Every night before I start to cook dinner, I loudly warn the children to stay out of our dinky-and-poorly-designed-because-people-owned-2-dishes-in-1946 kitchen and I pop on a pair of earbuds. I then connect said earbuds to an iPod that plays a steady round of the following podcasts:
(I can only really listen to about 1 of those per dinner. I’m not whipping up French cuisine in this Havertownie House.)
There are some other podcasts dotted in there sometimes, including audio books from the library. But those are my 3 mainstays. (I once was jammin’ to the 90’s house party music to which I am accustomed, but I came to realize that cooking and popping/locking didn’t go very well together. Hence, the more staid podcasts.)
Recently, a 2002 This American Life episode called “Plan B” came up. The story was about a guy that worked as a Jose Cuervo “Party Catalyst.” What’s a party catalyst, you may ask, and how do you sign up? I congratulate your astute asking skills, Fellow Townie, because it is indeed a great question.
The perfectly-produced podcast goes on to explain (kinda) what Mr. CuervoMan does. Suffice it is to say, he hands out free alcohol and branded swag via his … different body parts. Before this blog disintegrates into a treatise on nakedness, let me assure you I bring all of this up for a reason: we need to give proper shout-outs to the neighbors and friends in H-Town who rock the party that rocks the body. Some of the Townies know just when we all need a good beer and grillin’ out.
My mini party catalyst
West Wilmot used to have a lot of block parties. We here on EW haven’t had one here yet, but we definitely have our share o’ fun. A few saturdays ago I had too much fun at the hands of our darn incorrigible ne’er-do-well neighbors that took about 2 days to get over (Not mentioning any names, but the last name ends with the long E sound). It just isn’t hard to tell who the partiers are on our street, especially compared to the quiet ones. Thankfully we don’t have crazy loud folks; everyone is respectful and keeps the din within acceptable decibels. We have only 13 houses on our street, so it can go either very wrong or very well. For the most part it goes well.
What about your street? Too quiet, too loud, or just right? Do you have one “party catalyst” who is always getting it going or does everyone take their turns boosting morale?