PARTY ALL THE TIME
That’s what this weekend felt like! But I, along with some of you who were with me, felt kinda different partying this time, no? I remember high school house parties, complete with a DJ and that special area of the house designated for dancing. Usually there were adults present on the premises but none forced their jurisdiction on the kids having fun. Typically the parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents were watching tv or playing mahjong. I remember how cool we felt being at those parties, dancing away until the DJ’s cleaned up their equipment, and then sitting there recounting evening’s events; who scammed with whom, who started a fight, the crush we got to dance with for 5 minutes, etc. It was definitely the beginning of things to come.

And then those college house parties, when word-of-mouth was the most efficient form of invitation, when the floors were covered with cardboard, alcohol reigned the kitchen counters and noise complaints were signaled by a knock on the door by the local police. Everyone came and went in groups and the time of arrival was set so that you weren’t the first ones there, nor the last ones to come right when the party was broken up. If you weren’t dancing, you were sitting by the staircase or the couch, with a drink in hand, talking to anyone who would talk to you.

Post college parties have been just as fun, if not more. Can’t NOT have fun when you’re with great company. But this weekend a lot of us discovered that the meaning of partying has changed just a tad with age. On Friday night we went to Gotham Hall (again…gosh we love that place!) to celebrate a friend’s birthday (Belated Happy Birthday Kay!). A few of us got there at 10:30 and then everyone rolled in shortly after that. The DJ had been spinning for awhile when we got there but of course no one wants to start the dancing, plus there weren’t as many people there yet. After a few drinks, we were like, “screw it we’ll start it.” So aside from 5 other people on the dance floor, a bunch of us (I’m gonna say 8-10 people) went and danced like we were the only ones there, which we kinda were. After about 20 minutes, we left the dance floor and never returned. Instead, we opted to sit in a booth in probably the relatively quietest part of the club and talk…for the rest of the evening. Discussion topics included: how to receive communion properly; how much of the wine is proper to drink at mass; being color blind; how to body roll the right way…or the wrong way; high school memories (some girl owes Joe $45 man!) and more. I can’t believe we sat in a club for 2 ½ hours and did more talking than we did dancing…there was drinking too, I forgot to mention but I know that should’ve been obvious. Just ask Cile. I accompanied her to the ladies restroom 4 times. He he he…then 11 of us proceeded to Norm’s, first, and then Denny’s for a late late dinner. Great times!

On Saturday night we headed to Club AD for Stacy’s birthday. Nice place. Iya says Justin parties there! It’s quite spacious and there’s lots of seats for people to sit and that we did for the first hour! The music they were playing was excellent, but some of us couldn’t pull ourselves away from conversation so we didn’t even start dancing until much later. It was like a high school/elementary school reunion for a lot of us. It was crazy seeing some of the people that we did! By the time we got to the dancefloor, the music had taken a turn for…well, it just wasn’t that great so we were semi-dancing by the wall and the staircase. I got to bag on SOME people (like this girl who was dancing super fast to this reggae-type song. Slow down girl! It’s just Wayne Wonder) but not many. My partner in crap-talking, Leia, was absent. And then we ate at Sinamluang (this Thai place on Hollywood that’s open until 6 am) for a late dinner. FUN FUN FUN WEEKEND! I really needed it. Thanks for sharing in the festivities everyone! Thanks mucho much to the OC peeps who braved the 50 miles to party with us, especially Joemama who drove up here twice (again!). Ya’ll should invest in an LA apartment soon! Have an excellent week kids!