The loving continues...
A Little About Allison: Allison and I grew up in the same town and even went to college in the same town. Though a lovable goof, she is tres intelligent and is now in Arizona where she intends to receive her DMD, Doctor of Dental Medicine. Coincidentally enough, she too is a Dutch American like me.
Commence Wooing
Hey, baby, I think there's something in my teeth, do you think you could get it out for me? No, you won't be needing any of those silver tools, hot shot! ;-)
Notice anything different about me? That's right, I brushed my teeth just for you, this morning! Now I don't want you to think I'm some sort of dandy or anything, but I also flossed! Wait, what? You're supposed to do that every day? Oh...
Dream Date: First, we would make pannenkoeken, which are kind of like crêpes, except thicker and with things embedded in them. Then I would take her to a night club where we would have fun dancing. And if it were my dream date and not our dream date, the night would conclude with a make out session in a dentist chair, but I understand you don't want to mix work with pleasure. So, I think we'll end the night by making exquisite sundaes involving hot fudge and bits of marzipan.
Okay, so the last entry gave advice to single people, so I feel like I owe a little morsel to my lovers out there who already have other lovers.
When I was in tenth grade, a girl asked me what romantic thing she could do to impress her boyfriend. Here's what I came up with:
Everybody expects chocolate on Valentine's Day, maybe even more so than flowers. Luckily, they're conveniently packaged in hearts to let our significant others know “I love you AND I remembered that you love chocolate!” But lovers of the world, you can do more.
Not too much more; you don't want to exhaust yourself silly before your big date. But here's a simple way to take a very standard gift and make it your own.
Go ahead and buy one of those heart-shaped packages and make a list of reasons you love your significant other. There should be as many reasons as there are chocolates in that package. Write those reasons on little pieces of paper and place one under each chocolate. That way, each time your lover picks up a piece of chocolate to eat, they get to read a new reason why you love them!
And the best part is that if you can't come up with a reason for each chocolate, you know it's time to move on and find someone new!
Okay, so this entry isn't primarily about New Year's Eve, so here's a quick wrap up of the events:
I had no clue where I was going for the first 18 hours of the day. My bro told me the night before that his friends wanted a bartender at their party, and I agreed. It was for free of course, but I want to be able to boast experience. So, I was waiting by my cell phone all day waiting for Thijs (my bro) to call me and tell me where to go.
He gave me the address and I headed over and started pouring drinks for people. My specialty that night was the Manhattan, because that's what I came prepared to pour. Then I started exploring the hosts' liquor cabinet and realized I could make some Scarlett O'Haras, which is Southern Comfort and cranberry juice, with a splash of sour mix. There wasn't any sour mix at the time, so I did without it, but they went over well, nevertheless. Thijs eventually brought sour mix, so I made someone a whiskey sour, which is a favorite of mine.
I received an awesome fortune cookie that said “Because of your melodic nature, the moonlight never misses an appointment.” I'd explain to you what I think that means, but I think it would lose its poetry in the process. I can assure you, it seems fitting for me.
When the ball in New York reached 2010, it hit me: I needed to fulfill the most important New Year's tradition: the first kiss of the year. I looked around. Total sausage fest, except for some ladies, who were otherwise spoken for. I asked if the guests could excuse me for ten minutes, which they could. I ran across the parking lot (it was an apartment complex) and ran to another party I knew of and got my first kiss.
When I went home, I planned this entry on a notecard and then went to bed. It's not lame! It's part of my resolution to be more organized in every endeavor, so I don't waste too much time. Okay, onto the meat of the entry.
I've realized there's a theme to holidays I truly love and holidays that don't do much to impress me. There are two basic types: social and domestic. Below is a list of examples:
| Social | Domestic |
| New Year's Eve | Christmas |
| Halloween | Thanksgiving |
| St. Patrick's Day | Easter |
And if I were in New Orleans, Mardi Gras would be counted among the social holidays. I would love to go down there for that holiday! I bet it's even better than Halloween.
Social Holidays
Social holidays are holidays you spend with friends outside your own home unless you're hosting. I'm quite the social butterfly, so I thrive off of these kinds of parties.
Growing up, Halloween was pretty much one of two social holidays. The other was the Fourth of July, which has become less social in the latter half of my life. Halloween was, and still is, my absolute favorite. It was the one holiday there was an aspect I had complete creative control over: the costume. I could be anything I wanted! And then my parents would drop me off at my friends and we could trick-or-treat without parental supervision. It felt incredibly free.
As a child, I was already afraid of growing too old to trick-or-treat. I therefore, continued to trick-or-treat through my last day of high school. I also had a particularly lame Halloween in college where I didn't have anything planned, so I grabbed my roommate, Eli, and we went trick-or-treating in our dorm, both dressed as Willy Wonka. We got some candy, a beer, and a whole lot of condoms. Also, people were delighted to see us, so I guess we gave smiles in return.
What I didn't get as a child is that I wouldn't want to trick-or-treat later on in life. I looked so forward to having children so I could take them trick-or-treating. Now that I'm in my early twenties, I'm into the party/bar scene. And I DREAD having children to drag me away from that.
New Year's Eve started as a domestic holiday for me. But I'm going to count this holiday. For a short period of time in my life, my parents would take me to the Netherlands every year for New Year's Eve, and that was fantastic! It was still domestic in that it was spent with family, but man! Do the Dutch know how to celebrate New Year's Eve! You know, I have no clue where I'll be working next year, but if I can, I should go to the Netherlands so I can write about it in this blog!
Anyway, the Dutch like to send off the old year with explosive fireworks! To explain to my friends in the wussy state of Massachusetts, these aren't far off fireworks you get to view from a mile away. No, these are up close and personal, blow up your neighbors' mailboxes fireworks!
To be honest, New Year's Eve just isn't the same in America, but at least I get to see friends. I think I'll have to try to find myself in a bar on my next New Year's Eve that's spent on this side of the pond, either as a bartender or as a customer.
Being not remotely Irish, I didn't quite get St. Patrick's Day growing up. Then last year I went to the Harp, a local Irish bar, and it was packed! I guess everyone is a bit Irish on St. Paddy's! My friend Will likes to tell everyone about his “Irish name” on that day. What he means by that is his nearest Irish ancestor's last name. I forgot what it is. All I have are Dutch names on either side, so I tell people to call me Mr. O'Vries that night as opposed to de Vries.
Actually, I have a very unfortunate name in terms of Irish-izing. O'Vries? Sounds kind of like ovaries. And if I add “Mc-,” I get McVries, which almost looks like McFries, which gives a fast food sort of feel to my name. It's much easier to Francify my name since everyone already seems to do that. “Hey, Paul. No, not you, Paul Jackson, Paul de Vree.” Folks, I love French culture, I really do. But I cannot stress enough that my name is Dutch, not French, and the Dutch pronounce everything. As a joke, I now spell my name as “Paul de Vrix” on occasion.
Domestic Holidays
Thanksgiving has always been an abusive holiday. So many side dishes, and even taking a thimble of each, my stomach is bursting at its seams, and I swear off food for eternity! This is not possible, because when I see leftovers, I must dispose of them, the proper way. I'm not anorexic, but my body hates that kind of excess, and my mouth doesn't know how to say no to it.
Christmas is of course a joy, but I wouldn't say it's my favorite. My fellow classmates thought I was weird since this wasn't my favorite holiday because of all the gifts, but I hear psychologists say that experiences make us happier than material possessions. So, I think I got it right!
Of course, Christmas has some social moments, such as holiday parties and Christmas caroling and... why the heck did the only holiday party I go to not have mistletoe? I mean, I liked it, it was fun, and I was bartender... Oh well, most of the people there worked at Best Buy and played video games, so it's not like they would have known what to do with mistletoe!
Let's face it. When you're too old to get huge baskets full of toys and goodies, Easter has nothing left to offer.
You'll notice I left out St. Valentine's Day. This is a weird holiday, which I suspect only exists to make all of us, couples (I call them two-people hive minds) and singles uncomfortable! But, I save that for a later entry, since it is slowly creeping upon us.
I'll be damned, though, if I let that smug Cupid's holiday get the better of me!
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