Category Archives: Social Events

Food & Spirits 6

Blah Blah Blah, Social Events

6 years is a long time to keep anything going. Especially an annual event. True, by the time the next year rolls around, you’ve forgotten how much work it was, but when you’ve got something like the Food & Spirits, it becomes with it each time.

I learned some interesting things this time around:

  • My friends are incredibly diverse. Two of them ran out to get a breaker for the hot tub @ 9:45 and installed it themselves.
  • My wife is mischievous. When said hot tub failed for the last time, and people got in anyways. She offered a bottle of Jamaican rum to the person who would last the longest. No jets. No heater. It was ~30 degrees outside. Neil won by lasting for 3 hours.
  • You can’t get rid of alcohol by throwing a party. You just accumulate more.
  • My friends are willing to drive 8+ hours just to come to the party. We had visitors from Kansas City, Tulsa and Austin. Just for this soiree.

Congrats to the winners! This year, we settled ties by having a “Duck Off”. (Pick random duck with a number on it. Highest number wins. Pure awesome.)

This is the point where I would say that I can’t wait till next year. But I’m hoping to have a new floor by then. That way I’m not embarrassed by statements like, “New Rule: If you make a stain. You have to sign it.”

Till next year!

–Snoopykiss

Toss your own ferret

Social Events

So, this weekend, I felt like disappearing and since I had a friend in Tulsa who was celebrating his B-day, I knew my destiny.

4 hours and one speeding ticket after jetting from work, I found myself getting preped for a ballet with Teh Stella (Officially STELLLLLLLLAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!), Chris and Sharon. On the way there, Stella and I were talking about some recent unfortunate events.

Me: “Yeah, I know it sucks. But it’s one of those stages of loss. You know, Denial…Anger…Acceptance…Tossing Ferrets….”

I don’t think that the world will ever know how funny that really was without going back in time and actually being there in the car. Sucks to be them.

The thing about ferret tossing is that if you can throw away your animal cruelty concerns, this is really a great idea. First off, when you toss them from their hind legs, they make a nice ferris (ferret?) wheel spinny-action in the air. Plus, the resounding “THWAP” that they make when they hit the target is one of the most satisifying feelings one can get from a discounted pet store. The important part is that as much as you may want to help someone out, you cannot perform these actions for another. They must toss their own ferret.

–Snoopykiss wants a pi step program.

21 and Gay

Social Events

Have I stressed enough how much I love my friends? My very diverse set of friends. Well, at least as diverse one can be while living in a city pretty much comprised of computer geeks?

My good friend Mark had his 30th B-day party, and I was excited to see him and his husband, Dave, and their new house. It was a surprise theme where everyone was supposed to come dressed up in their favorite Rocky Horror or Disco outfit. I figured I was going to be the only straight guy there, but this would not be an unfamiliar situation to me. Regardless, Disco Stu made an appearance.

After hanging out with Mark and his friends, and apparently blending in quite well, this one girl seemed affectionate, and we got to talking. Somehow age came up, and she wanted to know how old I was.

“You’re 23, right? 25? Ok, maybe 21. *pause* Wait…you’re not 19 are you? You’re drinking. You can’t be 19. 21?”

I held out for a while and then told her that I was 28 and she gave me a huge hug and said that I was so cute for 28. It then hit me, “She thinks I’m gay!!!”

So, I had fun with this and have made a new friend. Who still doesn’t know if I’m gay or not. And for some reason…that cracks me up.

–Snoopykiss is uni-curious.

Turning a new tree.

Misc, Social Events

Greetings Tommy-party enthusiasts,

Over the years, I’ve thrown countless parties, all with amazingly great success. And I owe that to my friends, my peeps, my homeys. What’s made all of these events (Auction Party, Food and Spirits, God and Goddess, etc.) such an overwhelming success is the people who make it and what they contribute. And by that, I am only slightly referencing the tangible items brought. I am more referring to the spirit and general “good natured-ness” which is why I love every one of my friends. This is truly what makes a Tommy-Party ™.

In that same breath, along with the huge successfulness of my parties, stuff happens. And along with the wacky antics, some the hilarious stories. But sometimes it takes away from a greater picture. Something I’m far more committed to. In this case, “Ensuring that everyone that attends, enjoys themselves fully and walks away feeling that they were part of a really special event.” That’s pretty much the essense of a Tommy-party(tm). That and shaking your Groove Thang.

I often think back to all of the parties, specificly, what worked and what didn’t work. I take what worked and keep it in mind for the next party. And I take what didn’t work and try to remove it in the next one. Sometimes I’ve succeeded in doing this. Sometimes…not so much. And when I look at what I could have done to eliminate it sooner, one thought shouts out above all other. “Be true to yourself and trust your instinct.”

SO! This New Years Party shall be unlike any other Tommy-party. This year, there will be participation and celebration!

Here is my idea:
Everyone attending is invited to bring two pieces of paper.
One stating what they are proud to have accomplished this year. A boasting and acknowledgement of themselves.
One stating what they are not proud of, or didn’t accomplish this year. An acknowledgement of what didn’t work or what didn’t happen.

I’m gonna have a fire a’blazing that evening and everyone participating is invited to read those papers to themselves (and to others, if so desired) and then do with them as they please. (Personally, I look forward to watching one piece of paper burn as I then move on.)

Of course, there will be the usual Tommy-Party food and merriment and stories and activities and lots and lots of social interaction. This is something for people to participate in at their own leisure.

NOTE: This is NOT about making resolutions. You can do that on your own time. This is about acknowledging exactly where you’re at, and what you accomplished and didn’t accomplish. What you do from there is your journey.

Let’s get this party started!

Much Love,
Tommy.

Midgets and Siblings and Portland, Oh my!

Social Events

Pop: Portland.

Yup, that’s where I’m at right now. You steal my best friend long enough, I’m bound to fly up there and visit him. While waiting for my vacation to kick into 6th Gear, I’m listening to about the largest iTunes collection I’ve seen so far, and am in envy of Lee’s iPod. Sooon…After my new hardwood floor.

Pop: Siblings.

My sister (unflattering picture forthcoming), came to visit me with her rugrats and hubby. It was great seeing her again and make up for all of family time that we’ve missed out on. Another trip to 6 Flags was in order and I’ve learned that the power behind a woman with an expired ticket and determination can make it through those gates.

Push, Pop: Europe canned.

Soooonn…after hardwood floor and new kitchen.

Pop: Midgets.

TMBG concert: Good!
Getting free tickets to Midget Wrestling in addition: Mo’ Betta!

Shift: Perl

I think I’ve been doing too much of it. I’ll leave that on the stack for another day.

–SnoopyKiss thinks that he might have found the only job better than his curent one.

2nd Annual Food and Spirits Party

Social Events

Yet another weekend proving that I have the coolest friends this side of the universe.

About 100+ people stopped by my house this Saturday to check out some amazing dishes. I was so happy to throw this party, that I even bought prizes for the winners!


  • The award winning receipes were:

  • Appetizer: Apple Happiness (Matt Musselman)
  • Entre: Grilled Salmon (Matt Weyandt)
  • Dessert: Sopaipilla Cheesecake (Eric Simpson)
  • Best of Show: Raspberry Brownie (Helen Cantril)

I only wish I would have had the frame of mind to get pictures of the winners with their dishes. Instead, I was facinated by Sarah and her Jello-Shot Wedding Cake which boggled my mind in at least 3 different ways.

Ahh…now off to Denver this weekend for more partying and a Birthday dance with the countries best follows!

Amazingly enough, after 3 weeks of progress, Heather, Lee and I were able to get the walls and white boards in time for the party. With 2 hours to spare! Words can not express their coolness.

w00+!

SnoopyKiss knows that it’s good to be king.

I threw a party.

Social Events

Wacky antics ensued.

I want to shout out to a few people who helped make this last party such a huge success:


  • DJ FU! Who kept the tunes raging and the people dancing from 8PM-2AM.

  • The Tommy Support Team: You know who you are and what you did. This party was a hit and kept on going because of your efforts. I’m blessed to have y’all as friends.

  • The Cleanup Krew: Friends help you move. Real friends help you move bodies. And there were a few there to move.

  • Everyone and anyone who contributed to the party.

Now to go crawl under a rock for a while…


Oh yeah, the pics are up. And no, not THOSE pics.

The Auction Party

Social Events

At one of my last parties, I realized
that I had thrown enough parties designed to get wild and meet lots
of cool people. I wanted to do something new. Something with a
bigger purpose in mind. Something that would leave people with warm
fuzzies. Something…for the children.

So, I started spreading the word about
people auctioning items off and donating the proceeds to charity.
People seemed genuinely interested in the idea and had lots of
creative ideas. So, I went for it. I planned the party the weekend
after the St. Louis Exchange and I knew that it was going to be
awesome. A few setbacks occurred, like getting sick during the
exchange which had lasting after-effects that kept my throat in a
constant state of dry-coughing hoarseness.

Thankfully, with the help of the best
man in the world, Lee
Gibson, I knew that nothing would get in our way. From the
beginning, Lee was the backbone of this operation. From coming up
with the name: “Tommebay”,
to designing the website,
to designing the “I
Gave Stuff” and “I
Bought Stuff” stickers, to auctioneering,
to building the hot-tub steps in the 13th hour, this man’s
presence reigned supreme over the party.

It would take forever to go over all of
the magical highlights of the party; however, in brief, some were:

By the time the 3rd and last
set of auctioning was done, (1:30AM) everyone was in high spirits and
Lee announced that had raised $1695 for charities. At that point, my
heart froze.

I knew that we were going to make some
money. I knew that we were going to help some people out. I knew it
was going to be a good time. If we raised, say, $400, I was going to
be happy. But 1.7K?!?!

I’m very honored to have been blessed
with such cool people (with deep wallets. 🙂 ) to be able to pull
this off. There’s been mention of doing this again. Definitely.
Just let my my house recuperate for a while, ok?

–Tommy is feeling the warm fuzzies

P.S. I think that this must have
earned me some karma points, because I got pulled over for speeding
coming back from Movie
Night and got off with a warning. 🙂

Some ramblings

Misc, Social Events

While I was at Kerrville, I did some pondering. And some stream of consciousness work. It’s amazing what will come out of your head at 5AM.

These are the days, right? The days where I’m to roam the Earth, footloose and fance free, right? The days where the World is at my fingertips, I’m experimenting and the only thing stopping me is my finite amount of finances.

Yes, these ARE the days.

Don’t tell me when it ends. I had to work hard to get to this level of blissful ignorance. I don’t want to know.

As a kid, I thought I’d be married by now. Probably struggling to make ends meet and saving up to by a house. My best friend, my spouce.

Reality check: I’m two years past that date, my best friend is a rocket scientist and I’ve already got the house. No struggles either. Sometimes I wish that I had someone to share all this with; however, since I’m not with them now I assume that I’m not ready.

…abruptly ended because I needed sleep…

They can’t say that on Television

Social Events

Oh yeah..I forgot some of the quotes that I either overheard or instigated during the exchange:



  • “Let the a$$ slapping begin!”
  • Our waitress at Minnies – “Our food is really great, which is surprising considering the crappy service.”
  • “Carbonated yogurt with Seltzer.  It tasted like goat.”
  • “Wow, it’s like Valley girl meets caveman:  Dude…ugg…dude!!…ugg..”
  • “So, you’re a fish snob?””I prefer to call myself an fish-anadio”
  • “I hope that’s blood.”, After slopily eating a steak.
  • “You’re going to like what I’m wearing tonight.  Bring your Extra brain.”
  • “What?!  You ate her danish and you didn’t even know her name?!”
  • “What makes you think I’m wearing underwear.”
  • “We need to start the rumor that all Jews are good dancers.””So, when a girl says ‘Good Dance.’, I should say, ‘Thanks, I’m Jewish.’?”
  • “I don’t need a push-up bra.  I need a push-in.”
  • “Which one is Solomon?””He’s the one that looks like Harry Potter grown up about 10 years.”
  • “Swing dancing is great.  There you are listening to great Jazz and grooving with hot women….some of which ride motorcycles.”
  • “He just gives women the look and they come dance with him.””A little big of tongue helps too.”
  • “Smirnoff Ice?  I haven’t sold that to a guy before.”