We had a party last night. It was a post-holiday party, in that this was as good an excuse as any to have a party, and it was relatively close to the 12th day of Christmas, and we'd planned on having a party in December and then never got our act together enough. So anyway. The party was last night. We cleaned the house, but that didn't take too long once we recovered from the bike ride in the morning (again, I say ow). Then we sat down and rewrote the cards for our little game we created a year or two ago for a Halloween party. It was a rousing success at that party, so we decided to do it again, with a few modifications (after all, one must play test these things a few times before one can approach a game manufacturer and sell the concept for the cost of a few trips to Starbucks. Whee!). I started on the characters, but then Richard started having way too much fun with the scenes so I let him do the rest. I think he got the ultimate compliment as a result, from someone who hadn't played the game the last time and mentioned that he was warped. Of course, in our little group of friends, this is a compliment. The party was a success. Everyone seemed to be having a grand time. The game went over well, with such memorable lines from the scenes acted out as:
I'm happy to report that the Steam line (which came from the skit I and my partner put together) won us the prize. I know you're all proud of me. I can feel it, really I can. Flashback to another holiday party, a few years back, thrown by Richard. He had a white elephant gift exchange, where everyone brings something wrapped and then you all draw numbers and you may either open a present or take one that's already been opened from someone else in the circle. It's a little like Russian roulette in a way. You can never be sure if the present you open will be something really cool, or something really horrible (which is exactly the point of the game!). Anyway, during the process of the game one guy ended up getting a hardbound three-novel volume of romances from Judith Krantz. And he declared that he would read it, on the bus, in Oakland (a place, for those of you unfamiliar with the bay area of California, where you really do not want to be a guy reading Judith Krantz novels). We did a white elephant gift exchange at the party last night. I'm happy to report that we finally got rid of the Jingle Cats CD, as well as a rather unattractive and foofy piece of ceramic we were given. Not that what we ended up with was much better (although Richard seems genuinely excited about his shower clock. Who knew?), but as the game was nearing its close, and the last present lay on the table, some of us who had been at that last party started peering closer at it, suddenly recognizing the shape, and even before the luckless young man opened it, we were laughing hysterically. Seems the Judith Krantz novel made its return. The poor recipient wasn't exactly thrilled but we gave him all sorts of ideas, such as highlighting a few phrases and then nonchalantly leaving it in a friend's place. Or breaking the binding so it always falls open to the steamiest parts (and leaving it at a friend's place). We are nothing if not a helpful crowd.
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