holiday dread (or the night of the living dead)

venus infers that the u.s. is a couple-centric fiefdom.
v. has arrived at this conclusion after this last week's string of endofyear parties. well, v did not actually go to that wonderful party in beverly hills 90210 that dearest betty actually happened to go to. so it wasn't in l.a. that v. had this epiphany. however being uncoupled and detached as v. is of late, this could have dawned on us anywhere (even here in houston, where v is blogging from now, and where there is almost none competitive mingling contemplated in the program).

the setting is the museum (as usual: not that one but the other one). the crowd, geriatric-- the usual suspects plus the blue-haired set. v. walks into the atrium (it's apparently called "the great hall," as in "the great hall of the people" but without "the people" in it), and catches up with ks who kindly introduces her sister. and then says-- welll, en-joy! and leaves v. staggering aimlessly among the living dead. was it ks's ploy to ruin v's evening? could she ever be that cunning and evil?

for it was then that it dawned on v. that receiving a paper invitation, with really bad layout and a microsoft office-esque holly-looking garnish on the top margin, didn't occlude the fact that this was a party to have been escorted to, hopefully by someone that could make interesting conversation. luckily v. had actually managed to see the dress code and looked fabulous as always, but what good is fabulous when you are staggering alone and aimless among the living dead?

so, the moral of the story is: even when you get really badly printed invitations, make sure to go to the event with someone to talk to. especially so when it smells of the blue-haired set.

but even if you go with someone, things might go awry. this was the case two nights ago. v happened to infiltrate a party that ended up being one of those parties not to be infiltrated at all. this is, v. spent some two hours discussing issues in population biology and the fabulous flora of the pleistocene.

better yet: avoid endofyear parties. if they are avoidable.