06 January, 2006

A Nice Day

Today ended up being a rather nice day.

As I was walking back inside from having a smoky treat this afternoon, I ran into Steve, whom I hadn't seen since returning to DHFS. We shook hands and chatted a bit. It was my lucky day because he proceeded to offer me his last jar of raspberry-habanera jam. Greedily, I gave him a greenback and eyed the jar of deep red goo lasciviously as I returned to my desk. Shortly after that, I received an e-mail from Julia, the Russian hottie at the regional office. Her missive claimed that the chocolate I had given her last time I was out there had saved her life today. We exchanged a few messages until 5 when I left so that helped pass a very slow time.

On the way home, I stopped at the co-op to buy some good coffee. Walking down the aisle, I ran into Miss Jolene. It had been months since I'd seen her and she still looked as beautiful as I remember. Jolene used to work at a local coffeehouse but now works as a receptionist at an acupuncture joint where she is much happier. While chatting with her, I spied Jimmy Downtown, who works there at the co-op. I grabbed a bag of tasty Ethiopian and briefly chastized Downtown for not coming to my New Year's party before hastily finalizing my purchase. I really had to get home and use the bathroom!

Before venturing for coffee, Charles and I headed to a local comic book store as I was keen on the new issues of Revelations and Y: The Last Man. While there, I also grabbed the latest issue of Doctor Who Magazine. As Charles was still browsing, I too poked around some more. Unsurprisingly, I ended up buying a couple more titles to try out to see if I liked them. Firstly was the first issue of Silent Hill: Dead/Alive. Apparently it's based on a horror video game but it was the vaguely impressionist artwork that captured my attention. The second was the first issue of, Exile, a Forgotten Realms (read: Dungeons & Dragons) comic. I figured I'd try out a D&D comic and see if it's any good. It looks interesting with all its dark elfy goodness. We'll see.

Right now, I'm eating dinner which consists of leftovers from my New Year's party. First there's some Hoppin' John that The Dulcinea made on New Year's Day. HJ is a mix of corn, rice, and black-eyed peas. Next to the bowl on my plate is a pile of celery and carrot sticks. A pile of cheese and venison sausage (from a deer that Old Man Standiford killed) lies easily next to it. Finally, I have a couple hunks of some bread that Standiford baked for the party. And I'm washing it all down with some Rhoades' Scholar Stout. I really like how the yeasty flavor of the bread combines with the beer to give a very full bitter grainy experience.

I don't think I've written much about the party. I invited pretty much everyone I know in Madison as well as a friend in Minneapolis, a trio from Milwaukee, and several from Chicago. My brother came up from Chitown on NYE. He got here as I was cooking my second batch of gumbo. We shot the shit as I cooked and chopped and prepared my spread. Shortly after he got there, Miss Rosie and Mindy stopped by for a spell. I haven't seen Miss Rosie in months so it was really nice to see her again. We caught up on each other's lives and then, after a bourbon & sour, she started in on The Pollack and his situation. His dad, Mr. Z, has moved in with him. His son, JZ is now 18 and high school graduation can't come soon enough for him. Basically it was business as usual for The Pollack. Working JZ too hard on weekends, drinking too much bourbon, etc. I had hoped that he'd show up but he didn't. Buddy, one of The Pollack's hounds seems to have canine dementia, I'm sorry to say. Buddy is the cool dog whereas Pesto, an Airedale, is a beeotch. No one other than The Pollack himself likes that dog. She eats her own shit and then tries to lick you and is just annoying all around.

After Rosie and Mindy left, my brother and I continued BSing until guests started arriving at the appointed time. Marv showed up and then Old Man Standiford with the Newtons in tow. The Dulcinea arrived as did several others including Dogger, Mel, and Miss Regan. Spike, Julie, and children showed up too. All in all, about 15-17 people were there at any one time. It was funny to watch Spike's kids follow Regan around the den and in circles around the coffeetable. They followed her wherever she did go.



Pete showed up fashionably late bearing Red Bull and Jaegermeister and so Jaeger Bombs dropped at odd intervals throughout the night. It was the first time The Dulcinea had spent any length time in the company of my friends and she met several of them for the first time. As the drinks flowed, so did stories of my checkered past. Pete was quite funny and The Dulcinea remarked that he was totally unlike her impressions of him that she garnered while Pete was still living here. Since he moved out, he's been much happier and despite whatever grumpy facade he puts up, he is one funny dude. WE listened to some music and watched a couple concert videos. Midnight rolled around and I busted out a couple bottles of cheap champagne. Note to self: your friends are beer drinkers. Don't bother with champagne next year. We didn't even manage to empty one of them.

The Dulcinea and I went to bed around 3 and I think that the party was a success. My gumbo went over well and the house didn't burn down so what more could I ask for? Well, there were a few people who were supposed to show up but didn't. Ce la vie.

On New Year's Day, The Dulcinea and I greeted 2006 by fornicating. We then made our way downstairs. I started cleaning and making coffee while she began making Hoppin' John. My brother was awoken by the bacon frying. Marv too woke up and joined us. While we were drinking coffee and chatting, Miss Pamela called. She and Bill soon came over and I cooked breakfast for everyone. Bill had stayed up til 5:30 and was out on the overhang. Miss Pamela, being pregnant, had abstained from the hard stuff and so she was quite perky by comparison. She looked very well at 4 months. The whole reproduction thing was going well after a scare last month in which she was led to believe there was a 1 in 8 chance of the child have Down Syndrome. After more testing, her fears were laid to rest. Pregnant women generally have this vivacious glow to them with their round bellies and all and Pam certainly had that. Sitting next to her, I noticed some small wrinkles on her face. She is 34, after all. I don't mean this in a bad way – I still think she looked extremely beautiful – but rather it served as another reminder of how time marches on. Had it really been 18 years since we first met? Where did the time go? She's going to have a baby?! It seems not that long ago that we met and she was a cheerleader while I was a nerd on the academic teams that got no cheers. (OK – I still am a nerd.) After they left, Marv got all curious about my copy of The Temple of Elemental Evil and loaded it up on his laptop. He spent the rest of the day playing it while my brother and I were backseat players. It was quite humorous. Holy bejeebus, are we gaming dorks! My bro left on Monday afternoon and I finished cleaning.

It was a great way to ring in the new year. I got to spend time with several of my friends, including some that I hadn't done so with in ages, see some of the next generation of nerds running around having a good time, eat good food, drink tasty brews, and just simply have a great time in the company of many people who bring joy and meaning to my life.

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