Weekend Socializing

About a week and a half ago Nithum and I came up with the idea that we could host a Purim party. Upon receiving support from a number of friends we decided to go ahead with the party, which we were originally thinking of hosting on a Friday evening.

Until about Tuesday evening nothing had really started to move, so I informed a friend that it was likely a no-go. Surprisingly, Liam, a friend present when the comment was made, immediately threw his support behind the idea of the party. Nithum confirmed his support for the party. So, again, the party was on, though this time for Thursday rather than Friday night.

Due to the short period of time between the final decision to host the party and the time of the party only limited planning was possible. A further problem was inviting people with such short notice, particularly before an amazingly long weekend (four days for the McGill community). Eventually a few invitations were distributed via email, though to a limited number of people as I blanked out under pressure.

On Wednesday night I decided to try and find some appropriate music for us to play during the party. Within a few minutes I found a site that listed klezmer bands with free samples online. Once I had visited all of the listed sites I had over 4 hours of such music in my possession, several of the pieces even had 'Purim' in their titles.

At about this time I learned that Nithum had come down with some kind of illness (of the cold variety) and would likely not be attending the party.

As the school day on Thursday drew to a close I hit took to the streets to pick up the needed supplies. I was able to hit the dollar store, the grocery store, and the liquor store and acquire pretty much everything that I needed. The only type of item that I was unable to find were special Purim noisemakers that are used to drown out the name of Haman during the reading of the book of Ester.

Upon returning to our apartment I did some work on cleaning, but much more work on food preparation. I baked some shortbread, made some humus, didn't make some bacon appetizers, and cleaned and chopped some vegetables, finishing only moment before the scheduled start time.

Shortly after changing into my costume the first guests started to arrive, causing me to open the first bottle of wine. As the time went on more and more people began to arrive, eventually peaking at about 20.

One thing that I noticed was that people tended to bring red wine with them but that the white wine went much more quickly. I know that this would be my preference, but I bought more white than red wine. Maybe it was just a quirk of the evening, or, as Neil hypothesized, that the white was more tempting in the context of an overheated apartment.

Anyway, as people arrived the seemed to quickly hope on to the drinking and feasting components of the evening, which was the intended outcome.

By about 4:00 AM most of the guests had departed, the exception being Mary, who crashed on the futon.

The next morning, upon waking, I surveyed the apartment. Much to my surprise, there wasn't all that much to clean up, aside from basically all of the glasses in our apartment. Within about 45 minutes I had returned the apartment to a more orderly state than when the party started the previous evening.

Shortly after finishing my clean up I returned to bed so that I could rest up for Friday night's events, which were to be plentiful, and which I hoped to take full advantage of as this was to be on of the few Friday nights I haven't had to work.

At about 6:30 a few of us from the Ghetto walked over to a bar on Crescent Street to celebrate a classmate's birthday. If I recall correctly, about 10 or 12 people showed up and we had a very enjoyable few hours of socializing. At one point we were even able to discuss local Newfoundland beers (as the celebrant is the only other person from Newfoundland in my class).

From the bar, a handful of us moved to a party on St. Laurent. Shortly after arriving at the party we ended up meeting the celebrant's former roommate, who, if my memory serves me correctly, is a friend of the host's, though I am not too sure about the connection.

After a brief, but pleasant stay at the party, we again were on the move, this time to a bar further North on St. Laurent.

The reason for visiting the bar was a party that they were hosting, which was called "Revenge of the Librarians." Though it was likely that my friends would be the only library community related individuals present, I did feel an intense desire to put on a cardigan and see what was going on. I should also note that it was a fundraiser for a feminist/gender neutrality cause (meaning that I knew that I would be one of the few males before I even entered the bar).

Upon entering the bar it was clear that the librarian stereotype is pretty easy to hit pretty accurately. There were plenty of cardigans and pairs of glasses (though I don't know if they were wearing comfortable shoes).

As the bar had only one bathroom playing the line was particularly important. As I have taken a management class and am familiar with the ins and out of strategic planning I hopped in the line shortly after buying my drink as I was sure to need to use the bath room my the time that I reached the front of the line.

One of the best aspects of the bathroom line was being between two or more people twenty minutes. I had some really fun conversations with my fellow patrons. It is likely that I wouldn't have really talked to anyone but my friends had it not be for the need to wait twenty minutes to use the can.

Eventually things started to slow down and people started to clear out. Soon enough a few of us were just about the last people there.

For some reason, we ended up visiting a local 24 hour bagel bakery shortly after departing. Somehow I ended up eating four of the six bagels, though I wasn't even the one with a particular inclination to get them.

Soon enough, after scrapping together bus fare, I was able to hope a south-bound Parc bus with Kyla. Upon making it back to the Ghetto we each headed home, drawing to a close my weekend of socializing.

A Few Quick Notes 165

-Today is like the past few days in that it is pretty beautiful. The temperature is a few degrees below zero, with a crisp bone chilling breeze. Skies are clear and the sun is shining. This is a significant improvement upon the somewhat overcast skies and precipitation of a few days ago.

-It seems that I am about 10/49 for this year's Roll Up the Rim Contest. I seem to now be immersed in a solid two time a day habit.

-Today is Easter, but one would have a hard time telling from the appearance of our apartment. Much to my chagrin, the Easter bunny seems to have skipped our place. Also, some seeds that I planted yesterday have yet to sprout and give the sense of re-birth, or birth.

Anyway, things will certainly pick up on the Easter front later today when I slap my baby turkey (A.K.A. a chicken) in the oven and prepare a bit of a solo feast. I presume that my chicken will be accompanied by some vegetables (frozen green beans) and mashed potatoes, and maybe some carrots as I have a bunch kicking around.

-Shortly after waking this morning I decided that I needed to head out and hit the last day of the butter sale at one of my local grocery stores. While on my way there, I stopped at another store and picked up some celery.

While waiting in line to pay for my celery I noticed that one of the professors from my school as behind me. This is somewhat funny as the last time I was in this store buying only one item she was in line with me. In previous year and a half of frequenting this store I have not seen her there once, nor have I every made such specific purchases. I guess I will have to see if the trend continues (though I am running out of time).

Once I finally made it to the final destination grocery store I was able to find the butter and also some margarine (of the soft, easy to spread variety). After picking up my main selections I decided to browse the herbal tea section. While kneeling down I saw some cheaply printed white bags that reminded me of candy surprise bags of my childhood. After further inspection I learned that they were actually host cuttings, the sections of dough from which communion hosts are cut.

As it is Easter, and these of religious in nature, I thought I would splurge and spend the $2.49 for the 115 gram bag.

-This morning Nithum was noting that Montifax was a little out of date, which is certainly true. Sorry to all of you who have noticed this and not received your regular dose of Montifax during the last couple days.

-On a related note, there should also be a Purim Party/Good Friday rundown later today or this evening.