Part of the reason was, no doubt, the holidays, a season during which Cuba's streets are hung with signs marking another year of revolución, but which sees the island's usual slow pace amble to an easy halt for days full of domino-playing, rum-drinking, and, if you can afford it, on New Year's Eve, a suckling pig roasting in the yard.
There are lots of reasons to come to New York in the summer, but one of the most fun and fascinating times is Pride Weekend, when it seems like the entire city joins the LGBT community in marking another year of progress.
Too right: a Proms concert debut isn't a bad way to mark another year – followed, of course, by a party that's "being organised by my people", she says with a laugh.
As the monarch marked 25 years on the throne, the IRA marked another year in its "long war".
And it marks another year that Graham's mother, Constance Malcolm, says her family has gone without justice.
To mark another year in business, Chili's throws an annual outdoor party at the Dallas HQ, complete with cakes shaped like chilis and burgers.
As we mark another year of safe and legal abortion, it's important to reflect on both our successes and challenges since the passage of Roe v. Wade.
Pride Month marks another year of progress for human rights, and in many areas of the world, such as Kurdistan, the conversation is only beginning.
This marks another year that his administration has passed a budget on time a welcome change in Albany, where budget deadlines were once regarded as a suggestion and, almost like clockwork, another year that New Yorkers are pissed off.
"It makes you sick to think that you've marked another year, that every worry, every strife, every challenge, every delight, every breath every day was leading to this moment, and now you made it and you're celebrating it -- with one little candle -- and denying it at the same time?" "I'm not denying it," she said.
On Jan . 20 President Barack Obama will be sworn into office, marking another four years of high hopes and measured expectations.
