327 Market

The March Birthday Celebration at 327

Its almost noon and the house still hasn't recovered. Half-drunk glasses of wine, wrapping paper and ribbons, a half empty box of donuts, dirty punch bowls, bags of garbage, lids, bottles, lots of unopened 2 buck chuck, liquer bottles are scattered willy-nilly in the kitchen. You should have seen it last night, before 11, when the cleaning frenzy possessed me.

Newlyweds transformed the living room into a dance floor. I pulled out the couch and the rest of the furniture into the kitchen (where it will stay). DJ Gem and the Brothers Echeverry laid down some grooves. It was so loud during the sound test that it seemed like the house was about to blast off.

I got up early on Sat to get my cooking and cleaning done before anyone got up. By the time I pulled the steaming clay pot of pilaf from the oven, it was nearly 9:30. Then the crazy preparations began. In the process of trying to get my car out of the driveway I sideswiped the porch (my poor car.. its on its way to beaterhood... I am hoping it will last as long as the payments do). We transformed the driveway into an outside living room. We hung up a tarp, fired the BBQ, put out chairs and lots of food.

I made my sangria, the M*ster brought a ton of hard liquer and proceeded to mix a huge punchbowl of screwdriver. It was powerful. I only needed a little.

The party was supposed to start at 2 (according to the M*ster). Fortunately for us, no one showed up til 3:30. For the next ten hours, the house saw nearly 40 people, come, eat, dance and go. The last guest left somewhere in the wee hours this morning.

Like the mess in the kitchen, I don't even know where to begin. The contessa came with pita bread. We had a contingent of E. Bay people, The City was well represented. The Mount Hermon folks came. University people, radio people, acupuncturists, The N*ster and the Sevillanas people. We had art teachers, and math teachers (we got to hear a song about Pi) and lots of photographers, and special teachers. Liesa came with her dharma comics. The submarine was bandied about. We had so much booze and food. It was fabulous.

And the music. The whole neighborhood enjoyed our music, I hope. Trance, electronica, house, Flamenco, Bollywood... I put on my dancing shoes and started stomping. We danced sevillanas. I did some flamenco. I love the attitude. Our oak floor turned into a giant drum. I stomped so much I hurt my knees.

Finally around ten, most of the revelers drifted away. I started cleaning, but a few hard core-types remained. Anu dragged me away from the dishes a bunch of times to enjoy the music. We all gathered around one of the turntables and took turns scratching. It is like playing an instrument. I had had no idea.

I turned in (by myself) around 1. My voice was blown, my head was pounding. It was a good party.