I hatched the idea of a dinner party in A's brain early last week, which she enthusiastically embraced and which we sort of haphazardly prepared for but still ended up with fourteen people altogether and a number of excellent dishes -- including roasted red pepper lasagna, fancy little tomatoes, asparagus with hollandaise sauce, feta-apple-walnut salad, and garlic mashed potatoes. Six bottles of wine were guzzled, including an extra-large Yellow Tail. Best of all, though, people seemed very happy with it, my musical selection was appreciated, and as I was told, the last people left at 2am. I could see hosting these more often, maybe once every couple of weeks.
After the dinner party, T., H., another friend and I went to a party where I overhead interesting gossip (such interesting gossip I've heard lately!--such is the structure of my social life right now) and got to hear H. recount the story of our meeting to an acquaintance, which could only make me smile. Come to think of it, there are always stories between two people that so often other people never know. Everyone lives in a number of secret worlds.
I went back to A.'s Saturday morning to eat leftovers for lunch and help with the cleaning; it was a cozy morning full of soft white light and hot tea and others milling around. I have fairly fallen in love with her place, as it's so conducive to dinner partying and hot tea drinking and there are usually people around. She lives with three of her friends, and all four of them have boyfriends. The atmosphere is much different from my own very quiet and frequently empty apartment.
The rest of the day was a bit lazy, though I did some work in the form of reading my current Russian novel -- Fathers and Sons, by Turgenev. Although reading Russian novels has come to feel less like work and more like being at a U of C party... discussions of nihilism, depraved romantic situations. I rather like it.
Eventually there was Thai food and I crashed in her living room, stayed for a most delicious couscous lunch this afternoon, and finally left around 2pm today. Connie came over for dinner and I went to her place for an annual watching of Pride and Prejudice ("the new one"), a movie that always gives way to wanting a Mr. Darcy who never comes. Not so intense this time, though. My theme now is all assertiveness, and I follow through. The first two weeks have been surprising enough, but certainly nothing to regret. I think a modern Lizzy would sympathize. Would laugh. The dances of her time are the parties of mine--the dancing is a little crazier, the wine is likely worse, but beyond the trends I think she'd agree that the character and the communication still exist and matter more than the style.
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