Life is party prep
And party prep is life
For years we lived in a small place. It was great for the two of us, then the three of us, then the four of us. Then it began to get small: the one bathroom, the tiny-ish bedrooms: if anyone sneezed the whole house knew it.
I spent most of Covid working from the kitchen table. Briefly experimented working from the unfinished basement (which later turned out to be a black mold hibernaculum) and also from what was basically a card table in our bedroom.
Because we had a relatively small place, we got used to not having people over. Where would they sit, in each other’s laps? So we got into the habit of not inviting people over, of inviting people to restaurants, or getting invited over. Some people make for great hosts other for great guests: I’d like to think we were good guests because we simply weren’t hosts.
We’ve moved to a bigger place, but our brains need to be rewired. We never had a housewarming party. The idea of inviting people over still had the roadblocks up: but why? We’re not those people! It was long ago agreed we weren’t those sorts of people!
But I want to be those people.
So this whole week was various sorts of housecleaning, which all falls under one quartile of party prep.
—Did you know going through all the unopened mail on the flat surface where you put your unopened mail counts as party rep? It does!
—Vacuuming the interior of your messy car? Party prep! Maybe you need to give someone a ride to or from the party.
—Breaking down branches on the front lawn the town didn’t take because it needs to be in a yard bag? Party prep!
—Doing the dishes? Putting away clean silverware? You better believe it’s party prep, even though it’s the regular dishes you generated from eating two days ago.
—Spending $250 at the grocery story and buying exclusively soda? Party prep!
Just as yogis and yoga teach us all our systems are interconnected, and any one improvement benefits the body as a whole, any and all party prep benefits the house. It’s always a good time to sweep the floor!
Part of the week of party prep, of the habit of party rep, is that once the party happens, PARTY PREP DOESN’T HAVE TO STOP. Now you’re at the boss level of the party prep: the party itself! Check the status of the cold drinks in the cooler! The levels of the potato chips and the pretzels! Is someone standing? Get them a folding chair! is it raining? Move that folding chair inside! Sunny again? Move the folding chair back outside!
Being a party host must be a little bit like being an actor at a movie premiere. Everyone’s goign to see an enjoy the work you spend so much time doing. But you’re not really able to watch the movie. You want to watch the faces of the audience, see them enjoying themselves. That’s the great thing for you.
As a bonus, the day after the party I threw, I was invited to someone else’s all-day party! I was able to take off the host hat and shrug on the old familiar guest hat, which still fits! (Do hats ever not fit? It’s not like you gain weight in your head…)
I had a blast all week prepping for the Friday party, and a different sort of blast at the Saturday party. Since I was able to more fully appreciate all the work that had gone into it. Tablecloth acquisition, food prep, loads and loads of dishwasher loads for the food prep, correspondence out the wazoo to get the guest list right, printing out every single ingredient of every single food course, designating different party zone rooms.
Ideally, I’ll invite people over in the next week or two, to keep things going. We’ve got tons of uneaten food, $239 of soda leftover, and the house is spotless! No party prep needed, just the party!
PRINCESS LEIA OF THE WEEK
This Saturday party, by the way, was by friends who are, let’s say big into fantasy and sci-fi. People played tabletop games and card games all weekend. I saw a kid playing chess, the original old-school tabletop game! I played an Alice in Wonderland version of Fluxx. I came up with truthy-sounding explanations for phrases like “Cut the mustard” and “get down to brass tacks,” and no one ever fell for my explanations but I quite liked coming up with them. I was able to talk about the 1985 trade of Robotech’s RPG rights being traded for the toy licensing rights for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which is the babe-Ruth-to-the-Yankees bad trade of the geek world. I ate a version of Gagh, the Klingon serpent worm dish: the party version was vegan, so no bloodworms were harmed. I was told my Blue Lantern shirt actually had the logo of the Indigo Lantern: deep, deep shame. I had a great time.
This Geek Party couple also has an amazing collection of pop culture ephemera. this one one of dozens of Princess Leia dolls and action figures on display. (More are in storage.)
SPIDER-MAN OF THE WEEK
(with bonus Princess Tater up top!)
MICKEY MOUSE OF THE WEEK
(with bonus Playmobil Doctor Who)
SUPER MARIO OF THE WEEK
Years ago, they gifted me Super Mario branded duct tape. I still have it! And I just switched to a new toothbrush, which quite inconveniently is the exact same red as all the other toothbrushes int he house. So once I got back home, I taped mine. Thanks, Ali and Mark! The days of me not being 100% sure I’m using my own toothbrush or someone else’s are over!
UPCOMING APPEARANCES
JULY 3-6: FAN EXPO DENVER (now leaning more towards going than not going) — Denver, CO
AUGUST 8-10: FAN EXPO BOSTON — Boston, MA
OCTOBER 17-19: BALTIMORE COMIC-CON — Baltimore, MD