Nott What You'd Expected...

Staying Classy, Nottingham

The weather in Notts continues to amaze- despite today's rainy episode and a bonfire-ending drizzle on Friday night, it's been damned near April-ish weather.

Even yesterday, while out on the town buying cheap things for the Black and White Affair, I was sweating in my spring jacket which had made its way out of retirement.

This weekend, despite its complete lack of productivity, has been a great success. After seeing the piles of trash- including two wooden chairs, a table, three vacuum cleaners and a big part of an old wooden organ- I resolved to have a bonfire on Friday night in our secluded courtyard between our flat and the church. Thanks to months of newspapers, the discovery of a mysterious purple liquid, and my Brawny-style ruggedness and hammering techniques, we had a good time sitting around the Weber grill-turned-firepit until the rain came.

At one point we realized how homeless we all looked, hunched over drinking out of bottles (delayed wine Wednesday), with a tarp nearby covering our bikes- and decided that a homeless party would probably be entertaining next year at Luther. Maybe the contributions for the keg could go to the homeless? Or maybe those paying 35,000 to go to school...

The Black and White Affair was spawned as part-Aaron party idea part-Birthday surprise, and turned into a monolithic explosion of party favors (10 lighters for 1 pound) and an orgy of food. The pictures hardly do it justice, just how much crap we made for the party, but something about a 150.00 bill at ASDA does well to describe just how much food and drink went into the experience.

Brandon and I went out early to run errands while the girls hit up Lincoln and Aaron and Ryan held down the fort. At around 4 we arrived, tired as all hell from lugging 14 bottles and other necessities from the tram stop (I equated it to the Farmer's Walk on Worlds Strongest Man, but Brandon didn't follow, despite being a farmer himself)...

The decorations set, candles placed, attention was set to the kitchen- where a clusterfuck of activity rendered flatmates psychotically frantic and sent Aaron on a mission to buy more crap- namely, lemons and bacon.

7pm- dinner time

7:01, the cameras come out.... damn we're hot.
7:35- dinner's not quite over, but apparently some wine has been consumed.8pm- those who do not cook are sent to clean. Cookers, relax and take more pics
8:15- no comment.
9? It starts to get hazy.... simple math: drunk girls + retainers = what is wrong with you?10 maybe? Aaron wins award for best dressed
Do we even have clocks in this house? As stated earlier, no comment.
10:30- Mark calls and tells Hilary how 'dramatic' the eclipse is... "I don't mean to call so late on a Saturday, but we just wanted to remind you of the lunar eclipse"10:45- so classy right now.
11- something is funny. maybe it's still the retainers
12- after a trip to SPAR down the street, some flatmates make the way to the courtyard, while Ryan climbs the roof and ominously looks down on us. Creepy. Did I mention he was throwing rocks?
1 or 2, maybe 3? I passed out seconds later.
11am, Sunday- The Aftermath... Aaron, Hil, and Mary awake to find a cheery newspaper left by Mark, clearly an indication that he was witness to our path of destruction.Cleanup took a little bit longer than anticipated, as did the shift in rooming which began early this morning (have you no sense of decency?). Aaron bequeathed (although forcibly) his room to Kate, while Anna annexed Ryan's room. The sound of doors slamming was either a sign that A) the thought of an only room was pleasing, and the door must be tested, or B) issues remain unsolved.

At any rate, I'm too busy to care- Mom and Darol come in less than 4 days, and my focus is clearly not on the journal entry, TV Cultures Essay, 220 pages of Barchester Towers to read, or any other non-travel non-family related issue. Today was a waste, and with the joy of my Mondays, it's going to be a long 24 hours.

This is the cost of a kickass weekend.

posted by Kevin @ 5:46 PM