Party Time, Excellent

Some of my favorite peeps from way back had a little soirée the other night.

How long have we been friends? Since back when MTV played music videos. No kidding, at one time that was all MTV was.

Well, not all of these folks, their significant others are more recently met. But I had fun with my 105mm lens.

Then there was Critical Mass, and as if that weren't enough for me to be partied out, my friends Jones & Lauren had a housewarming party the same day we hosted a grilled steak fest for Corinna's birthday. Her birthday was in March, but she was too sick to party then.

Bulldog (the gray tabby cat in some of these shots) definitely things we should entertain more often. At one point he had my friend Melissa her two kiddos all petting him at once. He's a fan of parties.

Our steak party drew a nice turnout, and a pretty eclectic one: friends from my Nadler days, from high school, from Corinna's family, my own eldest daughter and future son in law, etc. It was kinda cute with Eric (an old friend from my days in the Yellow Press) and Corinna's Step-Dad all of a sudden realize they're both libertarians, it was like, 'Oh, you're a right wing maniac, too?' Though Greg accused me of being a socialist (spit-take). I am married to a liberal, and a lot of my friends are liberals so I suppose its possible I've gone native without realizing it, but really.

I did caucus for Bernie, though that was more because I feel like he's a better antidote to Trump who is the anti-libertarian (and possibly the Antichrist to boot). And I'll allow that some libertarian types (and conservative types) make a mistake in equating democratic socialism, Norway style, and autocratic socialism, Venezuela style. The Khmer Rouge and Germany's Social Democrats aren't really cut from the same cloth, and there's plenty to not like about European style socialism, I don't think it makes me a socialist that I can see the difference.

That, and Greg doesn't trust anyone who doesn't share his affection for guns. I'm fine with people owning guns, but I'm realistic about the dangers of gun ownership and it's simply something I don't choose for myself. If I wanted that level of danger in my life, I would prefer a motorcycle. It's more fun and almost as useful in likely self defense scenarios.

Though I guess the aforementioned Antichrist, Trump, may have me voting for a Democrat in November for the first time since Mike Dukakis. That's right, the last time I voted for a Democrat was 1988, before I knew I was a libertarian. Gary Johnson is a much more appealing candidate to me, and for that matter so is Vermin Supreme. But Trump is an existential threat, and I live in a 'red state' that leans so far to the GOP that it re-elected Sam Brownback, arguably the biggest piece of shit to hold a governorship since Illinois' Rod Blagojevich.