Musings
an Online Journal of Sorts

By Alyce Wilson

The Martial Artist,
the Book Lover and their son

On July 4, the White Rabbit hosted a huge Fourth of July party at his place. He's been hosting a July 4 party ever since he moved in a few years ago, to great success.

He made it clear that guests would be welcome starting at 10 a.m. In the evening, guests could watch the local fireworks display from his back yard.

When The Gryphon and I arrived at noon, there were already a few people there. Throughout the day, many more filtered through. I'm likely to forget some names, and some people might have come and gone in the several hours I had to leave to do my evening assignments.

My apologies if I inadvertently leave out any names.

Those attending included The Dormouse; The Martial Artist, The Book Lover and their baby son; The Warrior Princess; The Devil's Advocate; Pimp Daddy; The Costumer and Agent Smith; The Cheshire Cat and The Paper; The Video Editor; The AMV Editor; The Pirate and a female guest (quiet, statuesque and wearing a hippie skirt and tank top); The Cousin, The Photographer and their oldest daughter (the youngest daughter being on a school trip to Europe); an old friend of The Cousin's whom I'll call The Voice because he often does announcing work at Otakon and also hosts the Otakon Game Show; a guy I'll call the Pop Junkie because of his unfailing interest and expertise in nearly every genre; Batman; The Marsh Hare; The Court Wizard; The Comptroller; a Penn State alum and old friend of The White Rabbit's whom I'll call The Con Ops Guru because of his frequent and invaluable presence in the Convention Operations Department of Otakon; and of course, our host, The White Rabbit.

As we entered at noon, The Devil's Advocate, The Warrior Princess and The Video Editor were hanging out in the living room, chatting quietly. They were happy to see the veggie tray that I'd brought, since it turned out I wasn't the only person who was hungry. I'd skipped breakfast, counting on a large variety of foods being available. I was also counting on trying one of The Gryphon's calzones.

He'd spent the better part of the weekend planning and then preparing several different types of calzones. We'd gone to the Terminal Market in Center City on Monday to pick up some special sausage and cheeses. The different fillings were: potato, shallot and camembert; spicy peppers, tomato and aged goat cheese; sausage, raddichio and ricotta salata; apple, walnut and sharp cheddar cheese; and peach, craisin and comte cheese.

I must say, he hit it out of the park this time. Once Pimp Daddy and The Gryphon had fired up the grill and heated up the first calzones, I got a taste and was impressed. They were definitely a popular delicacy at the party that day, and we had relatively few to take home, considering how many he made.

Pimp Daddy and The Devil's Advocate relax on the porch.

By this point, some other people arrived, including The Court Wizard, who arrived with The Cheshire Cat and The Paper, with whom he was staying overnight. He'd flown in the night before from Chicago. They also tried some calzones and seemed to enjoy them.

I topped off my yummy lunch with some fresh veggies and something to drink and then socialized with people. Just like I did on Memorial Day, I made sure to keep track of everything I ate so that I wouldn't indulge more than I could afford, calorie-wise (or point-wise, since I'm still doing Weight Watchers). After awhile, the points started to add up, so I stepped away from the food and mingled in other rooms. I did pass through occasionally, though, to say hello to the folks hanging out near the table, including The Gryphon, who had a long conversation with The Paper about cooking, among other topics.

The Paper, The Con Ops Guru, Pimp Daddy, The Comptroller and The Gryphon

One of the earlier distractions for me, and one of the most enjoyable, was when The Martial Artist and The Book Lover arrived with their baby. This was my first time meeting him, and he's simply adorable. He was a very calm baby, who only seemed to cry when he was hungry but seemed undisturbed by the boisterous party guests.

They let me hold him, which I enjoyed. When I talked nice to him, it made him smile. He had dark blue eyes and a full head of soft brown hair.

The Book Lover, it seemed, had already lost her baby weight, and I complimented her. She did point out, though, that she looks more motherly now, if you follow. Babies need fed, you know.

The two proud parents were in great spirits and didn't even seem tired. It turns out that their baby is so quiet and good that they typically have to wake him up to feed him!

I was joking around with The Martial Artist about baby yoga, because when The Book Lover told me she'd be taking a course in it, I immediately envisioned the mothers doing some basic positions with their babies. She insisted the babies would not be "twisted into pretzels" for the class. So, of course, when I told the Martial Artist, he folded the baby's legs gently in front with one hand and then gently folded his arms over his chest with the other hand.

"Look, he's doing baby yoga," I called out to The Book Lover. That sort of sense of humor will serve them well as parents.

Of course, as soon as The Cousin arrived, she scooped up the baby and began communing with her. She's instinctively maternal and loves children. She's very good with kids, who seem to love her. Of course, her oldest daughter is at the age when everything embarrasses her, and she was complaining that she didn't like the silly way her mom talks to babies. We assured her it was perfectly normal.

The Cousin with the baby

Honestly, how can you look at a face like that and not want to talk sweetly to him?

Well, there's a lot more to say about the July 4 party, but I'm running a little long so I'll finish up tomorrow.

More from the July 4 party:

July 7, 2006 - Independence Day Pics

July 11, 2006 - Further Fourth of July Fun

Copyright 2006 by Alyce Wilson

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