A Birfday Party

I've known Winner for about a year and a half. She was sitting at a table (shockingly enough) at Ozzies with Big Apple and, seeing two attractive women I did not know sitting at a table I (shockingly enough) engaged them in conversation. No big whoop. A couple of months later, Winner saw me again at Ozzies, remembered me, said hi, and what would evolve into a three-way friendship was well on its way.

Yesterday was Winner's birthday and she had a gathering at a restaurant downtown... and I was graciously invited by the birthday girl.

After happy hour with TM2000 and his gf, I walked the 10 blocks or so to Winner's party, into a reserved room with a pool table and a LCD television on the wall and a bunch of people I didn't know. Here are some random thoughts:

1. Winner had invited people from several parts of her life: friends from college, friends from both of her workplaces, and me. When I'm surrounded by people I do not know I assume that they all know one another, so I was consistently surprised when people kept introducing themselves to others. I'm a slow learner, or maybe I set myself up to be constantly surprised. 
   
   
2. Big Apple was not in attendance. She was back east and I was able to talk to her on the phone a bit as part of the birthday festivities. I chat with Big Apple quite a bit, but rarely talk to her on the phone, so it was a bit confusing when we had this (brief) convo:
   

   Me: Hey! 
   Big Apple: Hi.
   Me: It's Ed!
   Big Apple: OK.
   Me: Do you know who this is?
   Big Apple: Did you hiccup?
   Me: What? No. This is Ed!
   Big Apple: ...
   Me: Well, uh. So... good talking to you. (?)
   Her: OK!

   She claims she had me on speaker phone. She claims she wasn't really paying attention. I think she just was exceedingly bored by me. Heh.
   
   
3. I tried to learn how to properly pronouncer Winner's last name. She has an "American" first name (named by her parents after a local newscaster, oddly enough), but her last name is more complicated. I'm not familiar with the tonal contours of many asian languages, and I felt like a total rube as I continued to try to pronounce it and she kept trying to suppress winces. It reminded me of a scene from a Stella short (4:40 in):
   

   Michael Showalter: We call it "Hanukkah".
   Mrs. Claus: Chanookah.
   Michael Showalter: "Hanukkah"
   Mrs. Claus: Shewbacca.
   Michael Showalter: "Hanukkah"
   Mrs. Claus: Chaka Khan?
   Michael Showalter: No ... !

   I can try to speak with a Mexican accent. I have been told I do a reasonable facsimile of Australian... or at least I can mimic it. Vietnamese, though? Evidently not so much.
   
   
4. The Portland Trail Blazers were playing during the party. They are my favorite sports team and it is their first appearance in the playoffs for, like, five seasons. I watched them get their asses handed to them while I was in Vegas, and in game four El Diamante (previously: Buddy #2) txted me when I was time-shifted, giving me the result (Blazers loss) so last night I was determined to avoid the score until I got home to watch it from my DVR. The bad news? I saw the score at the end of the night. The good news? The Blazers won at home and pushed it to a sixth game (Thursday night, which I will also miss live because I'm doing a volunteering thing).
   
   
5. There is evidently a neurology convention going on this week in Seattle. At a couple of times throughout the night, old dudes with funny accents poked their noses into our rooms and, seeing an assortment of cute girls, would infiltrate our area to some extent... the most significant incursion happened towards the end of the night. There were about seven of us left, five girls and a pair of dudes (including me) when three odd-speaking, odd-looking, old-looking dudes entered.
   
   One of the remaining women was a coworker/supervisor of Winnner's... an Attractive Brunette with Fashionable Glasses. She also happened to be sitting closest to the door and bore the brunt of the neurologist onslaught. It went something like this:
   

   Neurologist #1: How are you guys doing tonight?
   ABwFG: We're good! It's her (pointing at Winner) birthday!
   Neurologist #2: Oh, really. We're in town for a Neurology convention.
   ABwFG: Rad!
   N#1: "Rad"?!?
   N#2: What? "Rad"?
   ABwFG: Uh. Yeah. What's wrong with "rad".
   Neurologist #3: Nothing. I'm sorry for our reaction.
   N#2: Are you from here?
   ABwFG: Here? Like Seattle? Actually Spokane, but I've been here for three years. Where are you guys from?
   N#1: Nova Scotia.
   N#2: Calgary.
   N#3: Toronto.
   Me: Canadian, eh?
   N#1: ...
   N#2: ...
   N#3: ...
   ABwFG: I'm sorry... where?
   N#2: California.
   N#1: Yeah... Sacramento!

   I didn't see wedding rings, but I noticed that all three guys had their left hands in their pockets. Oh, silly neurologists!
   
   
6. Like at many parties with adults, some adult beverages were imbibed. Winner had several birthday drinks, I had my first Patrón shot since Vegas (I felt like I sort of cheated on Patrón), and everyone was feeling pretty good. One of Winner's friends, though... it seemed she was feeling better than the rest of us. Or at least more bold. Lesbian Friend was bouncing around the room, jumping on the couches, sitting on the pool table, and flirting heavily with almost every girl in the room.
   
   I don't have any issues with lesbianism. I don't have any issues with heavy flirting. I don't even have any issues with heavy flirting by a lesbian. 
   
   The only reason that this is even making this august list of events is because of the sheer boldness of her propositions. An example:
   

   Lesbian Friend: Are you gay or straight?
   ABwFG: Straight.
   Lesbian Friend: Have you ever been with a girl?
   ABwFG: No.
   Lesbian Friend: Want to be?
   

   I mean... it was fine. It was probably something of a confidence boost for the women that were being propositioned. I think that I gawked at least three times at her audacity. It was awesome. Kudos to you, Lesbian Friend!
   
   
7. At the end of the night, as I've mentioned, there were seven of us still around, chilling in the room. Five chicks, another guy, and me. It was painfully obvious that Other Guy was into Winner... and as she fawned over me as only a good friend who's had a lot to drink can do, I had to stop myself from wincing a few times by his reaction. An example:
   

   Winner: (Stroking my left hand oddly) Ed, you have such soft hands!
   Me: It makes sense... I haven't worked an honest day in my life.
   Winner: (giggling) Whatever!
   Other Guy: What about me? Are my hands soft?

   Ugh. Just typing that hurts me deep inside. He was a really nice guy but it was just NOT happening, and he was trying to power through... with me caught in the middle (literally/physically, for much of the end of the evening). It was at that point that I knew I had to blog about the whole experience.

So... happy birthday to Winner. I had a great time, I was honored to have been invited, and I was delighted to learn that I have very soft hands.