One Night In Geeksville.
Last night I think I
threw the best party I've ever thrown.
I'd gotten the idea for holding a "Geeksville" party in my head a few months ago, but had never had the courage to put it together.
Here's the idea: get a group of people together and then do nothing but hang out and do stuff we all did as 14 year old geeks. For some it would be a nostalgic throwback and for others it would be a chance to see what we were all doing while they were off being cool. Basically, playing video and board games, drinking soda, and watching Star Trek: TNG.
Told ya it was "Geeksville."
I'd declared it a booze free event ("like before you could drink!", the invite read) unless people wanted to bring their own, and everyone played along. Lots of friends surprised me and came out for the party, and I was suddenly very glad that I'd gotten food that scaled well for a large group.
I was worried that the things that entertained me as a kid wouldn't hold up to adult scrutiny especially by friends who may not have come from the same geeky roots that I did. My worries doubled due to the fact that I'd nixed alcohol and we wouldn't have shared inebriation to help lower inhibitions and release the inner geek. I'd found myself fussing over food, preparing and perfecting so much that I imagined the Fab 5 watching me on a monitor somewhere going "Ooooh, he put a dash of paprika on the hummus, I did not tell him to do that!" The fact that I'd stolen the idea for the "Personal Pita Pizza's" we were serving from the episode where they make little pizza squares on flatbread wasn't helping matters.
In retrospect, I think it was people's expressions as each of their favorite old games materialized before them that completely vindicated the party for me. The beauty of having emulators and great game collections is that you get to grant people's video game wishes for a night.
Julie wanted to play Asteroids -
it wasn't on NesterDC
(because it predated the NES itself by 8 years) but sure enough, there
it was under 1978 in M.A.M.E. and
she sat cross legged for ages in front of it. Alexis' eyes lit up as Arkanoid came on the
screen. Rick lost himself in Mike Tyson's
Punch Out for hours, and even relived that pre-teen angst of not
being able to beat the game and had to restrain himself from throwing
the controller when Piston Honda II thwarted him for the 20th time.
It was like being back in 1993, and it was great.
We played some Cranium, and an attempt was made to play the horribly stereotyped 1970's "Bride Game," only to have Beth close it back up and remind herself to put a sticky note on it that said "Only open if extremely intoxicated."
Near the end of the night, people wondered aloud where the promised episodes of Star Trek: TNG were, and I fired up MythTV and put on "Deja Q," an episode that had taped recently featuring everyone's favorite omniscient mischief maker.
We all settled onto the couch and into our chairs, and before I knew it, the show was over and it was nearly midnight and people were leaving. We all jokingly commiserated about the (nonexistent) hangovers we would have in the morning, and I promised copies of NesterDC to anyone who wanted to buy a dreamcast.
All in all, it was a pretty great night in Geeksville. I can't wait to go back.
