Our Thing

October 30

What a weekend!

Saturday morning I packed and moved stuff to the Other House On Maple Street (Or, The House That Is As Yet Unnamed (frivolous suggestions from our friends include “Bum Hut” and “Butt Junction”—no one else seems to take this need for a name as seriously as me and Scott do)). Then I drove north, stopping at Fry’s to buy a modem and some zip disks for the new ‘puter, and to moan over the cost of word-processing software (which wasn’t included in my “Windows 98 2nd Edition”! Granted, maybe I shouldn’t have assumed it would be, but when the PC is billed as a “Home Office” machine, I expect some office software. And of course since my old computer was a gift, I don’t have any of its installation disks. Ah, well. Something will turn up).

Then I went to Berkeley for a Mafia party. Don’t know what Mafia is? There are many variations, but the rules listed here are pretty similar to the way we play (though we say Narrator instead of Moderator, and Commandant instead of Inspector).

I got to Berkeley early, so I was wandering around. I saw fair lovely Jenn in a restaurant window, and crept inside to surprise her. I love Jenn to pieces. I have such good friends that I don’t see enough of…

Karen hosted the party, so I finally got to meet Pär! Who is as wonderful in person as he seems in Karen’s journal. I helped him make punch. I made the final decision regarding the bananas. Any of you reading this who enjoyed bananas in your punch at Karen’s Mafia party, you may direct your thanks to me.

All other compliments should be directed to the hosts.

All the people were so nice. I met Susan and Jed of Strange Horizons (they’re both good at Mafia, too), and Karen’s sister (the two of them, working together to undermine the town… so evil, and yet, so compelling…), and many other fine people.

I got to be Mafia in the very first round, which was fun, and Commandant in the last round, which was also fun. In between those rounds stretched many other rounds of me being a humble villager and mostly getting killed off early for the usual reasons (not talking enough, talking too much, smirking, being impassive, biting my fingernails, not biting my fingernails, slumping, being alert, etc.).

I could go on… but suffice to say I had a wonderful time, and I’m glad I live nearby enough to see Karen and Jenn again.

After some internal debate I decided to drive home, though it was 1 a.m. before things wound down. I could’ve crashed there, but I wasn’t that tired. Karen provided me with a cupcake for the sugar high, and I quickly acquired caffeine.

I still wasn’t sleepy when I got home at 2:30 a.m., so I installed my modem and surfed around online for a bit before going to sleep. I could have used that time to unpack, but I didn’t. I eventually slept, amid piles of spilling-over boxes…

Sunday me and Scott and Lynne shopped at Target, the Temple of Consumerism. We bought lots of stuff for the house, and I bought those things necessary to making my room livable (like shades for my cherub lamps, the ugliest lamps in the world). I spent the rest of the afternoon putting my room together… and now it looks good. My books are on shelves, my pictures are on the walls, and all’s right with the microcosm.

I’m very happy and comfortable and altogether good.

The next entry’s going to have stuff about fiction and writing and such in it, for those who like reading about those things. The rest of you may shudder quietly in dread… I might write about Halloween and music videos and envy, too, but no promises.