Revelers gather in the Times Square area of New York City near the intersection of Broadway and 48th St. during New Year’s Eve celebrations, Wednesday, December 31, 2012.

Some four hours after the ball dropped on Times Square (officially bringing in 2013), the feeling has finally returned in totality to my lower extremities. Even though the jumbo-tron thermometer called out what should have been a balmy 38 degrees for this Chicago boy, a stiff breeze brought with it some discomfort to my first Times Square New Year’s Eve experience. I can’t tell if more pain came from the cold, standing for over ten hours with a near-capacity bladder, or being in more than a few packs of people pushing so hard and fast that my feet were nearly swept from under me.

Times Square New Year’s Eve is not for the faint of heart, or for those who lack patience and have a low tolerance for confused authority figures. More than twice, I and hundreds of revelers were ushered away from one area and told to go to another, only to have police officers at the new area send us somewhere else. For being such a large event in a world-class city, I found the celebration to be quite unorganized. Still, in the end, counting down the seconds to 2013 with a million other people was a rush that I won’t soon forget!

New York Police Department officers close Times Square at W. 43rd St. to vehicular traffic with barricades around 2pm on New Year’s Eve.

Go around those barricades, and you’ll be zapped and turned into street art!

For some, the New Year’s kisses began early.

This year, fiber optic favors were chic.

Revelers celebrate shortly after the ball drop, ushering in 2013.

A mass exodus of humanity as seen from above at W. 43rd St. and 8th Avenue.