Tuesday, December 21, 2004
Potluck Dinner
I just returned from a potluck dinner at an old friend’s house. We used to be neighbors and haven’t seen each other in many years. When I first received the invitation I surprised myself by accepting, because I’m not one to attend dinners slash parties slash social events. The friend sent me a little description of the evening’s events, and I dutifully read it over, because I didn’t want any surprises. Karaoke was on the list, as well as board games. Then I saw ‘spin the bottle’, and I thought “What the hell?” But it turned out to be a different kind, not the make-out kind. Disappointment? You tell me.
When we were discussing what I should bring to the potluck over msn – because I wouldn’t even know where to start if I had to cook – my friend suggested I bring sushi, which was a great idea. I love sushi. But then I thought, why would I want to pay for a big tray of sushi just so I can give it to other people to eat? That seemed completely illogical. I would much rather eat it all by myself.
Then, as if on cue, she messaged: “Jenny, make sure you don’t eat all of it before you come!”
Um, that’s just freaky. She read my mind. Over msn! And so I replied, “Haha, of course not. Why would I do that?”
I ordered the sushi the night before (10% discount!), and the sushi lady didn’t even bother to ask for my phone number because I’m sure she recognized my voice. On the way there I could smell the sushi and spent the whole trip with my face glued to the Styrofoam boxes. When I arrived, I was more than a little reluctant to hand my sushi over. After all the introductions and the preparations, we were finally allowed to start eating. I immediately ate all the sushi I brought.
There were approximately fourteen people, of which I knew two. All in all, it was fun. We played charades (“It’s a chicken!” “Big sexy man!” “World? Sphere? Donut?”), sang some karaoke, and did not play spin the bottle (which they called spin the pen or spin the pin). Karaoke was hilarious. I don’t know how they make the karaoke videos, but they usually have nothing to do with the songs, and they consist of some girl from the eighties wearing something unfashionable and pouting her lips. Among the songs we sang there were some Celine Dion and some Aerosmith. Everyone’s going to get nightmares tonight from my singing.
A little before ten we were all kicked out, and as a friend and I walked to the bus “My Heart Will Go On” was still stuck in our heads, so we decided to sing it on the bus. I’m sure everyone on the bus hated us. When we tired of that, we decided to sing all the Christmas tunes we know. We could only remember the first lines of most songs, so it went something like this:
“Frosty the snowman, nana nanana” “…okay another one” “Rudolph the red nosed reindeer, had a very shiny nose! And all …la la la la…Then one foggy Christmas Eve, Santa came to um play? La la la LA LA LA, won’t you pull my sleigh tonight?” “Phew which other ones do you know?” “The first noel, the angles did hark or sing, and then …I can’t remember” “FA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA!” “I’m dreaming of a white Christmas…OH Christmas tree! OH Christmas tree!” “WE WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS WE WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS WE WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!”
There was no alcohol involved.
I just returned from a potluck dinner at an old friend’s house. We used to be neighbors and haven’t seen each other in many years. When I first received the invitation I surprised myself by accepting, because I’m not one to attend dinners slash parties slash social events. The friend sent me a little description of the evening’s events, and I dutifully read it over, because I didn’t want any surprises. Karaoke was on the list, as well as board games. Then I saw ‘spin the bottle’, and I thought “What the hell?” But it turned out to be a different kind, not the make-out kind. Disappointment? You tell me.
When we were discussing what I should bring to the potluck over msn – because I wouldn’t even know where to start if I had to cook – my friend suggested I bring sushi, which was a great idea. I love sushi. But then I thought, why would I want to pay for a big tray of sushi just so I can give it to other people to eat? That seemed completely illogical. I would much rather eat it all by myself.
Then, as if on cue, she messaged: “Jenny, make sure you don’t eat all of it before you come!”
Um, that’s just freaky. She read my mind. Over msn! And so I replied, “Haha, of course not. Why would I do that?”
I ordered the sushi the night before (10% discount!), and the sushi lady didn’t even bother to ask for my phone number because I’m sure she recognized my voice. On the way there I could smell the sushi and spent the whole trip with my face glued to the Styrofoam boxes. When I arrived, I was more than a little reluctant to hand my sushi over. After all the introductions and the preparations, we were finally allowed to start eating. I immediately ate all the sushi I brought.
There were approximately fourteen people, of which I knew two. All in all, it was fun. We played charades (“It’s a chicken!” “Big sexy man!” “World? Sphere? Donut?”), sang some karaoke, and did not play spin the bottle (which they called spin the pen or spin the pin). Karaoke was hilarious. I don’t know how they make the karaoke videos, but they usually have nothing to do with the songs, and they consist of some girl from the eighties wearing something unfashionable and pouting her lips. Among the songs we sang there were some Celine Dion and some Aerosmith. Everyone’s going to get nightmares tonight from my singing.
A little before ten we were all kicked out, and as a friend and I walked to the bus “My Heart Will Go On” was still stuck in our heads, so we decided to sing it on the bus. I’m sure everyone on the bus hated us. When we tired of that, we decided to sing all the Christmas tunes we know. We could only remember the first lines of most songs, so it went something like this:
“Frosty the snowman, nana nanana” “…okay another one” “Rudolph the red nosed reindeer, had a very shiny nose! And all …la la la la…Then one foggy Christmas Eve, Santa came to um play? La la la LA LA LA, won’t you pull my sleigh tonight?” “Phew which other ones do you know?” “The first noel, the angles did hark or sing, and then …I can’t remember” “FA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA!” “I’m dreaming of a white Christmas…OH Christmas tree! OH Christmas tree!” “WE WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS WE WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS WE WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!”
There was no alcohol involved.
