Tuesday, May 29, 2007
How'd All These People Get In My Room?
Back in the Rat Pack days, Sinatra or Dean Martin would look out over the audience and bellow "How'd all these people get in my room?" I had a little bit of that feeling on Sunday. We had an open house for our graduate, Alex. Now, his mother and I had a pretty good idea of who was coming in terms of grown-ups. We had a finite number of invitations that we sent out which included friends, neighbors and relatives. As for my side of the family, up in Wisconsin, several of them are prohibited from crossing state lines for a variety of reasons which I'm not allowed to divulge so that held down attendance from that branch of the family tree. By the way, I've been told by genealogists that, regarding my family tree, I'm considered the sap. As for my wife's side of the family, with the exception of her parents, when they found out I'd be home and, in fact, taking some time off from TV to be home even more than usual, they decided they couldn't make it.
The wild card for Sunday was who our son had invited. He didn't put an invitation in an envelope, stamp it and send it out. He did the invites in the 21st century way: over the interweb. Just kind of a blanket "Come to my house" to who knows who. Just to be on the safe side, I assigned our daughter Samantha to be the front door sentry. She would warily watch each approaching unknown entity. If they were carrying a gift of some kind, she usually let them pass without too much problem. However, if they were empty-handed, she would grill them about their name, parents' names, birthdates, tax information as well as require two forms of photo ID. She wanted to use our electric carving knife to replicate the clicking wand they use at airports but we thought that might be a little dangerous. The first teenager to arrive seemed a little too good to be true and my daughter and I wondered if we were being lulled into a false sense of security. This young man was planning a Scrabble tournament and spoke of attending Duke and how his Harvard Senior sister was in town. Initially I thought we were being Eddie Haskell-ed. But, the kid was on the level and a sign of good things to come. Turned out that all Alexander's invitees were terrific company...well-mannered and good-humored. In reality, I think Alex was more worried about his father's behavior toward his friends than the other way around.
A few other little party odds and ends:
*Thanks to my wife's mother, we ordered just the right amount of food. Especially cake. A half-sheet was more than enough. Also, my wife's father turned out to be the Rodin of vegetable choppers.
*Although my mom was not there, her "Chewies", comprised of Special K, peanut butter and chocolate, were the hit of the buffet table. Who needs caviar when you have Grandma's Chewies? With the healthy cereal and peanut butter I've always felt a Chewie is the real "Breakfast of Champions." If we're talking about champion Sumo wrestlers. Good stuff.
*My wife found great decorations at a very low price which we carefully took down and will save for the next three graduates. The fact that the banners were in the "irregular" barrel and actually spelled out "Congratulations Gradients" is no big deal. Also, the '07 can easily be changed to '09, then '11, then '14 with the creative use of duct tape.
*A friend of Alexander's let him use the friend's Wii game system. Now, as someone still a little intimidated by PONG and downright scared of Ms. Pacman, I view this interactive deal where people are jumping up and down in front of the TV, waving their control-laden arms around, as a sign of the Apocalypse. But, it did turn out to be quite a hit and not just for the kids. A certain adult, who shall remain nameless, really loved it and was talking trash to his own little son as they competed! Okay, I'll give you a hint. The adult's name rhymes with "Hairy Fish."
*Finally, a sign that the future is in good hands. We were honored to have, as a guest, the legendary singer and Johnny Carson favorite, Marilyn Maye. Marilyn agreed to sing a couple songs while accompanied by a non-pianist...namely, me. Any of Marilyn's regular accompanists would have done a much better job even if they were wearing oven mitts. But, being a trouper, she made musical magic anyway. As she wrapped up the second number, almost all the young folks in the living room applauded. I say "almost all" because some of them were busy dancing...cheek to cheek. They knew show biz greatness when they saw...and heard...it. The Wii gave way to WOW!
Sunday's party pretty much wrapped up the Season of the Graduate. I hope it wasn't too jarring when I woke Alex up on Monday morning with a box and a garbage bag for his bedroom. Hey! It's supposed to be the season of DAD, now!
The wild card for Sunday was who our son had invited. He didn't put an invitation in an envelope, stamp it and send it out. He did the invites in the 21st century way: over the interweb. Just kind of a blanket "Come to my house" to who knows who. Just to be on the safe side, I assigned our daughter Samantha to be the front door sentry. She would warily watch each approaching unknown entity. If they were carrying a gift of some kind, she usually let them pass without too much problem. However, if they were empty-handed, she would grill them about their name, parents' names, birthdates, tax information as well as require two forms of photo ID. She wanted to use our electric carving knife to replicate the clicking wand they use at airports but we thought that might be a little dangerous. The first teenager to arrive seemed a little too good to be true and my daughter and I wondered if we were being lulled into a false sense of security. This young man was planning a Scrabble tournament and spoke of attending Duke and how his Harvard Senior sister was in town. Initially I thought we were being Eddie Haskell-ed. But, the kid was on the level and a sign of good things to come. Turned out that all Alexander's invitees were terrific company...well-mannered and good-humored. In reality, I think Alex was more worried about his father's behavior toward his friends than the other way around.
A few other little party odds and ends:
*Thanks to my wife's mother, we ordered just the right amount of food. Especially cake. A half-sheet was more than enough. Also, my wife's father turned out to be the Rodin of vegetable choppers.
*Although my mom was not there, her "Chewies", comprised of Special K, peanut butter and chocolate, were the hit of the buffet table. Who needs caviar when you have Grandma's Chewies? With the healthy cereal and peanut butter I've always felt a Chewie is the real "Breakfast of Champions." If we're talking about champion Sumo wrestlers. Good stuff.
*My wife found great decorations at a very low price which we carefully took down and will save for the next three graduates. The fact that the banners were in the "irregular" barrel and actually spelled out "Congratulations Gradients" is no big deal. Also, the '07 can easily be changed to '09, then '11, then '14 with the creative use of duct tape.
*A friend of Alexander's let him use the friend's Wii game system. Now, as someone still a little intimidated by PONG and downright scared of Ms. Pacman, I view this interactive deal where people are jumping up and down in front of the TV, waving their control-laden arms around, as a sign of the Apocalypse. But, it did turn out to be quite a hit and not just for the kids. A certain adult, who shall remain nameless, really loved it and was talking trash to his own little son as they competed! Okay, I'll give you a hint. The adult's name rhymes with "Hairy Fish."
*Finally, a sign that the future is in good hands. We were honored to have, as a guest, the legendary singer and Johnny Carson favorite, Marilyn Maye. Marilyn agreed to sing a couple songs while accompanied by a non-pianist...namely, me. Any of Marilyn's regular accompanists would have done a much better job even if they were wearing oven mitts. But, being a trouper, she made musical magic anyway. As she wrapped up the second number, almost all the young folks in the living room applauded. I say "almost all" because some of them were busy dancing...cheek to cheek. They knew show biz greatness when they saw...and heard...it. The Wii gave way to WOW!
Sunday's party pretty much wrapped up the Season of the Graduate. I hope it wasn't too jarring when I woke Alex up on Monday morning with a box and a garbage bag for his bedroom. Hey! It's supposed to be the season of DAD, now!
Posted at 4:31 AM
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