Saturday, 02 December 2006

Let ugliness rule the Yuletide gathering!

It's very late and Vespers is tomorrow and Sunday, but I can't NOT write about this. This may have been the single most fun social event of the season-the second annual TACKY CHRISTMAS SWEATER PARTY!

The Major General Music received the invite with much delight from his friend the Laughster. The basic idea is simple: a Christmas party. But what kind of theme do you have for a Christmas party? Making it fun is the key. The Laughster started with this idea last year and it has spread like wildfire-tacky Christmas sweaters!

We've all seen them. They have some sort of Christmas or winter element on them. They're cheesy. They're ridiculous. They can be downright ugly. Not to be left out of something so wonderfully fun, the Major General Music exuberantly RSVP'd a yes to the Laughster. He would come to this delightfully tasteless gathering.

The day set things up perfectly-a morning of Chapel and class, an afternoon transforming Dimnent Chapel into a joyful house of Christmastide, and a highly successful conducting practice with the Bouncy Composer. The two spent an hour practicing technique for the final exam and both were excited with the progress. The Bouncy Composer said, "That's some of the best conducting I've seen you do! The concerned smile Dr. Richmond mentioned was actually a happy smile and you looked like you were making music!" Needless to say, the Major General Music was thrilled to hear this, considering how conducting has been a very difficult class. Then came a very long rehearsal. Thankfully, it was highly successful and things seem to go very well. Afterwards, the Major General Music met with his good friend the Showchoir Stud. They went to dinner with a large group of friends and then the Major General Music asked the Showchoir Stud to join him at the Tacky Christmas Sweater Party. But alas! The Showchoir Stud had no tacky Christmas sweater. After learning this development, the Major General Music decided that the Showchoir Stud must have a tacky Christmas sweater for this party and said, "You will have a tacky Christmas sweater! I have the necessary resources to get us one, and get one we shall!" Unfortunately, the Major General Music discovered his car was a very serious victim of the recent winter storm, covered in several inches of snow and several more inches of caked ice. Plus, all four dours were frozen shut. Luckily, the Major General Music was creative in removing the ice around the doors and managed to get inside and use a combination of heat, elbow grease, and a brand new ice scraper plus a half hour to rid his car of the evil winter precipitation. The two made it to the Salvation Army Donation Center, found some wonderfully ugly fashions, and returned happily to the campus ready to knock everyone's socks off. And so they went to the shindig ready to have some fun.

They two joyously arrived with cookies, but kept their attire under wraps with some nice winter coats and the excuse that it was cold outside (which was true). The Laughster had the two friends drop their coats off in a separate room, and then the Major General Music and the Showchoir Stud made their grand entrance. One of the guests already there had a sweater with a Christmas tree on it and claimed he had the ugliest with a tree on it. Upon sighting the Major General Music's sweater, he yielded his title. The party then got itself cranked up with some games, party food, endless streams of pictures, and more guests streaming in at a constant rate. There even was a story time-Twas the Night Before Christmas, of course, and singing Christmas carols after that. There was a brief interlude for conversation, and then the centerpiece of the evening: who has the tackiest sweater?

Nominations were made, and all the nominees were asked to showcase their wear. The judges were unable to make a decision from a wide field, so they narrowed it to four, and then five when the masses actually ordered the Major General Music into the finals for the sheer tackiness of his outfit, to the Major General Music's happy surprise. Could he win? The judges then asked the finalists to strut down the runway again, and describe their outfits in one word. It all came down to presentation and sheer tackiness. Here's what was said.

Finalist 1: "Delectable" (mad laughter)
Finalst 2: "Delicious" (disappointment at lack of originality)
Finalist 3: "Refined" (thank you Joanna for remembering-more laughter resulted from this description)
Finalist 4: "Dynamite" (the Major General Music strutted forward, took a bite from a piece of cheese, and sold it like something between Zoolander and a pimp with no taste, to great amusement)
Finalist 5: "Woman" (utter hysteria)

Our fifth finalist took the crown as the single tackiest guest, but the Major General Music took third runner-up with honor. Afterwards, the party continued with more pictures and some truly great conversation. The Major General Music shared some time with the Lightning Percussionist talking about how foreign travel can be great but has its downsides. As it often leads to, the two discussed the latest development with the Lightning Percussionist's home church back in Hillsdale with its first BGC minister. This may sound a rather uninteresting topic, but the Major General Music has been extremely interested/delighted to learn of this process since voting the Lightning Percussionist's church into the BGC. The conversation finally led itself to the final four people at the party and some truly wonderful thoughts about maintaining a sense of seeking to serve God, even though the "good" feeling when things are going well spiritually aren't there. The Major General Music's friend the Wise Artist said to one of the others, "I don't know you, but I love the God you serve." A quote truly worth thinking about.

Interesting-an insight on God can come even from a Tacky Christmas Sweater Party. He really does use anything and everything for His purpose.

Comments(1)

tyler, i believe finalist number three said "refined" if you want to edit your post :)

JoboBanana