Some New Photos to Ring in the New Year

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What better way to celebrate the New Year than to post a bunch of new photos to my Wheelchair Kamikaze photo gallery? Who needs silly hats, noisemakers, confetti, countdowns, dropping balls, Auld Lang Syne, consuming copious amounts of champagne, kissing attractive strangers at the stroke of midnight, dealing with amateur drunks throwing up all over the place, waiting endlessly for nonexistent taxicabs (maybe just a problem in NYC), assiduously avoiding stepping in the wide swaths of vomit left by the aforementioned amateur drunks, or hoping vainly that the coming year will provide answers to all of life's problems? Much better to post photos on your surprisingly popular MS blog.

Truth be told, in my younger, healthier days I used to be absolutely mad about New Year's Eve, even though I was a habitual prowler of the night and compulsive chaser of the seductive pleasures it promised. Most of my fellow denizens of the dark held the holiday in holier than thou contempt, horrified that our dimly lit world would be so sullied by an army of once a year dilettantes, invaded by hordes of unseasoned dabblers in the murky nocturne.

Still, the allure of New Year's Eve held me in its thrall, its promise of renewal, second chances, and new beginnings far too enticing to be passed up. The reality of the evening’s festivities rarely lived up to their anticipation, and quite often descended into a farcical scramble from one party to the next, crisscrossing the town in vain pursuit of that perfect fete that likely only existed in the imaginations of me and my companions. In retrospect those long-ago madcap journeys were far more entertaining than their intended destinations, and my youthful New Year's Eve misadventures provided fodder for many a happy memory. Yes, those were the days of wine and roses, and I wouldn't trade them for anything in the world.

I still love the idea of the out with the old, in with the new spirit of New Year's Eve, although living with a chronically disabling disease does put something of a damper on any excited anticipation of the future. The annual holidays serve as markers along the road of disease progression, as a quick review of recent New Year's Eves past makes my declining physical state glaringly apparent, and begs the question of what further insult and damage this next stanza might hold. Then again, this could be the year that things take a turn for the better, as I have some interesting new treatment options to explore (more on these in later blog entries), and my lack of a definitive diagnosis leaves open all sorts of possibilities. So, damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead! All anybody really has is the present moment anyway, the past is gone and the future is inscrutable, so live for today, and today is New Year's Eve, so might as well celebrate it like it will be the last New Year's Eve in history. Hey, if the Mayans were right, it will be (click here)…

Anyway, I seem to have veered far from my original intent to write a quick paragraph and post a few photos, so let's get on with the photo posting. The following shots are a mixed lot, almost all taken in Central Park, a few with the toy camera lens I like to play with (click here), and others extreme close ups of flowers taken with a macro adapter attached to another funky cheap lens I like to mess with. They were all shot with a camera mounted to the arm of my wheelchair, as my wonky physical state makes it impossible to hold a camera to my eye. As always, comments and critiques are highly valued, negative and positive alike. So, feel free to tell me which photos you love and which shots you loathe, and above all, I wish you all a wonderfully happy new year!


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