hippiefest. Why? Because it is awesome. You have C and his lady. You have BF and me. You have the one creepy dude standing in the middle of the dance floor geebing at everyone cuz he's to drunk to actually dance. You have people in their 70's dancing their butts off, having a groovy time. You have your token dreadlocked hippies, usually barely 21, but having fun. You have a lot of tye dye. You have a lot of different people doing their thing, but having a blast together. No matter what you do or what you look like, you will not be the most eccentric dresser, or the dancer with the oddest rhythm. I don't know if it's like this everywhere, but I have a feeling it isn't and I feel a bit sorry for people that don't get it. Weirdos are totally rad and it was awesome to ring in another new year with my people!!