New Friends

I went to an unusual party Friday night. Some relatively new friends, Steamy Cynthia and Grogalingus, invited me to what they called a "new friends party." They also invited five other people they didn't know well and who didn't know each other. OK, a threesome came together and a twosome came together; and one of the guests is a colleague of mine, but we don't really know each other. As it turned out, I was the only one who didn't know anybody there well, but I can handle that. As my mom has always said, I don't know a stranger.

Mixing a group of relative strangers seemed a courageous gambit into the diminishing art of face-to-face socializing that could fall flat on its fucking face, or, as it was intended, make new friends of people who might not otherwise have met. I was delighted to be invited and met.

We started the evening with a little social lubricant. Grogalingus mixed up a tasty cocktail of amaretto, Southern Comfort, sweet/sour mix, and pineapple juice called Leah's piece of ass.* I recommend drinking it by the pitcher.

And there was food: cheese and crackers, hummus, and fresh fruit! One of the guests brought a yummy apple crumb pie. And because Steamy Cynthia reads this here blog, she baked chocolate chocolate chip and lemon cookies just for me--but of course I shared with the other guests.

Really, what more do you need at a party besides a piece of ass and cookies? I was perfectly satisfied. But besides the food, here are a few observations from the night.

1. I'm going to have to break down and watch Dr. Who. Probably I should also make a cheat sheet just for parties or get relevant details tattooed on the inside of my arm. Evidently just nodding like I know what the fuck people are talking about is not enough for the Whoish crowd. I need to know the characters. And I suspect I could at least appear smarter than a brain-damaged turkey if I knew why this outhouse is so important.

I'm the only one on the planet who doesn't know, aren't I?

2. Going to a party where you don't know anybody well means every story will be a new one. That's some cool shit right there.

 3. I can't go one single night without talking about boobs and how much I love them. I haven't written about that here yet, but I will soon. Not that it's a secret, but don't worry. I didn't lead with boobs at the new friends party. We'd all had at least 2 drinks before the topic came up. And before we listened to this song.

4. I will probably be writing about some steampunk adventures here in the near future. As of this writing, I know very little other than that it started as a literary movement and within the past few years has morphed into a costume movement as well. And there should be goggles.

For the past few months Grogalingus and Steamy Cynthia have been encouraging me to ride on their airship to some steampunk functions, but so far I've encountered scheduling conflicts. Three of the guests Friday are instigators of steampunk in a nearby city, so having made more new steampunk friends, I think I'd better don a costume and see what it's all about.

I realized as I was looking at costumes online that I already have a dress I can trick out with some accessories. I've always said I won't wear a corset in public because it's one item  of clothing I'd rather save for a special someone to see in private. Or maybe it's a matter of class that I wouldn't wear one out to a club, for example. But as I looked at photos of some of the local events, I noticed lots of the women's costumes are topped by corsets, so .... maybe as a costume? I'm still not persuaded yet. Although I think I could handle this costume in black, without the weapon. I already have the jacket.

This costume needs a redhead.

5. People who read my blog know me better than I realize they do. Everybody seems to be rooting for me to get more cookies.

I think I rambled away from the party. It was fun. One of my intentions for the new year is to get out of my comfort zone ..... OK, I do that anyway. Find new ways to get out of my comfort zone. I'm grateful that Steamy Cynthia and Grogalingus opened their home to an experimental party. It was a great idea and a generous risk. Or at least I thought it was risky.

Would you consider it risky to either go to a party where all the other guests were strangers or even intentionally throw a party like that yourself?

I leave you with another Tim Minchin offering that one of the party guests posted on my Facebook wall after we became friends yesterday. Listen through, because you'll probably be surprised by the word he's ..... nevermind. I'm not going to give away the surprise. (Thanks, Charlie.)

*The recipe is delicious as is, but I would add a spritz of black cherry fizzy water to the mix to lighten it a bit and give a touch of effervescence. That's just my preference though.