Anybody wanna peanut?

Thank you, Fezzik... now NO MORE RHYMING NOW, I MEAN IT!

I'm kind of in this weird emotional limbo place right now, and I really hate it. Contrary to popular belief, I really do have a mostly sunny disposition - it's something I've had to work hard for to secure over the past few years. I've dealt with dark times over and over again so much that they've hardened me into being a cheerful optimist about most things - with a life like mine, optimism isn't so much a state of mind as it is a tool for survival. But everyone goes through dark spots, and I wonder if what I'm feeling isn't a precursor to one of those. Because what I'm in isn't so much of a blackout as it is a brownout - the emotions are there, just dampened down and barely getting through. I'm tired, and all I want to do is sleep. I can't wait for the weekend, just so I can rest. I'm ready for a break.

I've been working on a new piece of writing. It's completely different from what I've tried before, as I just decided to sit down and start vomiting something out onto the page. The result is a strangely slick story told from the first person point of view, switching back and forth between first person and third person limited omnicient. The narrator of the story is... ah... he's kind of a nut. But a loveable nut, I hope. I want to keep working on it, but I have a crapload of work to do.

Speaking of work, it's going well. I've been taken off the team I was on before and added to another team that's dedicated to the largest customer we have. So I guess it's kind of like a mini-promotion? Whatever, I didn't get a raise and my title didn't change. I am still the Grand High Poo-ba National Accounts Coordinator type person. Same old stuff.

Spring's finally here, and it's nice. I got tired of the winter, but I have to say that Southern winters really do beat Midwestern winters all to hell and gone. One week of a few snows that melted immediately. Continual temperatures in the 40's and 50's. I did miss the snow, sorta, but only to play in. When it snowed this winter I was sick and all I could do was look out the window and wish I could go play. But now the weather's absolutely breathtakingly beautiful and I find myself staring longingly out the windows at work, weighing and measuring the perfectly pillowy clouds in the bright blue sky outside, absorbing them with a lover's eye. I'm delighted to see the first daffodils and crocuses peeping their heads up through the ground, I'm ecstatic to see the first robin red-breast; I go out on our back porch and look at the new green leaves budding on the trees surrounding the house. It's fascinating.

And of course there are movies coming out in the next couple of months we're excited about going to see, but that's a whole other blog for me to compose...

Back to work for me!

The Party.

It went well. We had around 30 people, and we'd been so very concerned about space, but we weren't betting that a lot of people would want to stand around at the fire pit. So we had PLENTY of space. People started arriving a little before 8, and I made the punch (Shamrock Juice) which went over well. We played Power Hour starting at about 10. It was the best power hour I've probably ever done - we had almost 20 people playing at one point - and everyone got pretty 'faced. Then we all just hung out for a while and I tried to sober up so I could MC the air guitar contest.

The contest went well, though I learned a few things from this year that will help with next year (if we decide to do the air guitar contest again): 1. Don't do Power Hour and an air guitar contest in the same night. Power Hour is an event unto itself and deserves more respect. 2. Make the clips shorter. The clips were between 1:20 and 2:00 long, and the contestants got really tired (and so did the crowd). 3. Have it earlier in the evening so more people can participate - we didn't start until after midnight. 4. Remember to take lots of pictures - not just video.

Crunchy won the air guitar contest! GO CRUNCHY! He was the dark horse from the beginning, but he rocked so hard. He did "Iron Man" by Black Sabbath and managed to get his crotch in each judge's face - that would've been less points from me, but they loved it, so I guess it's good I was just the MC huh? He actually tied with Avery and there was a sudden death playoff - "Crazy Train" by Ozzy. At the beginning of the clip, Crunchy...

(it would behoove me to tell you at this time that we had several souvenirs for our guests to take home - green beads, plastic shot glasses, bracelets, and so on. One of the things we found were these little rubber ducks that were white or green with shamrocks on them.)

...waited for the music to start, then pulled a duck out of his pocket, squeezed it really hard like a lunatic, and then bit its head off and spat it at Curt (one of the judges). It was AWESOME. So he won the prize, which was the air guitar listed in an earlier post, plus a pair of "ShamRockStar" sunglasses, with the lenses shaped like green shamrocks, and a white t-shirt that says in sparkly green letters - "SHAM ROCKIN'". He was beside himself with glee. I was beside myself with drunkenness and glee. There was a lot of beer and glee involved.

After the contest I don't remember much - people cleared out pretty quickly as it was close to 2 am and people were tired from drinking and yelling so much at the contest. I stayed out on the back porch with Curt and got trashed. It was awesome. We didn't go to bed until almost five.

2nd Annual St. Patty's Day party - the legacy of the SPDP lives on. ERIN GO BRAGH!!!

High Points - upcoming St. Pat's party

2nd Annual St. Patrick's Day Party

Date: 3/15/08

Time: 8 - until

# of guests expected: 30+

High Points:

Power Hour: Power Hour will start between 9 and 9:30. For those not familiar with the game, it's played as this: one shot of beer a minute for sixty minutes. By the end of an hour, you've gone through approx. a 6-pack of beer. And you're relatively toasted, depending on your alcohol tolerance. The fun part about this is how we keep time: I have 60 clips of songs - anything from Marvin Gaye to the Eagles to Prince to... well, you get the idea - that are each a minute long. There is a doorbell at the end of each clip. Each time you hear the doorbell, take a shot of beer. This is pretty idiot proof, and a lot of fun, especially with a lot of people. Make sure the CD isn't on repeat or you'll drink forever and want to die.

Shamrock Juice: Revamped from last year, a bright green concoction containing several different types of alcohol, pineapple juice, sprite, and (new this year) green berry punch. Served up in a clear punchbowl decorated with shamrock stickers. Will be served all night (while supplies last).

Air Guitar Contest: Up to 8 contestants will show off their prowess as air guitarists, performing to classic "Airy" songs like Smoke on the Water by Deep Purple and Hotel California by the Eagles. Song clips will be between one and two minutes long and provided by the management. A sign up sheet will be available at the start of the party. Performance slots are first come first serve. A GRAND PRIZE will be awarded - including a 1967 Gibson Les Paul in Heritage Cherry Sunburst design, signed by Eddie Van Halen (air model of course). The rest of the GRAND PRIZE is currently being kept under wraps. THIS EVENT WILL BE VIDEOTAPED.

Fire pit: There will be an enclosed fire pit in the side yard for everyone's enjoyment.

There will be souvenirs, drinking games, music, and fun to be had all night long. Expect a full report on the party next week.

By the way, if you're reading this, you're invited.

One-Uppers

A pet peeve:

People who have what I like to call the "Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better" complex. Which basically means (if you're not already able to derive the context of this), regardless of what you've done, what you've seen, who you've met, where you've been, how much you paid, and so on, they've already done it, seen it, known it, met it, bought it, and not only that, but they've done it in such a way so that when they tell you about their experience right after you share yours, you end up looking like the chump.

OK, I fucking hate this. I think I only have two real pet peeves about people in general - first, those people who don't treat you as well as you treat them for whatever reason. Fuck off, Jack - I'm nice to your sorry ass, so you can suck up whatever shitty day you're having and be nice right back to me. The other pet peeve is embodied by these idiots who're so stuck on proving how fucking cool they are that they shoot right past the "cool" territory and motorvate directly into the "pathetic look-at-me loser" territory. Trust me - if you have to tell me how cool you are, you're not cool at all.

Do you really think that telling me a story that will blow my experience out of the water is going to make me enamored of you? Do you think you're impressing me socially? Are you attempting in some odd way to be a friend here? Or do you just want to establish dominance over the conversation so you can rule some infintesimal part of your egocentric, self-conscious, pale imitation of a universe? Whatever. If you want to rule the conversation, do it. I'll find someone else to talk to.

Jackass.