The snow last night wasn’t that bad – definitely not like last Thursday night – so I’m back at work trying to build firewalls. Not bad after a fun-filled weekend. Well, not completely fun-filled, but there was enough of it.
Friday night I did manage to make it to The Vagina Monologues (and after my post, Sandy is now really considering a parody). It was my first time, and Lisa joined me at the last minute inspite of having seen it in New York and not feeling up to a night out. We both enjoyed ourselves. From my understanding, the performance typically only involves 3 women. This one had 17 in total! Personally it made a lot of sense in my mind. The stage was a veritable cornucopia of women, displaying the vast differences and variety that occupies this world. Some were short, some were tall, some were young, some were… well, you get the idea. And the costumes further emphasized the diversity. Great performance.
My friend Bhavna also showed up, so a bunch of us headed over to Court Street as usual. It was a pleasent end to the evening, hanging out with people I don’t see too often, talking about all sorts of adult matter and sloshing down a nice bottle of Shiraz (Innocent Bystander). Slowly, but steadily, these gatherings are feeling less like our college parties and more like dinner parties. Not that we’ve completely matured and abandoned our childish pasts, but we’re less likely to steal shotglasses nowadays.
Saturday was the big day. I finally threw a party at the (relatively) new place. It occurred to me that the last real party I had thrown was probably New Year’s Eve of 2002. We had a few shindigs at my last place since then, but nothing I really did. The theme was “Stupid Movie Party,” and it worked out decently enough. Most invitees couldn’t make it, but the few that did made for a fun evening. We watched such silly films as BASEketball and EuroTrip, and made it through almost half of the enjoyably bad Flash Gordon. We had so many other good options that I’ll almost certainly try that one again – hopefully when more people will be free.
The neatest part (yes, I’m using the word neat to describe a party) was finally getting to use a lot of things we’ve kept around for such occassions. The folding chairs that had been relegated to a closet were filled. Along with the liquor cabinet that goes practically untouched these days, my “wine collection” got some inspection – we even kicked a couple bottles. And that meant we actually pulled out our supply of nice wine glasses and cracked open the markers we got from Lisa’s sister. It almost felt like a trial run as to whether or not we could do a full blown party, as well as the upcoming family dinner we’ll be hosting for my relatives. Oh my, we certainly are acting all adultlike!
Sunday can be summed up with the lessons learned:
- Don’t assume you can just “find” a train station. Get real directions first.
- Life would be much easier if I just learned how to drive between towns without relying on the Garden State Parkway.
- Never wallpaper! Do something interesting with paint instead! Wallpaper never sticks properly, but when it does you’ll regret it 10 years later.
- The Oscars suck. I don’t think they’ve watched the movies in years. It doesn’t matter who is nominated, the top movie (or 2 movies) will gobble up all most of the awards regardless of whether or not they deserve it. Titanic seemed to begin this trend, and each year one or two movies rack up the majority of awards. Last year was just proof that it no longer has anything to do with artistic merit (you will never convince me that Return of the King deserved even half of its awards).
That’s just about everything. The next few weekends should get even busier and busier as Lisa and I continue this little grownup charade and have dinner dates and such with relatives and friends. Whatever happened to going out and drinking until 2 or 3 AM and then asking your friends what you did last night? Good times…