New Years Party!

So today was Yom Kippur, the most important Jewish holiday of the year. It's a time when we are supposed to reflect on the mistakes we've made over the year and create a new self for the coming year. And we're not allowed to eat.

Since my biggest flaw is being [more] lazy and unproductive [than I should be], I decided to wake up at 8 am and start sending emails. By 10 am I was already hungry, and by 11 I wondered how much longer I could go.

So I walked to Shul (a yiddish word for synagogue), to go to services. Save for a 10 minute sermon, I had trouble really repenting on a year's worth of wrongs.

After the service, I saw a friend that essentially preached to me for a half hour, the importance of yom kippor, observance, and repentance. She stressed that today, I needed to take the rest of the day off and reflect, rather than act on anything.

What she did not know is that this is inherently my fatal flaw; in the time to act, I am busy reflecting. My regrets from the year stem primarily from reflecting when I should have been acting. To right this wrong, I had to act.

The second I left synagogue I checked my email from my phone and realized that I had, while 'praying' received a few emails that I could reply to immediately. I read and replied as I walked to Rite Aid, where I bought office supplies (labeled as school supplies) for 75% off. I was breaking several religious mores simultaneously.

I went back to the office and tried to repent. It's really hard to repent. Instead, I sent emails and G-chatted.

I came back to my house and watched an episode of Mad Men and took a nap. I woke up SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Hungry. Why, of all days, would today be my busy day?

I got ready to go out. I was planning on going to breakfast at Moishe House and from there, straight to 9:30 club to shoot an event for BYT.

All went as planned. I got a nice Jewish girl's phone number, took a bus to the show, and watched "The Big Lebowski" on the big screen. I met up with (and had a free ticket for) my friend Robyn, a freelance journalist and awesome person. She had gotten to the club via Moped.

Afterwards, we had a few drinks at another bar, I met a few people who I'm sure are very cool but all I really know about them were their names" John (head of Bocce DC) Sigmund, and Kim, and Carter.

The clincher of the story.... is how I got home. I convinced Robyn to take me home on the back of her moped. Sure, it was designed for one. She had never tried it with two.

I held on to her tight as we sped down the streets. I leaned with her turns. I was exhilarated and daring. Despite the wind, our proximinity allowed us to talk to one another. Tears streaked across my cheeks as the cold air released pure adrenaline.

IT WAS AWESOME.