Kaetlin Perna
August 11, 2006

My New Years Resolutions for the Year 2006:

1. Go to New York City, at least twice, this year. CHECK.
2. Take a dance class. CHECK.
3. Make an ass out of yourself in front of a famous person. CHECK.
4. Finish a play. CHECK.
5. Go out no matter what. CHECK?

Now, it's Sunday - six in the evening - I just got home from work a few minutes earlier, when I get a call from my corporate office telling me there is an emergency at my building. I throw on my flip flops, rush out my apartment, round the corner to Oxford and I see a DJ on his porch. "Hey everybody! Welcome to the Park Ave Fest afterparty. BYOB!!!" I was already annoyed so I decided to make light of the situation; I hooted and hollered at the lone man on decks. Thirty minutes later, (after begrudgingly dealing with my work issue) I passed the same DJ, "Hey! Join the Park Ave Fest afterparty." So I thought, "Hell, why not?"

I walked up on to his porch where there were a few lawn chairs set up and a beer pong table around the corner. It was casual - it was nice. In fact, the night before I wish I could be sitting on a porch drinking a beer. I had missed the festival and my own house party, partly due to my insane work schedule, partly because I didn't feel like it. It was nice being here, being social, talking to people, and drinking a beer.

Thirty minutes into this shindig, I grabbed some food and beer from my apartment around the corner. A black guy on a bike strolled up and offered to tell a few jokes for a dollar over the microphone. They were good (racist) jokes, it was hilarious! The one girl and I drank beers and eventually got wasted with another, sneaking off to my apartment to eat cheetos with pasta sauce and sherbert ice cream. She stayed until about 8:30 and we exchanged phone numbers. Will she call me? Probably not. Do I care? Not at all. But did I have fun? Yes!

I don't "do" the party thing, never have, not even when I went to Arizona State. I don't even "do" the festival thing. In fact, I never have anything to look forward to anymore. Impending adulthood? Maybe. "The man" keeping me down? Perhaps. Or is it that skills are lacking in the social prioritizing department? Bingo! How do I remedy others' problems and not my own? How do I get out of this insane funk with socializing? Let's face it - I'm quite the catch and lead quite an interesting life, it really shouldn't be that hard.

Step 1: Go out no matter what, push yourself and follow through.
Step 2: Kaetlin, stop getting so wasted. (Come on).
Step 3: Don't be afraid of who you are. No one will like you if you do.
Step 4: Just… do it.