Housewarming

Last weekend was our housewarming party. I think somewhere between 75 and 100 people showed up, from every corner of our social life -- friends from work, friends from USC, friends from the apartment we lived last. Neighbours bearing peach cobbler. Friends from the Los Angeles Times. Even a friend from Susie's high school and his fiancee.

It was a pot luck, and it was a house full of fun. I barbecued, and that was hot work -- the weather was a beautiful sweaty California summer day. Many people went in the pool -- some kids, some adults, some people I'd never seen before. Beverley, our ex-landlady first brought a plate of Mexican food that was well received, then drove home and returned with extra plastic chairs and a big umbrella that was put to immediate use.

As always, the big problem is that as host, you have about 3.5 minutes per guest, and a third of that is spent telling people where drinks are, where the bathroom is, and where to put down their towels. Unlike in Calgary, though, there was not a huge pile of coats on the bed. :)

The bulk of folks cleared out around 7 or 8, but the core group of bestest friends stayed -- Brian (sans Toni, who was working on the weekend as she often does), Barf (who left late but not too late), Debbie and her new accoutrement Tracy, Jae and Karin. Matt, the brother-in-law, was there, but his girlfriend Sonya never showed.

Preparations for the party went down the the wire -- I was hanging pictures at midnight the evening before, though the benefit of having a home is that you only keep yourself up when you hammer late at night. We invited our painter, Joe, to the party, but he wore himself out the day before and begged off.

The party came towards the end of a busy month. I've been teaching a summer course, one month long, to a group of high school students. There were 17 of them in the 9-10:30 a.m. class, and they learned all sorts of HTML and web design and Photoshop skills. You can see their work at http://www.hopstudios.com/nep/summer2001/ I encourage you to check out the site and submit at least one of their contact forms -- they'll be really surprised to get some feedback on their sites.

One of the funnier moments came on a field trip the students took to the Getty Museum. We went in a huge van, driven by one of the "camp counselors," a guy named George, about 20 years old who supervised some of the dorm rooms and helped manage the summer program. In addition to the students, another counselor, female in nature, caught a ride to visit L.A.'s most impressive architectural marvel. The students had a good time at the museum, though reactions varied from "I wish we could have visited all the museums in L.A.!" to "I'm so glad I put on sunscreen, because when I fell asleep in the Getty's gardens, I could have really gotten a burn!"

Anyway, we met back at the van at 3, and Susie and I returned a little early with 3 of the students. Susie went to see if the van was unlocked, and, surprise, it was! George and the other counselor were protecting it from the inside.

Meanwhile, life at Variety is going well. There have been some tumultuous turnovers at various levels. On one end of the scale, the CEO was resigned by his bosses on the board, which is a bummer because he was a strong proponent of Internet development. On the other end, Jeff Wong, one of the Web site's copy editors, left to join the Marines as an officer, and budget squeeze means I likely won't be able to replace him. But the site's working well, and getting lots of use, and we're breaking some great stories, so I think we'll keep churning along.

We leave in a few days to head to a wedding in Alexandria, Virginia. This is where Susie's parents live, so it's actually a very convenient ceremony from a logistical standpoint for us. For the bride and groom, not so -- George lives in New Jersey, and the bride's near Alexandria.

Later this summer, I'm actually the officiant at another set of friends' wedding. I would welcome your advice on how to conduct a ceremony, because my training in the Universal Life Church involved very little in the way of useful matrimonial guidance. It spent more time explaining how to handle the IRS's inquiries as to why your house belongs to your "parish" and whether you can deduct your salary as a charitable donation. (Answer: It depends.)

However, though I probably wouldn't be much good at an exorcism, I am legal to perform the wedding ceremony, and I'm very much looking forward to it. I have a large headdress picked out, and have contacted the local magician's supply store to order the needed amount of flash powder. Assuming the large marble slab is delivered by the contractors in time, I will be tieing the knot in a way that will make their memorable day even more memorable. I just keep asking myself, "Will this stand the test of time?" and the answer is yes, in 50 years, they'll still look back on it with the same sense of wonderment.

Susie was driving along the freeway fairly recently and had an adventure. I called her on her cell phone and there was a little noise in the background. She was also very happy to talk to me. Turns out the noise was the freeway, and she had a sudden not quite blowout. Mostly, it seems the tire went suddenly flat, and then ripped itself into shreds while still staying on the wheel. So she didn't lose control, she just lost velocity and the ability to turn sharply. She pulled over and called a tow truck. No one seems to be able to say why her tired turned into linguini all of a sudden -- it was relatively new and the road was fine. She's very fortunate.

Oh, and I was at a hamburger stand and saw Brad Pitt get grabbed by gang bangers and driven away in a van, but it's late and that's a story best saved for another night.

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