HAPPY NEW YEAR!

++ HAPPY NEW YEAR!! it's 2004!

..so there is a chinese custom on the Chinese Lunar New Year (which isn't the same as everybody elses new year and doesn't usually fall on the same day as the last) that whatever you do on new year's day will foreshadow the rest of the year. ok, maybe thats not quite it. but its close. so all debts are settled before the new year. red is considered lucky, so everyone decorates everything with red. people, usually elders, give the younger people in the family little red envelopes containing money, called 'lucky money'. everyone dresses up in new clothes from hats down to the shoes as this symbolizes renewel and a fresh start in life for the coming year. everyone visits each other and spends loads of money on entertainment. and to top it all off, everyone lights firecrackers at the stroke of midnight.

and so i on new year's day welcomed the first day of the year by staying up til 8 in the morning watching the entire second season of friends with chubbs, i mean fatass, i mean tubbs, i mean cow, i mean suzie! a great way to bring in the new year. :) ++