The Curse

I am a slave to the belief that how I spend New Year’s Eve will determine how I feel for the entire year. On December 31,2004, I took a chance and got a ride to Madison Square Garden where Wilco was performing. It already felt weird because I was skipping the last Guided by Voices show at the Metro—I didn’t go because like many fans I felt it would just be too sad. When I was treated by Wilco as a pest I was furious but was stuck in New York. Plus I had terrorism jitters and lived in fear until midnight had passed. I’d thought maybe Destiny had lured me to New York under false pretenses only to die in an apocalypse. A lot of good things happened in 2005 but I could not shake a year-long pall that followed me whenever I went. I was determined to have a good December 31, 2005, which I did, and the curse was lifted. (Thax Douglas)