A Titanic Wingding Of Epic Proportions: Part Two

Yesterday saw the inauguration of another chapter of my social life. The substance of this excerpt is a recent and notable party I've attended. Where I left off, I was killing time outside a sports bar, watching an MMA fight and a playoff baseball game before heading over to the party. The baseball game was rather dramatic, but I knew that it would be on where I was headed, or at least that I could prevail upon one of the party hosts to put it on. He happens to be a rather enthusiastic adherent to one of the teams- regrettably, the one which fell short this time. As I imagined would be the case, the party hadn't actually started, and no one was there except those who lived there. The birthday boy was not even there yet, and this was no surprise party. The game was an excellent means of easing the awkwardness of my premature arrival.

I now must describe the particular theme of this party. It was a pajama party, and I liked the idea for its relative rarity compared to other costume parties almost as much as I appreciated the ease of complying. If the costume aspect were all, I don't think it would have been integral to my recounting of the thing to say anything. Not only was it a pajama party, it was also a fort party. If the meaning of that isn't immediately clear, let me elaborate. The entirely of the living room was rendered into something approximating a children's fort with sheets, which vivisected the space and effectively reduced the height by half. This necessitated that everyone sit or lie on the floor, crawling to move around. It was a concept which I would have myself thought of and then discounted as impractical and not as fun in practice as it might be as an idea. It was a real credit to the hosts of the party that people came.

At the risk of undercutting the really palpable tension and and drama of whether or not the party was a success, I must declare that the party was an unqualified, runaway success. Everyone who came seemed to buy into the whole idea, and there was not one cry to tear down the fort or initiate any form of entertainment other than the retro commercials being played endlessly on the television. After the party had really only just gotten going, a fellow attendee broached the possibility of running out to get burritos from a particular chain after she saw someone else with food from the place. Of course I consented, knowing how valuable it would be to have a full meal in my stomach before I really got going in earnest. We were in a desperate rush, as we'd been told the place would be closing less than thirty minutes after we really committed to going. The plan was hatched that I would be deposited outside the store to place, pay for and receive both orders while she drove around until I reappeared with the goods. As it turned out, she was able to park, and surprised me by appearing inside just as I was paying. Objective completed, we hurried back to the party.

In our absence, things had jumped up a notch in spite of several people having left to make the other party. I was sorry to be re-entering at this higher level rather than having slowly risen along with it the whole time. We claimed a small section of the crowded living room floor and set ourselves to the task of eating these gargantuan, messy burritos without creating a great mess. It was a risky endeavor to say the least, but we managed it. I ate my entire burrito, but my counterpart found hers to be more than a match for her appetite and set it aside with the intent of eating it later. Having finished eating and disposed of the evidence, I turned my attention away from biological imperatives and towards fellow guests of the party. There was a fairly healthy mix of people I knew and people I should know, with few if any that I could not possibly have known. With all of this going on, it seemed like nothing could stop this party train, but little did we know...

Tomorrow: What we didn't know!