Nate, the winner of the most swanky award. I mean, that's swanky. And Becca looks so focused at the table of magic/bad decisions.
Nate, Leslie Doug and I are probably discussing the situation in Darfur. Or Obama and Oprah.
Dan is always swave with the smart Quizzo ladies like Jane and Margarita.
Dear Robin: Thank you for capturing in one photo the awkwardness of my night. I can't imagine this being more clear. Just...wow. You are gifted friend, totally gifted.
Holy Crap.
Now THAT was a weekend.
Saturday night was the Swanky Martini Christmas Party and here is what you need to know about it:
Just because people are dressed up doesn't mean they won't make asses of themselves
We are a generation who has no idea how to drink/handle liquor. We know beer and wine but liquor? Enigma. Whoa.
Parties may start out classy but inevitably it will distill down to booty dancing to something by Fergie or loud sing-a-longs to old Whitney.
We had appetizers that were called beagle dicks and schweaty balls. And we said these with straight faces. While drinking something classy and dainty.
That was more quadrangle (thank you Liz) drama than I wanted or needed. Thank you, Swanky Christmas Party for reminding me that I'm much better off single.
There is something frustratingly powerless and ultimately futile about loving someone who doesn't love themselves, or who loves in a self-destructive and narcissistic way, the way a snake loves the mouse that shares its cage. But each time the best of you wants to believe they will change, that this time is different, that this is the moment the truth is out; that they've finally reached rock bottom. Each time you dutifully take the words and promises like communion. And each time they prove you wrong, they let you down and they leave nothing but destruction in their path. They tornado through the very people who love them. They wring out the very best of your intentions and leave you broken and exhausted, but somehow leave just enough hope for the next time they come around. They are easy to like and impossibly hard to love. They are addicts, manics, pathological liars and sometimes, all three. You don't know whether to hug them and cry or punch them in the face and walk out. Is it possible to do both?
I'm so tired and frustrated and there is nothing I want less than that person anywhere near the people I love, even as I love that person wholeheartedly. I don't want to literally drive into that tornado in a few weeks. Where are the boundaries with a person who has no regard for them? Where do you say, “enough is enough” when life without them is impossible, when there aren't ties that can be cut? How do you love them as Christ loves them and yet not be consumed? This is something I have openly run from and yet here it is again, same person, same situation, different year. Ugh.
The “Choose Cheesy” mix is a little over a year old (Thank you to Erin Hatcher for inspiring the mix and then saying, “Yeah you say these songs are cheesy...I don't. I say AMAZING.”) and I have to say, it has only gotten better with time (and it's expanded). It is a uniter, and I have yet to find a song that is more fun to sing loudly (with dramatic hand motions) while driving alone as “The Greatest Love of All” by Whitney “Crack is Whack” Houston. I mean really...it is so much fun it should be banned. I've given out multiple copies of the “Choose Cheesy” mix because it works so well in so many situations. I decided if I ever get married several of the songs from the Choose Cheesy mix will be incorporated into the reception playlist for three reasons:
Sheer Awesomeness.
Getting everyone onto the dance floor to sing them loudly. Like Romano and I will most certainly do our duet version of “Don't Go Breakin' My Heart”, and pretty much everyone I have ever known EVER will be out there to sing “Eternal Flame” and “I Think We're Alone Now” complete with dramatic hand motions, as most Cheesy songs dictate (And “Nothin's Gonna Stop Us Now” will be a solo performance by Liz)
Because when people all end up out on a dance floor, drinking and singing loudly, it breaks down barriers, creates strong memories and unites a group and I want a wedding that is a community event, not little separate groups. Music can be a very powerful tool, even if it is “Glory of Love” that is doing it. And dammit it's my fictional wedding, I plan to lose my voice from singing and pull all sorts of muscles dancing...not that kind of dancing you dirty dirty person.
All that to say: Cheesy songs have a great worth in uniting by agreement; pretty much everyone can say “Karma Chameleon” is cheesy, but that fact makes singing it all the more silly and fun. Actually knowing the words to the song is both an admission and a call to community. See? Now you can say knowing all the words to “Time After Time” has a higher altruistic purpose. Look at you, community builder. Hey, if you fall I will catch you, I will be waiting.
(sidebar: Ever notice that Jennifer Warnes sang both “Up Where We Belong” and “I've Had the Time of My Life”? How did this woman get on two of the most amazing cheesy songs of the 80s? Who is she? Does Jennifer Warnes have a superhero power of “Cheesy Yet Iconic Motion Picture Soundtrack Duets”? I wonder if in the 90s she embarked on a solo career and changed her name to Celine Dion in order to sing “My Heart Will Go On”. Probably.)
