A very happy New Year to all of you! In the first edition of 2010, read about New Year resolutions and what we think about it. Also, read how love makes you creative, being single this festive season and the party updates of our time during the Christmas. Welcome to the spread…

New Year is the time when we are game for resolutions! If you are thinking that I belong to some different planet and actually stick to my New Year resolutions, you can’t be farther from the truth! But there must be some ways in which you can actually fulfill what you have determined over the course of an year. Adrian feels, “You got to set small targets! The bigger goal can be achieved only if you meet these small targets.” That’s sensible enough. Megan adds, “To begin with, you have to make realistic resolutions.”

But whatever be our resolutions, it reflects a lot of wish fulfillment. More often than not, we go off on a tangent, setting goals that can hardly be called practical. But that’s the charm of it all! If your dreams and wishes are so realistic and well analyzed, they can hardly be called so. The beginning of the year is when we allow ourselves to indulge in some ideal pursuits and it’s better we leave it at that. At least, I would definitely draw up a list of resolutions that won’t have a tick mark against any when the year draws to a close!

Do you get more creative when you are in love? The answer seems to be an emphatic yes for my niece Rachael. Rachael got some wonderful roses from Eleanor as a gift. Eleanor promised her those flowers because she came to know that the reason Rachael asked for them has something to do with the heart. Rachael took these flowers and decided to decorate them as a centerpiece for Charlie, her boyfriend’s study table. Before Rachael got the flowers, a sketch of how it will be done up was already ready on her desk. Now that’s some planning that we got to learn, folks!

Though I didn’t see the actual flower basket that Rachael made, Liz, her mom, sent me a snap of it. It looked beautiful. Rachael arranged the flowers in an ornate tea pot and placed it over a cup which had intricate decorations on it. The raised platform did wonders for visual effect. Liz told me that the different artifacts used were packed separately with an instruction on how to set it up! That was Rachael’s New Year gift to Charlie. Now I’m tempted to borrow the idea when I need it. So can you. For herself, Rachael will think of a better one next time!

Steve has the wonderful knack of finding some hope when there is apparently none. Readers know that he’s broken up a couple of months back. It was the worst time for him, but he decided to take it in his stride. The winter season is great for love and going single into the best time of the year isn’t much fun. Ask me! Steve doesn’t think so. He told me by the office cooler, “I’m saving a lot of dough, you know, mean that it may sound!” It does sound a little absurd compensation for a relationship, but then we have to hunt out the silver lining if we can’t see one!

Steve informed me that he’s been spending a lot of time with the family, calling them regularly. He’s meeting new people, thanks to some book clubs that he has joined. “The best part is, I’m catching up on a lot of rest!” he told me happily. My friends feel that this enthusiasm could be a cover-up for the fact that he’s missing his significant other. It can be true. But what they didn’t understand is that Steve is making an effort to get over it rather than sink into it. I think that is highly commendable.

I love this time of the year! The party fever is at its highest pitch and there’s something very special in the air that we breathe in. I know you are curious about the Christmas parties we had here! We had a fabulous one at Rick’s place, except the solitary incident when Rick accidentally poured some soft drink on Kaitlin’s head, things were great. The office party was a success, too. There was no untoward hiccups, though Ryan was totally drunk halfway through the evening. We were really expecting him to do something stupid, but he was grumpy for some reason and kept to a corner!

This year proved again that life in New York City is fun primarily because of the wonderful people I call friends. I would be lying if I said I didn’t miss my family, but my friends more than made up for it. There’s so much camaraderie that it’s difficult to imagine myself in any other place on the earth on a festive season. And yes, Sarah did call me and meet me on Christmas eve! What happened at our time together is beyond the scope of this edition of my newsletter. Stay tuned for the next one!

As a Zen quote, here’s what Oscar Wilde thinks about New Year resolutions: “Good resolutions are simply checks that men draw on a bank where they have no account.” Interesting, eh?