What if you threw a party, and nobody came?
This last Monday I realized that the coming weekend was Labor Day, and I decided, spur-of-the-moment, that it was time for another Friday poker night. Sent out an Evite to 20 people or so: only half opened their invitations, and of those, one accepted, one said maybe, and eight declined. But even if, in fact, only one person turned up, I'd still have everything at the ready. A party's a party, and there's no backing out once you set it up. I'm as good as my word on that.
Back in the summer of '94, girl I was going with asked me to come along with her as she and a group of her friends went up to Vancouver, BC to see Pink Floyd on The Division Bell tour. I was hesitant, since it would mean spending three days with almost a dozen people I didn't know, and I'm not that social to begin with. Aeryk the Hippie gave me some advice that I've never forgotten: "Just go ahead and go. Worst thing that'll happen, you'll end up amusing yourself--which is what you do best anyway."
I ended up going, and though this crowd wasn't ideal, they weren't so bad at that. I didn't go to the concert itself, though, since I couldn't get a ticket. So, while they were seeing Pink Floyd, I went up to Lonsdale Quay and had fish and chips at the Cheshire Cheese Inn, along with a few gin and tonics, as well as some of that fine British ale. Ended up getting pleasantly wasted, and knocked around downtown Vancouver til the concert let out. In other words, amusing myself.
It's all in the outlook. Make the most of the situation, that sort of thing. So I was undaunted when Friday night rolled around, and no one showed. By that point I wasn't really expecting enough for a poker game, just perhaps one or two guests, maybe. I made some popcorn and turned on Real Time With Bill Maher to wait for any arrivals. By half-past nine no one had shown, and no one was answering their cell phones. Fired up the barbecue anyway, and cooked up some boneless pork ribs. Sparingly applied some Stubbs barbecue sauce, and had them on outdoor buns, a thick and cumbersome (but thoroughly wonderful) barbecue pork sandwich. Some baked beans with that and you've got a great way to watch the sunset. Had plenty of beer that I no longer had to share, so I went through a lot of that (spent most of Saturday with a mildly throbbing head). At some point I dialed up The Last Waltz on OnDemand, but I didn't sing along with any of the numbers (though there were no witnesses, so you'll have to take my word on that). I especially like Ronnie Hawkins doing "Who Do You Love". I remember getting at least as far as "The Night They Drove Ol' Dixie Down" before conking out.
Wonder if anyone would be up for poker this coming Friday...not too soon to try again....
Back in the summer of '94, girl I was going with asked me to come along with her as she and a group of her friends went up to Vancouver, BC to see Pink Floyd on The Division Bell tour. I was hesitant, since it would mean spending three days with almost a dozen people I didn't know, and I'm not that social to begin with. Aeryk the Hippie gave me some advice that I've never forgotten: "Just go ahead and go. Worst thing that'll happen, you'll end up amusing yourself--which is what you do best anyway."
I ended up going, and though this crowd wasn't ideal, they weren't so bad at that. I didn't go to the concert itself, though, since I couldn't get a ticket. So, while they were seeing Pink Floyd, I went up to Lonsdale Quay and had fish and chips at the Cheshire Cheese Inn, along with a few gin and tonics, as well as some of that fine British ale. Ended up getting pleasantly wasted, and knocked around downtown Vancouver til the concert let out. In other words, amusing myself.
It's all in the outlook. Make the most of the situation, that sort of thing. So I was undaunted when Friday night rolled around, and no one showed. By that point I wasn't really expecting enough for a poker game, just perhaps one or two guests, maybe. I made some popcorn and turned on Real Time With Bill Maher to wait for any arrivals. By half-past nine no one had shown, and no one was answering their cell phones. Fired up the barbecue anyway, and cooked up some boneless pork ribs. Sparingly applied some Stubbs barbecue sauce, and had them on outdoor buns, a thick and cumbersome (but thoroughly wonderful) barbecue pork sandwich. Some baked beans with that and you've got a great way to watch the sunset. Had plenty of beer that I no longer had to share, so I went through a lot of that (spent most of Saturday with a mildly throbbing head). At some point I dialed up The Last Waltz on OnDemand, but I didn't sing along with any of the numbers (though there were no witnesses, so you'll have to take my word on that). I especially like Ronnie Hawkins doing "Who Do You Love". I remember getting at least as far as "The Night They Drove Ol' Dixie Down" before conking out.
Wonder if anyone would be up for poker this coming Friday...not too soon to try again....
posted by Russ the Librarian at 9:15 PM
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