I didn't go off and find something else to wear for the Christmas party I went to. I instead went back into the closet by the bathroom and found, in a dry cleaning bag, a really nice green velvet dress I last wore about two years ago. Really, really green. Strapless, about knee-length, kind of gathered at the waist. I remember buying it for some party around that time but then never went. Might as well use it now. When you're as tall as I am, it's not all that easy to find things that fit, let alone look good and fit, so I didn't waste the tools at hand. I got out the same black shoes I bought last month. I really looked good.
OK, for those of you who didn't read the Halloween party entry, this party was hosted by a couple who work for the University of Chicago. I'd have to say Will and Alice are in their mid-40s but look quite a bit younger. They have no children: this might be why. They have a really nice house that apparently was built in 1873, in a part of town that was mostly destroyed by the Chicago Fire in 1871.
Most of the people who were on hand for the Halloween party were also at this Christmas party. It was a mix of people, mostly people associated in some way with UC, but also people who know Alice through writing (this explains the people from the papers) or music. Phil (from the paper) and Annike, his pianist girlfriend, apparently met at last year's Christmas party. Marcy used to work with Alice at UC and now works with Phil at the paper. Hopefully that helps explain things.
I got over there about 9:00, and there were already a lot of people there. More than at Halloween. I'd guess there were a hundred, maybe a hundred ten, and people were all over the house. Through the course of the evening, various people were playing the piano downstairs and singing, upstairs someone was playing a lot of dance music and Christmas music, and there was food and drink everywhere. It was pretty easy to figure out why these parties have been so popular. Will and Alice were alos just about everywhere. I have no idea how they did it. Everywhere you looked, they were cooking, or picking things up, or talking to people, or going off to get something or someone.
I hadn't really talked to Annike much since Halloween, and I told her about the quintet and the thing we're playing tomorrow, and she seemed really pleased. Annike was the one who gave me Maureen's number in the first place. We may ask her to play with us some time in January when she has a little spare time. Currently she's accompanying a lot of vocal people at UC and Northwestern and has no time for anything.
Marcy confirmed again that Jeff had, indeed, moved back to Atlanta. The stupid thing was, she said that he had said he had a really good time with me and would have liked to do it again. But of course he never said that to me. So Marcy and I laughed about it and the world continued to rotate.
I have to say, after a while, things got a little hazy. Will had made this really strange punch and was cautiously offering samples to people, all the while asking, "Is it too strong?" Well, it really, really was. I was worried about my teeth dissolving and could not finish even a small cup of it. I went back to white wine and stayed out of trouble.
At one point things came to a pause (not easy when your guests are scattered through a large house) and there were some toasts. Someone mentioned to me that one of Alice's former students had recently been named a Rhodes Scholar. She (Kristen Parker, the student) wasn't there, but several people who'd known her were. It wasn't that long ago, apparently, that women never got Rhodes scholarships, and recently there have been quite a few. Apparently someone there was a friend of Dr. Walt in the Political Science department, who had this girl as one of his students and was quoted in the Tribune the other day. Will also mentioned that one of the assistant profs in Biology got some enormous fellowship for studying plant genetics.
It's days like that I feel like I'm in the wrong field.
Anyway, after the toasts, things got somewhat hazy. We participated in several impromptu conga lines all over the house, during one of which at least twice (!) someone or several someones took the liberty to goose me on the behind. At least, that's all I remember having happen. Not like I was out of control or anything, but the house was really warm, really loud, and there was a lot going on, and I suppose it'd have been possible to miss a stray goosing or two.
Suffice to say that I was feeling little or no pain.
I remember at one point getting into a very detailed conversation with a woman from Canada about the Minnesota hockey team. Don't ask me how I got to be the expert on this, it probably had only to do with my being the only Minnesota grad available, but there I was. Shortly thereafter midnight was announced and champagne magically appeared everywhere. Alice explained that they always did this, "sort of a rehearsal for New Year's," and it was quite festive.
Now, I have to own up to having been more of a trollop than I'd usually admit: just after the hooray at midnight, there was a reall cute but somewhat young grad student soliciting celebratory kisses from all the obviously-unattached women, and since I so qualified, well, I think I sort of scared him or something. He seemed really sweet (and he was cute, and maybe 23 or 24) so I sort of didn't let him go for several seconds (ok, maybe a minute) and he was sort of embarrassed. I think it served him right... he didn't know what he was getting into! I enjoyed it anyhow... I don't have to be boring all the time. Anyway, there were many hoots and applause and he sort of retreated, red-faced. Surrounded for the moment by people I knew, I took a bow.
All's well that ends well, and eventually we all started to trickle out around 2:00 or 2:30. I really like events like that, where I seem to get more and more energized as the evening progresses. I wish there were more such opportunities. One thing that was good was that I got a chance to talk to everyone much more than at Halloween, and I felt a lot more connected since then. New Year's may be in the offing, and several people, including Alice, offered to try to round up a date for me.
I am pathetic.