2014-09-14 – I am not a party animal. I am not a party vegetable. I am not a party mineral. Yet, today I am going to a party.

Actually, that’s not true. The party is coming to me. It is our first annual block party. If you know where I live (and I know you know where I live), drop by. Do not be intimidates by the sawhorse that says “Police Line – Do Not Cross” for just beyond that, in the early light of dawn, is the bouncy house.

Needless to say, I won’t be bouncing. But I might be munching on some fajita tacos. If you come, you have to bring something to eat or drink. Enough for you and a few friends. There will be a kosher grill for those who care. There will be a tref grill for those who don’t.

I started out asking you to bring enough for everyone, but I have no idea how many is “everyone.” We never had a block party in our neighborhood. Our block is actually a small block. On one side, the houses don’t even face our street. We who are misanthropes were happy with the dearth of neighbors. But one of our few neighbors discovered that, if you turn the corner, there are more neighbors. Voila! A party!

This is what life is about! The minute you think you are safe from block parties. Surprise!

But I’m trying to get into the spirit of the day. I have a bunch of crossword puzzles saved up for just an occasion. And just when the fun is really getting going, I’ll probably leave.

Yesterday, we went to Naperville to see a soccer tournament game between the Grinnell College Pioneers and the Webster University Gorloks. I don’t know what a gorlok is, but they are from St. Louis. After the game, which Grinnell won 2-0, we took our son Cal, who is on the Grinnell team, into the town of Naperville to have some Chicago-style pizza at Lou Malnati’s, which he misses terribly at Grinnell.

Napervile is a very orderly town. They have a law there that requires every block to have a block party, whether they want one or not.

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That last statement was a lie. Normally I wouldn’t tell you that, but on October 1 (in just over two weeks) we will be celebrating a day for truth. On all other days, you lie like crazy, like I just did by telling you that Naperville requires block parties (a pretty lame lie, don’t you think?). The day for truth is called Diogenes Day. Let your friends know. Find out more info by clicking the Diogenes Day link at the top of my blog page.