Stir up the Athenian youth to merriments

"Let me play the lion too: I will roar that I will do any man's heart good to hear me; I will roar that I will make the duke say 'Let him roar again, let him roar again.'" -Nick Bottom

It has been a weekend of partying. Starting with friday night, it was like having everyone together from right after high school, Mike already being in town, Jackson, Marcia, Kevin, Chris, and Zac all followed suit, all of them making it that night. Jake, and Justin were there, too, and all in all, it was a room full of people who almost never ever see each other anymore. Not gonna lie, Jake is an annoying drunk. Really annoying. All in all, though, it was a really amazing night, and Justin got a good pic of everyone together.

Surprisingly, that was an impromptu gathering, the real party was scheduled for saturday night. The final tally? Chris, Jackson, Marcia, Robert, Cassie, Justin, Zac, Mike, my mom, Justin, Matt Newman, and Kayla. Kevin and Jake were both no shows. Kevin had responsibilities, and Jake just got so drunk he was sick all the next day. He even bailed on picking up the food to have food cooked and ready at a reasonable hour. Mike provided the majority of the food, having been wanting more of that Strawberry Jalapeno BBQ sauce. I also managed to scrape together 3 slabs of babyback ribs, with a honey glaze and spicy dry rub. To round things out, there were 2 whole smoked cilantro lime chile chickens that went well with the sauce, and a ton of roasted corn. All in all, it was a wonderful gathering and an excellent, near perfect, introduction of my new smoker. It could only have been better if Stacey and George had been able to make it there, since they provided the grill. Robert and Cassie brought some mead and even some wonderful chips and dip.

There was rummy, zombie dice, and some other great games. Joe vs the Volcano was running in the living room, and the new episode of Doctor Who was even aired at some point that night. There was some boxing out in the street, there was some frisbee, there was a lot of talking and enjoying everyone's company. Zac and I beat the whole way through Portal 2's co-op campaign. Music was everywhere, people kept playing the guitar.

I really almost forgot how great it was to have parties like this. It's a shame Tim and Alma couldn't make it last night. All the same, it was amazing to finally break in the new smoker, and I am so thankful for it.

I would like for there to have been more music.


Maybe more strawberries.

Maybe some orchids.




It's the little deaths that consume you, I think.