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This Month in DTC 

By: Emily Lullo

                              It’s a new year, people. It’s a time to start fresh, make goals and try new things. It’s that annual opportunity to start becoming that better you that you know you have trapped inside you, hopelessly saddled by your unending list of vices, hang-ups and a stream of unpronounceable phobias and mild behavioral disorders.
    This month, thousands will make resolutions with the aim to start stripping away those onion-like layers of destructive habits, and also onion-like will be the resulting tears of pain and frustration before you slowly slip back into the neurotic sloth you’ve always been destined to become.
    But my fellow sloths, there is hope for you yet. Lofty and unrealistic goals all set at once are but the well laid and good-intentioned foundation of a Parthenon of failure. This year, let’s resolve to strive for greatness—nay, we strive for slightly betterness!—by not setting ourselves up for disappointment.
    It’s a mass of tiny victories that will win us this war. Maybe today you biked to work instead of driving. Congratulations! Maybe you opened your long dormant savings account back up and put 50 bucks in there. Well done! Maybe you tried Thai food for the first time. You are living life, my friend! Maybe you called your mother even though you knew she was going to nag you about popping out a few grandchildren before she dies despite your being single and living with three cats. Awesome! Your mother loves you!
    This year, we celebrate the triumphs of the everyday. With the pressure of trying to be perfect off our weary shoulders we’re free to be happier, to experience more, to get more out of life. We’ll be warm and open. We’ll be nicer to ourselves, and probably to others too.
    This month, there are plenty of ways to treat your awesome slothy self right here in Downtown. First off, we’re celebrating life, right? What better way to celebrate than with the zany krewes of Pensacola Mardi Gras? This month brings us the second annual 12th Night celebration on January 6, as well as the inaugural Marching Madness Parade on January 21, and an attempt to get Pensacola in the Guinness Book of World Records for most people doing the Cupid Shuffle at one time. This is your chance to make weird history and be a part of something bigger than yourself!
    We’ve also got our January edition of Gallery Night, where there’s always something new to experience, whether it’s an artist you’ve never seen or a cuisine you haven’t tried. And Pensacola Opera’s new season, which kicks off this month with Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, offers a chance to broaden your cultural horizons. Don’t quite think you’re the opera type? You won’t know until you give it a try. Carpe diem!
    Downtown is growing by the day it seems, and there’s always a new event or a business to check out. If you haven’t been down in a while, so much has sprung up in the last months that you might not even recognize it. Park your car and stroll for an afternoon, or take yourself for a bike ride through the historic streets. I guarantee you’ll discover something worth celebrating.
Happy New Year!

This Month in Pensacola Downtown Crowd:

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