"LAST NIGHT, AGAIN?!"

"You can have a great high school party without drugs and drinking- you just have to replace those things with Candyland and the cast of Tick Tick Boom." --Annebel Simpson.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Last night was the pinnacle of my sophomore career. I think altogether I had almost fifty people there. Nothing awful happened, no one died or showed up drunk or left condensation rings on the wooden furniture. Amazing amazing amazing night. Thank you everyone who came, and I intend to list all of you right now by means of the cups with names. Here goes. Thank you's to

1. Austin Finney,
2. Amanda Allen,
3. Amanda Tittle,
4. Anna Talley,
5. Annebel Simpson,
6. Caroline Fesomething,
7. Chris Carlile,
8. Cody Hilder,
9. David Nikaido,
10. Derek Suen,
11. Devin Crenshaw,
12. Drew Stephens,
13. Dunkan Koch (as Mark Cohen),
14. Eileen Townsend,
15. Emma Austin,
16. Eric Neimeyer,
17. Hannah Joyce,
18. Hattie Strange,
19. Jennifer Lenow,
20. Julia Roseman,
21. Justin Campbell,
22. Kasidey Fisher-Wellman,
23. Kathryn Owen,
24. Kristen Howell,
25. Kristen Rambo,
26. Kristy Wilson,
27. Lane Roark,
28. Leo Ramos,
29. Lilla Pivnick,
30. Lydia Roseman,
31. Michael Neimeyer,
32. Morgan Stewart,
33. Nathan Meek,
34. Nhat Vo,
35. Peter Zastoupil,
36. Rachel O'Connor,
37. Rashad "Blackie" Blackerson,
38. Sara Stephens (that's me),
39. Sarah Mercer,
40. Sean Meek,
41. Spencer Miller,
42. Spencer Nineteen,
43. Stephanie Frega,
44. Stephanie Homeschool, and
45. Vania Datesspencernineteen (whom I never saw and have never met).

That's right, my mom stacked the cups alphabetically. I am almost sure that is all, but I definitely made up a few of those last names. Well, there were three more, but I'll get to that in a minute. So the point is, here is how my yesterday went, in fairly brief terms if I can stand it.

I woke up, went to school, and found out I got into AP 11 and I have three tests Monday. Then I came home briefly before hitting up the bank and Party City. Came back home and took a shower, during which time Spencer, Steph, and Rashad showed up (at like 540 for a party that started at 7) and hung out in my room till I got out and ready. Steph and I hung up streamers etc etc while Spencer watched TV with Rashad. How helpful. Kristen showed up at about quarter to 7, followed closely by Kathryn, and then they really started flowing in. I had a fantastic night and got some amazing stuff. Thank you thank you thank you everyone.

I'd like to take a moment to recognize those who were unable to attend: Amelia, Mouse, Emily, Newman, Huddleston, Hairston, Omair, John Ham, Audrey (whose mom wouldn't let her come because she didn't believe there wouldn't be any drinking), Afton, Mariana, Hannah Shaffer, Alex Bransford, Beaver, etc etc for anyone else not there.

Now, some highlights, if you will: Mercer giving me The Shirt, getting to see Amanda Allen and David Nikaido whom I haven't seen in FOREVER, Kathryn making the world's best brownies (not to shadow Morgan's baked goods which were also fantastic), story time with Homo Thug (the book Dunkan got me about a homo thug which has four typos just on the blurb and contains phrases like "love stick" and "cocoa shute" and "melon-shaped" ew ew ew), Dunkan's great footage which she's cut together to screen tonight in honor of Benny's wife Muffy--Allison--pulling Benny out of the East Village location (How many times did I say that yesterday? 10? 15?), and, o yeah, THE ENTIRE CAST of Tick Tick Boom showing up at my house without warning! WHAT!

Okay, so my mom is amazing. She saw Kevin (of TickTick) at U of M yesterday afternoon cause he goes there, and she was like "Would you consider dropping by tonight?" and so he said he and Annie of TickTick (Ms. Best Voice I've Ever Heard Personally) could come. And then when my mom called him to give the the time and directions and make sure he was coming he said, "Yeah, I'm on my way to pick up Slade right now." And thereby Kevin Murphy, Annie Freres, and Slade Kyle, three of my local heroes, came to my birthday party and sang happy birthday and stayed for at least an hour. It was a phenom.

And while we're at it, I still have two hip-hop mixes, a bunch of pictures from Lane 'n' the Dunkmeister, and Dunkan/Mark's great footage which (s)he's cut together to screen tonight in honor of Benny's wife Muffy--Allison--pulling Benny out of the East Village location to look forward to.

In conclusion, I love my friends, I love fun, and I have OFFICIALLY proven that a fantastic time is easy to have without intoxicants and said time is generally more successful and has far fewer repercussions.

Thank you goodnight (Yeah its 543 in the afternoon).