Is it just me or is my hair totally "The Rachel" circa 1996? All you Syracuse folk will notice that if you go through The Archives there are probably no less than 832 pictures of Dave and I exactly like this one. I guess we're ubiquitous like that.
True story: Last year I saw in Vogue these awesome Louis Vuitton shoes that could have been mine for the low price of about $500. Not having $500 to spend on shoes, I sulked for almost a year until I found these awesome knock-offs. I don't walk in them, only slink around parties in them.
My phone rang at 6:00 AM and it was The Job, wondering if I could come in early. I was already supposed to be in at 7:00 AM, so I wasn't sure exactly what they meant by "early". Nevertheless, I hopped in a cab and went over. Seems there was an illness and they needed backup. Stat.
Which has given me some time to update and discuss the Birthday Gathering, which I am so, so happy with. I realized that I was fighting for people with at least three other parties Saturday night and I was thrilled that 40 of my nearest and dearest made it out. (And even some with gifts! Yay!) Eventually my little section of Solas was over run by a gaggle of NYU meatheads and what looked like either a prom or a wedding party, but like Cher in Clueless once said, "The more, the merrier."
I must offer the accolades to the cast of South Pacific, as well as the other Heights Players, who not only came out after Saturday night's director's workshop but also started the dancing. They also stayed on until the end. I can always count on you guys for late-night staying power. Also of note was that somewhere around 1:00 AM I heard Dee-Lite's, "Groove Is In The Heart" which is one of my absolute favorite songs of all time. Some other time I was explain how that album, "World Clique" changed me from boring, 8th grade Pauline to the version you know and love today.
After Solas Hillary, Velazquez and I went down to Naked Lunch, which proved to be way more fun than I expected. I hadn't been there since, easily, 1998. At the bar I started talking to some guy named Matt who had familiar but subtle drawl to his voice. Turns out he was from the Oakland area (Lawrenceville, actually) and spoke with the patented Nothern Californial accent. (I only know this because my dad has lived across the bay in the Marin and Sonoma County areas for over 10 years.) For those of you unfamiliar, a NorCal accent is kind of like Surfer Lite. Anyway, Matt took me under his wing and we danced and had some laughs and at 4:00 AM when we were all kicked out of the bar with cups of Amsterdam Chocolate in hand (it's really good but really potent) I jumped in his cab and I went back to my place to 20th, only because I had no cash and no ATM card on me. (Hillary and Velazquez had pretty much evaporated by that time. Funny, that.) Matt then went back up to that bastion of coolness, Murray Hill.
All in all, it was a great gathering. I spent Sunday shopping on the LES, had some gelato, bought an awesome, tricked-out sequined skirt and I finally read "Brighton Beach Memoirs." (Highly recommended, by the way.) I also dropped off all my film, so perhaps in a few days I'll have some photos. Prepare to be dazzled.
