New Year's Bye

Grand. It's 2008 and things are different. I've promised to not eat fried foods, drink or overeat for the remainder of the month. One depressing semester of classes remains before I can happily assert that no more undergrad work is in my future. I'm back home, somewhat.
Where I'm currently living feels alien. It certainly isn't where I want to stay. My classes are the victory lap I never wanted; I'm trying-on being introverted and quiet so as to avoid the inevitable frustration of dealing with people who haven't been around long enough to realize that some questions are dumb and that you don't voice them in large auditoriums.
A close friend of mine is leaving and although I'm happy for her it feels like a goodbye forever. Knowing her, it very well could be a goodbye until 2009 or 2010 (if we see each other before one of us turns thirty). Her celebratory dinner was enjoyable; the food was good and the company certainly enhanced an otherwise lean plate (unfortunately I did drink but I'll deem it OK because the meal was quite light and because this was a special occasion). Jokes about ordering pizza, sprinkling bacon, finding a belle pro or drive-thru aside, the evening was nice.
Pictures were taken and I'm still unsure about that. I'm finicky about having my likeness captured; sometimes pictures are nice but I don't see why people feel compelled to capture so many moments of time. It disturbs me; why can't others be happy with remembering events? Is it because they forget? Hasn't it occurred to them that memories are meant to fade, that we aren't meant to stand still, that time passing makes us alive?

I guess that's what I've learned over the past few years. Things change and you must change with them. Sometimes it's tempting to cling to feelings, people or places but unfortunately it's an exercise in futility; holding onto decay will only yields rubble. It's why I'm glad I left. Why I'm happy for my friend. Why I've decided to do something this new year that's good for me. Why being back is eerily unsettling.