I Attend Hawaiian Luau Party, Become "Vegetable" of Said Party

From my hermit-like study of the past few months, it seems I have emerged as a pretty popular item on the G'ville party circuit. I've now been to two—count ‘em, two—parties in two consecutive weeks. Take a minute to let that bad boy sink in. And while I wasn't actually invited to the second party, I feel certain that I added a certain je ne sais quois, a certain "why is she here?," to the proceedings.

Andretta invited Jolanda and I to Juniper and Carl's Luau Party this past Saturday which promised the attendance of some grad students but many faculty and staff members from UF. We were the first guests to arrive except for Carl's brother, Kelvin. We were sitting around, having some drinks (Juniper makes a divine pina colada) and making introductions. Turns out Kelvin was visiting from Louisville, Kentucky, a place I know little or nothing about. In an effort to rescue him from the embarrassment of being from Kentucky, I commented that one of the bloggers I read just moved back to Louisville— lame comment, I know. But then Jolanda blind-sided me with a zinger...like, ten minutes into the party. I don't know what my face registered, but I felt like a baby who had just been punched in the pie hole. I'm pretty sure it showed 'cause Jolanda followed up with a "she can give it as well as she can take it" comment, and I recovered. (And, in general, of course, she's right).

From introductions, we proceeded to the food which consisted of Asian fusion pasta salad, veggie tofu burgers, and red beans in walnut sauce. It was quite yummy! Whilst we were eating, the other guests started showing up. But it seems like I have a bit of a dilemma in the "people meeting" department: I'm fine meeting and talking with one new person at a time but I get spooked by many. Personally, I blame the alcohol. What's really funny is that I compensate for nerves by trying to be funny. This often turns out being more humorous than intended—I'm talking people laughing at you not with you funny. Which is ok because I deal in "failure based" humor—when you lose, you win! At any rate, I didn't circulate much and ended up talking with my peeps as well as Markle, a fantastic guy I met at the Oscar Party.

As the night wore on and the bulk of the people left, we decided to play Scene It: James Bond Edition. At this point, I loudly proclaimed that I was going to kick some ass! (third pina colada). This boasting was great for me 'cause I've seen a lot of James Bond movies and have no long-term memory. As I crankily lead my losing team, I got to talk at length with Chank, a faculty member at UF (not my department). He and I comiserated together so well that we're thinking of opening a pub called Lower the Bar. We fared a bit better at the regular Scene It in which I got Midnight Cowboy from the picture combo and he got Bolero from out of nowhere—rock on! Our team missed by the narrowist of margins. Then we moved into some Karaoke Revolution. At this point, I was getting sleepy, so I can't actually remember what I sang. I do remember getting a fabulous backrub from someone whose name escapes me and who acts excactly like another Merk I used to work with. That's how alcohol-comfortable and sleepy I'd become: asking for a backrub from a stranger, shameful! Anyways, relaxation + relaxation = vegetable.

Nevertheless, I totally enjoyed the party and have resolved to banish the nerves and meet more people when I am, again, at a swank party with such cool people.