Musings
an Online Journal of Sorts

By Alyce Wilson

The Gryphon at his party

Saturday I woke up about an hour and a half before my alarm, because I couldn't stop thinking of all the things I wanted to get done before The Gryphon's 40th birthday party at our friend, The White Rabbit's house.

I'm glad I got up early, because it allowed me to have a leisurely breakfast at home with The Gryphon.

The major task before the party was picking up the ice cream cakes at the Cold Stone Creamery. On the way, I made a number of other stops. I picked up balloons, bought a case of Guinness extra stout (The Gryphon's favorite beer), got a couple bags of ice and filled up on gas.

I arrived at the Cold Stone Creamery about 20 minutes before it opened, so I killed some time in the nearby Borders, flipping through bridal magazines.

I was waiting at the door when an employee opened it, and I told her I was there to pick up my cakes. She got them, and they were beautiful. The larger cake was chocolate and said "Happy Birthday" on it. The smaller cake was strawberry. We'd ordered two cakes in order to accommodate the number of guests coming to the party.

The employee helped carry the cakes out to the car and helped me get them arranged safely: the larger one in the cooler and the smaller one, which was in a plastic container and also in a bag, on the passenger side floor.

I arrived just after The Martial Artist and The Book Lover and their infant son. They graciously offered to help me, and between The Martial Artist, The White Rabbit and me we soon had everything inside.

First, we emptied out the freezer so that we could keep the cakes cool. Fortunately, I'd brought my cooler. We used that to store the meat, and we put some beer in a smaller Styrofoam cooler of The White Rabbit's, with the extra bag of ice.

I had a scrapbook I wanted people to work on for The Gryphon. We wanted to set that up in an upstairs room, where people could create their pages in secret until we presented it to him. I'd brought my tray tables to set this up, but they're a little flimsy, so The White Rabbit put those on the porch for people to use while they're eating. We used two of his wooden tray tables instead, which are sturdier.

Then I got the decorations out. One of the first was a couple strings of lawn and garden lights that look like colorful paper lanterns. I asked, "Who's good with technical things?" The Book Lover raised her hand, so I asked her if she'd like to put them up for me on the back porch. She agreed, which made me very happy.

The White Rabbit gave her a step ladder to make it easier, and I provided her with an extension cord, so she could run the cord out the kitchen window to provide the electrical. I also gave her some clear packaging tape for affixing the lights to the ceiling of the porch.

While she was working on that, I got the scrapbook material set up. I'd already done a sheet of instructions, which I taped to the front of the scrapbook, placing that on one table. On the other table, which would be the work table, I taped some newspaper, to protect the tray from glue and markers. Underneath the tray tables, I placed two shoe boxes: a smaller one containing markers, scissors and glue sticks and a larger one containing magazine photos, stickers and some card stock paper.

As each person entered the party, I told them the scrapbook was in the front room and they should make a point of signing it. I was trying to catch people as they were coming in, but this would be my undoing.

The Gryphon arrived with The Dormouse, bringing hamburgers and sausages, which would supplement the turkey burgers I'd brought. By this point, all the decorations were in place, including lime green table covers, a multicolored table display that said, "Happy Birthday", a patriotic centerpiece consisting of two small flags and a red, white and blue foil ribbon spray stuck in a vase and wrapped with red, white and blue trim. After all, this was also an Independence Day party.

On the back porch, the colorful lights were arranged in a cheerful V, since The Book Lover discovered that they couldn't connect end to end and therefore had to both connect to the extension cord. In the corner of the porch, we hung a multi-tiered colorful hanging, which was the only item that actually said "40" on it (hard to see in this, but it's in the left front corner).

The Gryphon was pleased with the results, and I'm sure he thought the decor was the only true surprise. Not so. How long the secrets would remain so, however, was another story.

The Book Lover and The Martial Artist had brought hummus with corn chips, as well as a homemade walnut dip with pita triangles, both of which were delicious. I dipped into that, because it was definitely past my lunch time. I also enjoyed, soon enough, some carrots sticks, courtesy of The Cousin, The Photographer and their daughters.

As people drifted in, we were joined by Ka-Pow and his wife, Eeyore; The Warrior Princess; The Cheshire Cat and his wife, The Paper; The March Hare; Batman; The Devil's Advocate; The Paralegal. A bit later, we welcomed The Voice and The Treasurer. Even later than that, we greeted The Video Editor; and also The Laughing Man and his wife and two children.

As each new person arrived, I was so consumed with telling them about the scrapbook room that, when a new person arrived, I could think of nothing else until I'd told them. So I was fixated on the fact that I had to let The Devil's Advocate, and I leaned across the table and told him that there was a scrapbook in the front room which he could sign when he had a chance. "Keep it under wraps," I said.

The room got terribly quiet. The Devil's Advocate said, "It's a secret, huh?"

That's when I turned slowly to my right and realized that The Gryphon was standing right at the end of the table, a big smile on his face. I collapsed, folding my arms over my head on the table, feeling horrible. I'd been telling people about it over e-mail for a little while, trying to prepare them for the surprise.

Then I apologized to The Gryphon for ruining the surprise. I held up my Sam Adams Light, acknowledging, "Well, I guess it only take half a beer to make me stupid." He told me it was OK and hugged me. And he promised not to sneak a peak at the scrapbook until it was time for him to see it.

Still, I was bitterly disappointed, and it took a while for me to get back to cheery, happy party mode.

The White Rabbit saw that the party continued, organizing the grilling of burgers on the back porch, with The Photographer agreeing to man the grill.

After an initial run of hamburgers and turkey burgers, they cooked up some spicy homemade burgers, provided by The Voice.

Soon, all the guests were fed and seemed quite happy, especially as a nice selection of food had been brought, including a great corn and bean salad, homemade fruit salad, chips and dip, a veggie tray, a fruit tray, Fig Newtons and lemonade, mojitos, soda, and eventually a crock pot chili and home made cherry pie. We also had several cases of water, which proved invaluable on a hot day. And of course, a case of Guinness as well as a case of Sam Adams summer blend beers, which I brought.

The Martial Artist and The Devil's Advocate

I didn't want to be a nag about the scrapbook, so after I'd told everyone about it, I left it up to them to make their way upstairs and sign it. I'd considered enlisting The Cousin's daughters to nudge people upstairs, as unofficial scrapbook attendants, but I decided that would be a bit like herding cats. I did stop in a couple times, though, and was pleased with the creative pages that people had contributed.

Early in the party, The Book Lover and The Martial Artist's son was having a great time, walking around and interacting with the guests. He had us a crowd of people gathered around him while he played a game he invented, that consisted of turning over a coaster and making a happy sound.

He also had a good time imitating the sounds of people around him, as he's beginning to learn language. This could make for amusing interactions whenever people discovered he was doing so. The Cousin's daughters had him imitate various animal sounds, one of his favorites apparently being the sheep: "Bah!"

After everyone was relaxing, we discussed a good time to get the cake out so it could soften enough to be served. But a number of women were out on a shopping run, picking up some extra items, so we waited until they returned. I was conscious of the fact that The Book Lover and The Martial Artist would need to leave at about 5 because they had to get their son home for his evening feeding and bedtime. While The Book Lover couldn't eat the sweet cake, I wanted to make sure The Martial Artist had a chance to do so.

The timing worked out nearly perfectly. As soon as the shoppers returned from their run, I took the cakes out and set them on the stove to dethaw. I'd been told to give it about 30 minutes, because the cakes had been blast frozen for easy transporting. After about 25 minutes, I got a sharp knife and tested the strawberry cake, which was ready to cut, and the chocolate cake seemed ready, as well. So I told everyone we were going to do the cake.

Of course, then we ran into an unexpected problem. The chocolate cake was covered with a fondant that had hardened, and it was fairly impossible to stick candles into it. I suppose if I'd thought ahead, I could have brought little birthday candle holders, which might have worked. However, I only had candles, so The White Rabbit suggested we put them in the strawberry cake, instead. We managed to fit about seven in, which The White Rabbit joked was more or less divisible into 40.

We called everyone into the kitchen, where they sang "Happy Birthday", The Gryphon conducting them merrily, until he blew the candles out.

Just before he did, I joked, "Do you think you can get them all?"

Most of our guests wanted chocolate, and I soon discovered the chocolate cake was a lot tougher to cut. The Gryphon got a couple rows started for me, and then I insisted that he sit down and enjoy his slice. It was a little tricky, and I had to keep running the knife under hot water, but I managed to get everyone served and then took a slice for myself.

We'd ordered well, because there was enough cake left over that those who arrived a bit later, such as The Laughing Man and his wife and children, could have some, and any guests who desired could have seconds. I put it back in the freezer for safe keeping. Everyone seemed to enjoy the cake, so I think it was worth the extra trouble. Most importantly, it was what The Gryphon had requested, so I was happy I could do that for him.

After everyone had eaten their cake, The Paper suggested we open the presents, so I brought over the stack that people had brought. It was also time for the presentation of the scrapbook, which The Cousin brought down from upstairs.

And then we managed to actually surprise The Gryphon. I'd imagined something of a "This is Your Life" moment, what with the scrapbook and the stories. I started out by telling about the time that we went as '80s prom dates and had to run all over the city trying to find him a vintage tuxedo. Finally, he came up with the idea of wearing his suit coat, dark pants, and a tuxedo shirt, pink cummerbund and matching bow tie I bought on eBay.

"It was my best prom ever," I concluded.

Others shared memories about him that revealed aspects of his character, such as his sense of humor, his organizational and leadership abilities, or the way he looks out for his friends. I was happy to see that people jumped in, and The Gryphon added more details, so that it was almost like a campfire conversation.

The Dormouse, for example, talked about how, when he'd been Otakon con chair, he was going crazy the first day of the convention. The Gryphon came up to him and said calmly, "Relax. We have a staff."

The Dormouse (left) tells his story,
while The White Rabbit acts it out.

The Paper talked about bonding with him over their divorced parents, and The Cousin told a story about an Otakon department meeting where they'd decided to pass a Coke can around to indicate who had the right to speak. She said that she found it particularly amusing once when The Gryphon was speaking and people started talking over him. In a dead serious voice, as if he was rapping a gavel, he said, "I have the Coke can!"

I missed part of the storytelling, because The Martial Artist and The Book Lover had to leave, and I helped them get all their stuff out to the car, thanking them for coming. We don't see them as much, now that they have a young son, and it was good to see them in person.

By the time I got back, the story telling was winding down, and The Gryphon was paging through and admiring the scrapbook. The Laughing Man and his wife arrived just at the end of the storytelling, and The Gryphon opened their card and gift while I filled them in on the food situation.

Now that all the important party business had been handled, I could truly relax. A group of people resumed their length H.P. Lovecraft-based game, Arkham Horror, while I brought out a good bottle of sake, serving out some to whoever desired. We chatted for a while with The Voice about sake, and then moved to the back porch to discuss wedding photographs with The Photographer, who will be doing our wedding photography.

Afterwards, we stayed out there with him, shooting the breeze about Otakon gossip and then about a variety of other topics.

As the party wound down and the game ended, the conservation became more obscure. I spent some time talking to The Video Editor, first about gaming and then, through the White Wolf game system, about supernatural topics like vampires and ghosts.

Near midnight, The Gryphon and I packed up and headed out. I was starting to get tired, and even though we'd had the dog walker come by to let Una out near dinnertime, we knew she'd be needing to go out again.

The Gryphon told me later that he'd had a very good time, which of course, made all the work worth it.

More from The Gryphon's party:

July 17, 2007 - Party Pics

Copyright 2006 by Alyce Wilson

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