
Maybe I'm getting old, but I'd rather be at ABBA's Christmas party. Just a low key party with a few friends and loved ones, good food and some tasty beer. It being 1972, I'm sure there was fondue somewhere - man, I loved fondue. Things were simpler then too; the Pet Rock was the most popular gift in 1974.

"He who entertains, be he bachelor or married man, cannot be ignored in our anthology of parties. It is not uncommon today for a man to hold a guys-only party, usually to play cards or watch a sporting event on television (and the holiday season is a favorite for football fans). The men only affairs are never elaborate. A simple menu and a simple setting are all that are necessary. If wives are involved, their part is to help see that everything is prepared and set up, and then to disappear (to their women-only tea). The number of guests is then limited to the space around a table or the number of comfortable seats around the television set."

But that's what it's all about (Christmas Vacation taught us this valuable life lesson), and that's why Christmas Rush (1947) may be my favorite Norman Rockwell Christmas painting of all. It's the most honest and best encapsulates the true feeling of Christmas: It was great, but, damn, I feel like I've been beat like a rented mule!

I had a better Christmas this year than last. Last year I got in an argument with several relatives and stormed out of my grandmother's house. Everybody seemed to get along. I remember some of those wild office parties of the past. I can remember some of the wild parties of any nature that I once attended. As I get closer to 40, I seem to prefer something a little more quiet and classy I guess.
ReplyDeleteYeah, those office parties are often the pits. The BBC version of The Office I think encapsulates it pretty well.
ReplyDeleteThe days of throw down parties are long over for me, I think. Like you, I prefer them reserved and classy these days. Still, drunken keg parties with Nugent's "Stranglehold" blairing from the speakers hold some fond memories nonetheless.
Boy, you can just smell the sexual tension between those fellows in the guys-only party story. Whew, it's gettin' hot in hee-ah!
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