New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve in State College is called "First Night", but as I considered this, isn't it technically the last? Anyhoo, for such a small town, there is a lot to do and quite a lot of diversity too! There were tons of different music groups performing: bagpipes, drums, jazz, harps, random bands, etc. Also, something pretty cool they do is recreate a burning man (see description at end of post) with resolutions and regrets to be burned before midnight. A 5K, a parade similar to my beloved May Day Parade from Mpls, and an ice sculpture competition were also spectator events that everyone seemed to enjoy witnessing.

Do you believe that we made this?











and this...












and this...












Explanation of Burning Man in Nevada: to quote their site, "people make the journey to the Black Rock Desert for one week out of the year to be part of an experimental community, which challenges its members to express themselves and rely on themselves to a degree that is not normally encountered in one's day-to-day life." In other words, mountain bikers go to the desert to do drugs and burn a wooden person. It can have a more cerebral meaning for people, but think Woodstock with more art and you'll get close. Note that this is not the feeling in State College, but I'm merely comparing the feeling of community and the burning of something in representation of something else. In this case, burn 2007, on with 2008!

Sadly, Anja didn't sleep well last night, so we had to skip the burning completely and come home to put our little pumpkin to bed. It would've been nice to warm up--it's actually cold out there tonight.

Happy New Year!