Finished. Rather rambling & probably dull to everyone else, but if you do read it and have suggestions for other tidbits to plug in there let me know.

The first guest arrived at 8.10, and it was Catherine from the Newberry. She always seems to have weird experiences on the bus coming to our place. This time it was a young, white bus driver who apparently was in quite a hurry. He drove like the devil and got Catherine from the Loop to our doorstep in 10 minutes.

When she arrived, I did final mixing of the Fish House punch and transported the punch bowl to a table we’d set up in the front room. Andy exclaimed, “Ugh! Is that what color it’s going to be?! It doesn’t look very appetizing!” (In a short while, this would make no difference). Catherine and I each tried a glass (Andy was sticking with wine). Seductive, smooth, and very worthy of the name “punch.” Andy’s iPod was 4 tracks into his 100-track playlist. We sat in the front room and then out on the porch briefly.

Then people started arriving. Of course I can’t remember now in what order people showed up. I think Michael arrived second. In due time, newcomers were issued with glasses of punch, pizzas were put in the oven, chips and salsa and all sorts of things were put out. And when Joey arrived, the brownie consumption begun. I had made a pledge that I wouldn’t have any until someone else was there to join me. The brownie tasted like any other ordinary brownie. Soon Dennis arrived and he had one too.

By 9 o’clock, there were at least ten people. And something kicked in. Whether it was largely the brownie or a combination of said brownie with the two glasses of punch I’d already had is hard to say. But I suddenly felt extra-agreeable and somehow quite dexterous when it came to moving around, and maldextrous when it came to making conversation. Although whatever witty quip I happened to make invariably triggered laughter among my fellow revelers.

Brandon and the Michigan contingent all made themselves quite at home and didn’t seem shy in the least when it came to striking up conversations (the rest of the party group were largely strangers to them).

Around 10 o’clock (as near as I can calculate), Andy told me that the punchbowl was diminishing and it was time to refill it with batch #2, a punch not as potent as Fish House but a lot to easier (and less expensive) to create. Into the punchbowl also went the pineapple rings from fruit that had been given to us earlier in the week By Eric. This batch lasted the rest of the evening, and at party’s end there was only about 1 liter left unconsumed. Andy had been worried that the punch wouldn’t be popular, but I remembered from previous gatherings that when a guest is confronted with a refreshing easily-ladled option, they will largely choose that over having to fool around with mixers and bottles.

The only distasteful event of the party was the presence of my old friend Derrick and his girlfriend Emily. They happened to be visiting Chicago from New York and so I invited them. To be fair to Derrick, I know it was really awkward for him to be at a party with 20 other people that he didn’t know, and also try and interact with me while I was intoxicated. But rather than trying to mix and converse pleasantly, as Emily attempted, his approach was to be aloof (with others) and combative (with me). My friend Kyle was there, also visiting from New York; I introduced them early on, figuring they would have stuff to talk about, but Derrick quickly peeled away. Everyone else was animatedly talking and enjoying themselves, while Derrick and poor Emily battened down at the dining room table and just sat there. I think it’s still hard for Derrick to adjust to who I am now, as opposed to who I was when we were both growing up and I was just a kid in Colorado (i.e. never drank, led Bible Studies, and was dating Jessi). It must have been confusing. But I wasn’t in the mood to baby-sit Derrick and his girlfriend. Adam was good enough to talk to them for quite awhile. But finally they left.

Upon reflection, I concede that the presence of the brownies really gave things a different vibe. It was a fun vibe I think, but one that I was really unused to. The other thing I might say is that there might have been a few too many people for me to mix with everyone enough. I sort of felt spread thin. Hopping from cluster to cluster. I suppose that’s one of sacrifices from being host rather than guest. I felt like I didn’t get to talk very much to Phil or Adam, or Jeremy, or even Brandon for that matter. But the important thing was that everyone else talked to everyone else. There was good mingling between my friends and Andy’s friends.

When everyone had pretty much arrived, the party settled into its groove. The punchbowl and much of the food were up front, so naturally people were coming and going regularly; nonetheless the dining room, kitchen and back porch were where the action was. It must be a consequence of the apartment’s layout, because no matter what we try as far as set up goes, it’s like that at every party. People go to the porch to smoke, and then they stay, and the nonsmokers leech onto them and stay too. There was still dispersion: at the height of the party there were two clusters in the front room, one in the hallway, two in the dining room, one in the kitchen, and two on the back porch.

Gabe arrived with 4 boxes of frozen party snacks (mini-quiches and Greek savories) and somehow I was able to bake them all (no pun intended) and get them to the people. Steven and Leah weren’t so lucky: they missed both of the pizzas that were there. They were consumed quickly. Everyone kept complaining that the salsa was too hot. My standard reply was simply, “Habanero!”

Like every party, at a certain point memories just turn into a whirl of moments and anecdotes:

–When Christine arrived, Brandon was very excited to see her. He gave her a hug and said, “It’s so great to see you again! I’ve been telling all my friends about you! ‘You’ve got to meet this great girl named Christine!’ Really!” She was amused and flattered, if a bit incredulous.

–About half an hour after having a brownie, Dennis exclaimed, “You know, I don’t feel a thing.” So he went back to the kitchen for another. Some time later while talking with Genie on the porch, he interrupted her by saying, “I’m sorry. The brownies just kicked in. What am I talking about?” Genie got excited because up to that point, she hadn’t known of the brownies’ existence.

–Brandon saw Phil and Ben both looking listless, so he brought them together and just said, “Anime. Discuss.” He went away, and when he saw them again some 45 minutes later they were still talking about “Cowboy Bebop.”

–Brandon saw that Adam and Joey were also listless, so he got them together and said, “West Wing. Discuss.” Ditto.

–Nathaniel was entranced by Andy’s sparkly gold shirt, and kept complimenting him. He even offered to buy it from him.

–Towards the end of the evening, Brandon and Joey stood next to each other on the porch and leaned over the railing, having a long conversation about something. Joey later told me, “It was about the there-and-now of where the moment was.” Brandon doesn’t remember what they said to each other.

–A group assembled in the kitchen around the chalkboard, where Andy led Joey through a session of MASH. Apparently, Joey will be married to Jeremy, they’ll live in an apartment with 18 children, and he’ll be a CEO and drive a Maverick.

–Eric walked from room to room, very red in the face, repeatedly exclaiming, “Great punch!”

–Interesting bathroom moments. Tim, Roselyn and Jacki all went into the bathroom together for about five minutes, who knows why. They left fairly soon after, I believe. Later on Andy and Christine were having a conversation right outside the bathroom door. I went right up them, Jeremy tagging along, and teased them, “What’s going on over here by the bathroom that’s so interesting?!”

Sundry people snuck out unawares around midnight. Dennis and Jeremy both left around 12.30, not really wanting to go but knowing that if they didn’t leave right then it would be hard to leave at all. Brandon and the Michigan group left around 1, with the Newberry people departing shortly after that.

I began tidying up just a bit. The party ended up in the front room, just Andy, Joey and I. The two of them had a semi-incoherent conversation for about half an hour while I fought back the urge to nod off. Finally around 2 o’clock Joey said goodbye, and Andy and I collapsed into bed.