Just home from yet another visit to my past. Mary and I went to a college party for one of her former students Rob who lives just around the corner from me – he has a film playing at the Tivoli next week in the showcase of local talent. Plug him in the comments Mary, what’s his title?

There was a theme for the party that I was unaware of in advance. Guests had been asked to come as their favorite 8-16 bit characters from Atari and early Nintendo. Harry was there from Pitfall, the guys from double dragon, a brain monster from Metroid, one of the ghosts – blinky I think – from Pac-man, some Tetris pieces, several hockey players, and many others. It was a good sized party.

I thought that these were the games of my older brothers and that I was representative of the last group to play with these toys. (I came in on Pong, played Atari at my friend’s homes and had my brother Andy win an Intellivision out of a box of Cheerios.) Not so, most people at this party were on average ten years younger than me and they all had a better working knowledge of the early character pantheon than I do and made references to games that I’ve never heard of. To do my thematic part, I self described as a Mischievous Pooka from Dig Dug who was displaying his mischievousness through a cunning lack of costume.

I figured we’d be at the party for three beverages, but I took four just in case. Three was perfect timing at an hour and twenty minutes, that’s about how long I can function at a college party of twenty somethings when I don’t have any actual alcohol. It was also very hot in that apartment – St. Louis – brick – second story – corn dogs roasting in the kitchen – too hot on an already hot day.

At the party there were two goldfish in a ten gallon tank. I like coy, but the standard goldfish is not my thing. They are ill tempered and prone to disease resultant from their rather brackish home decorating. Of the two fish in this tank, one had had his fins removed by the other and was navigating bullet style through forward force and object ricochet, much like people move in those late college years where the fins have yet to find finesse or have been deliberately clipped by those first real world rude awakenings. Of course I don’t mean me as a source of comparable sophistication and cultural success. My style is all sophomoric sycophancy sliding slowly into sanguine solipsism, but at least I am no longer sedentary.

On the “St. Louis is the World’s Largest Small Town” tip (oft repeated Mark Twain quote) I ran into Kevin at this party. I met Kevin the other night at the Drinking Liberally event that I alluded to, but did not really tell you about in detail. Kevin is an actor who is in two of the films showing at this weekend’s showcase, and I think he was in four of the films submitted, but only seventy something of the hundred and twenty plus submissions were accepted for the screenings and jury. Mary tried to tap Kevin for her Fo Po one act she is directing this fall. Anyway, I guess it’s time to crash so my brain is all fresh and squishy for tomorrow’s new neural pathways.