A Titanic Wingding Of Epic Proportions: Part One

It was another weekend night which had multiple social occasions competing for attendees from more or less the same pool of merry-makers. Both were of a kind of theme- one required attendees to come as a pirate, sailor or mermaid (with the dubious addition of lobster). It was a big event, with numerous people I know slated to attend and hordes of people yet unknown to me. As much as I imagined I'd enjoy myself, I found the prospect of attempting to assemble such a costume too daunting. The scale of the party was a bit overwhelming as well. As many parties as I've attended and subsequently found interesting enough to write about, I'm naturally a society-averse homebody, and have to suppress my natural inclinations often in order to be a full-fledged member of the community. I would seen my way clear to attending the party were it not for a competing one.

There is a particularly dear friend of mine who all would agree is in no danger of lying on his death bed as an old man with regrets of not living life to the fullest. As much as he's done for me, and as much as I enjoy his company and value his thoughts, I could hardly do less than to attend his birthday party party. Some other people made a point of attending both, perfunctorily appearing at one in favor of spending more time at the other. I don't begrudge them for doing so, as I hate the idea of having to choose myself, but I also don't care to leave everyone somewhat disappointed with my half-participation. It seems better to entirely disappoint half and entirely satisfy the other half. There will be other parties to even the balance. So it was that I chose to devote my entire evening to what developed into a singularly remarkable party even among those which I have previously deemed remarkable enough to memorialize in prose. Needless to say, it will take a few days to cover all of this one.

I've observed many times my propensity for showing up unfashionably promptly to social events. I was in vintage form on this night, leaving the house in a rush and finding myself exiting the subway station near the party location a full half hour before the party was even scheduled to begin. Needless to say, the party really was not to begin for something like a full hour after the listed starting time. This is standard operating procedure. With trepidation, I walked down the street wondering if I had enough time to pick up some potent potables as I understood I ought to, and decided that with the closure of the nearest grocery store, I would not have time to reach the next nearest one and arrive at the party on time. My thinking is breathtakingly faulty sometimes.

As I walked past a popular retail development, I saw a great crowd on the sidewalk outside a sports bar I've patronized with friends several times. I wondered at what might be drawing them in on the tvs on the patio adjacent to the sidewalk. It turned out to be a combination of a playoff baseball game and the undercard bouts from the big mixed martial arts title fight night. Since I would be offensively early at this point, I decided to linger there and watch until such time as I would only be awkwardly early. It was pleasurable to stand there and watch sports in that setting. Strangers bonded as fighter squared off against fighter and batter did likewise against pitcher. Some were rather obnoxious, but it added to the proper ambiance. One fight concluded, and another began. This fight actually included someone I'd heard of, and I was sorry that I would have to move on.

Tomorrow: What I moved on to!