No better place for a bachelor party than in the market, where people see you in a giant banana costume and assume you’re either getting married or lost a bet.
Before going out drinking, they went paintballing, though this still didn’t preclude the groom-to-be from having to wear the bright yellow costume in the field.
One of several bachelorette parties we ran into that night.
I’ve been itching to play around with some new footage lately cause I love editing and it’s been a while since I had a good story to tell, so when Tiana invited me to Bobby’s second birthday party, I couldn’t resist. I also recently purchased some new gear in preparation of a wedding I’ve been hired to film in the Fall (with a second one potentially lined up), and I’ve been looking for an opportunity to field-test a new bag, shoulder strap, and monopod.
I tend to get really shy at Tiana’s parties cause I feel like I’m the only one who doesn’t know anyone else there, but she does a good job of making sure I’m never left alone for too long and included in most conversations. She’s also the only other person I know to actually design custom invitations. This time, however, she was sporting a perky new haircut, and no longer a vegetarian (for now). Such is the power of St. Hubert.
So out of the 26 people I invited to the third Cranium Party, 9 said they couldn’t make it, 13 said they’d come, and 4 didn’t RSVP at all.
Out of the 13 people who said they’d come, only 3 of them showed up, and one of those was Jessica, who was sort of co-hosting this one with me, so fuck yeah she was there1.
That means that including me, we had four people, which is the bare minimum to play Cranium.
To say I was disappointed is an understatement. I spent a great deal of time and energy making the invitations, and cleaning the house so my guests could be comfortable. Not to mention all the food I bought, most of which went bad because there weren’t enough people to eat it (and especially when the guests who do show up also bring plenty of snacks).
We did end up playing a good game, but it was entirely not worth all the preparation.
Jessica offered to host the next one at her place — very nice of her because that really means she’s offering to shoulder all the responsibilities — but I feel like Cranium parties are my thing. An invitation is not only an invitation to play, it’s an invitation into my social circle. The guest list is tightly controlled; anyone on it is either a very close friend, or someone I can tell has the potential to be. I want to have all the responsibility, because it’s one of the ways I can show these people they’re important to me.
At the same time, some people are already asking about the next one2, which I find strange because the impression I get is that it’s a low priority, never something people put in their schedule and plan around. I’m pretty sure most only go if nothing else comes up on that day.
That’s fine by me — not everyone loves doing bad impressions of Christopher Walken as much as I do — but when people say they’re going to be there and don’t show up, it’s a complete devaluation of my efforts. I’m seriously questioning if I’m going to host another Cranium party any time soon. If I do, the next invite list will undoubtedly be much shorter.
At the very least, the day was salvaged with some bubble tea, Chinese food, and quality time with Jessica.
For Audra’s birthday we headed to the Savana Cafe, with some chocolate ice cream cake at the William’s residence after leaving the very rude service we were given.
I also got to meet Jesse’s dad, Jim. He reminds me very much of his son in terms of their intellect and interests, and I found it quite novel to talk to an older version of Jesse with a soft voice and grey facial hair.
Across the table is Jesse, Caitlyn, Ariel, Ira, and Jairus. Jesse’s dad to my right.