It’s been about 20 years since I have been to a Block Party. When I was a kid my family would have a massive block party/family reunion in Queens on Memorial Day weekend, it was always a good time. I remember we pretty much got to do whatever we wanted during the Block Party, they had rides and shit like that for the kids so it always made it a blast.
This Bock Party was different than any of the others, this Block Party was with m Neighbors, or as I like to put it for the most part strangers. We live in a small gated community with 42 homes in Palm Harbor, Florida. With a community this small you would think everyone would know one another, all though this street is different I guess. Most of the people living in this neighborhood won’t even wave at you when they drive by and for the most part we only talk with 2 of the neighbors regularly and one other from time to time. I should probably say “me” instead of “we” because Lisa does see a lot more people from the neighborhood than I do so she knows more faces and names than I do.
Time flew by today with Terry, Bob and Jason from A Sound Decision came by to tweak the Home Theater a bit, than we ran to Best Buy and it was back home than off to get Beer, Booze, Ice and some other crap for the weekend. I was starting to dread going to the Block Party, I am not very good with meeting strangers and am more the type to think, “What the fuck am I going to talk to these people about?” I mean I don’t know anything about them and it’s not like after the Block Party we are going to hang out and shit, you know we will go right back to the no waving, no say hi community it was before the Block Party. The Party was starting at 4:30p which came up really quick. We had some stuff to do before we could walk around the corner with Beer, chairs and other silly shit because we had our own guests coming over for UFC 84 on Saturday night.
We finally headed over around 5:30p, it was just as I thought it would be for the most part. As soon as we turned the corner it felt like everyone at the block party moved their eyes in our direction (I hate walking into large groups of people), so here I am carrying some chairs with a bunch of people looking at me, in 85 degree weather and 875% Humidity. Here comes the sweat and I instantly HATE everything about being where I am, pretty much was sick to my stomach instantly. Once we got there we stood around, a few people we did know greeted us as we stood there not really knowing where to put chairs or anything else. God it was a great feeling, add severe sweat and this is a party and a half.
After we got seated the kids went on some of the Jumpy things that were at the Block Party and we kinda stood around talked with each other, and we met a few people. One included some crazy guy that told some crazy joke and has his kid loving the Beatles (he’s like 7). We were there for about an hour when the front gate called, a few of the guests had showed up for the UFC 84 fight so it was time for me to head back to the house and meet them. This was perfect timing for me because I felt comfortable with how much time I had been there.
Terry (owner of A Sound Decision), Natalie and their daughter Chelsea as well as Sean (from Florida Honnies) all had arrived at the same time. Chelsea brought a friend and the girls went into the pool. I called Lisa to have her let Alexa know Chelsea was here, Alexa came back to the house to go in the pool with her new friend. Lisa, Michele and Nadia came back and James and Jason (also from A Sound Decision) showed up shortly after.
Come fight time Samantha from Extreme Tan and Smoothies, Dave from Pet Safari, Lewis from Devoted Creations, all of the guys from A Sound Decision and a few other people were here and ready to go. Everyone fit into the new Theater Room perfectly which I was happy about, but I was more surprised with how many people came by. We all watched in disappointment as Tito Ortiz barely missed a last second submission attempt and lost his fight, I also don’t think there was one person in the house that was happy to see BJ Penn win his fight. Im not sure where that guy gets all of his fans, because I sure as shit can’t find one. The fight card for UFC 84 was packed, I think there was something like 8 fights which was a pleasant surprise. After the fights it was time to do some late night BBQing, I always like the late night BBQ and Beer drinking.
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
It is hard to imagine you being reluctant to meet new people. But it sounds like the block party was fun. Especially since you met a new guy.
It is great to watch sports with like-minded people. The media room sounds awesome.
.-= Keith@Norman Rockwell Art´s last blog ..Dec 7, Norman Rockwell Christmas Items Make The Holidays Special =-.
Twitter: extremejohn
@Keith@Norman Rockwell Art, it would seem strange huh? Life has changed a lot over the last couple of years, meeting people and going out in public just isn’t what it use to be. I prefer to avoid it as much as possible.