At my last party (Halloween), one of the activities was to each write a page of a ghost story. I provided markers and Halloween-themed stickers.
I found a spiderweb scrapbook at the crafts store. It accomodated 20 pages. But I figured everyone would want to write a page (or several), so I bought two scrapbooks. Even so, I worried that 40 pages would not be enough.
As it happened, two people wrote proper pages, and then it degenerated into a guestbook. Page 3 said, "Thanks for throwing this party!"
The final tally: four pages.
I like hosting parties that have some kind of theme. Maybe it can be a hat party. I can wear something like this:
23 comments:
Not everyone's a speedy writer (especially on paper, a challenge in itself for this generation!) so it seems the task was not casual enough for a party. Perhaps try one or two sentences each next time or adjust the concept altogether and make it a game of speaking , not writing.
It was a dark and stormy night. The rain fell in sheets, first blowing one way and then the other. Chester the ghost hurried along the sidewalk, barely dodging an oncoming car that splashed past him out of nowhere. He was late.
He arrived at the doorsteps of the brownstone, wheezing and out of breath. The rain continued to fall through his wispy form. He briefly caught him as he reflexively reached for the doorbell, sighed, and passed immaterial through the door.
Once he appeared on the other side, amid the lights of the foyer chandelier, his spirits (ha) brightened considerably. The tinkling wine glasses and subdued laughter of a dinner party in progress greeted him, and he sailed ghostily in the direction of the noise.
Aw, that's such a good page. I wish I had invited you to the ghost party.
Writing a whole page sounds pretty daunting for a costume party especially in this post-literate age.
Or you could've waited until everyone was liquored up and then pass around the sheets. I bet you'd get some pretty interesting ghost stories then.
Niniane, that's a fun idea, but not really suited for a party where people want to socialize, not sit down and write for 15-20 minutes. Maybe try something that can spark creativity yet not take a lot of time like mad libs?
Hey Niniane, Thank you for your blog. I actually learn lots of things about the practical stuff of life. Also, thanks for everything from Google. It has really helped me.
Take care,
Damon
Are you inviting all of your readers to the party? :-)
You should have called it a ghostwriting party.
I actually think it could have gone better, if you'd had a different set of friends/invitees. For instance, my wife and other such writer-ly/bookish people like her would be partial to parties like that.
who is that dapper sailer with the thin, tree-like arms? introduce me!
philipp and anonymous' objections to the central concept would be accurate, except the photo clearly shows the partygoers had ready access to a Magic 8-Ball. Therefore, the mental effort of creating (part of) a story should be minimal, as it would mostly be outsourced to the M8B. ... OK, I suppose maybe the M8B itself could have gotten tired.
All that said, yes, handwriting is still a lost art these days.
I love that hat on you.
what is br8?
"br8" is my abbreviation for "brate".
nice hat in the photo :)
maybe try a theme around Muppets or Sesame Street... people tend to like that stuff.
there's a game for geeks i helped get started called 'half-baked dot com' that's lots of fun... not exactly a theme, more of an activity. anyway, best of luck with your theme :)
Niniane,
Your story is really scary.
Congrats on the lively launch. That must be what this party is for.
Darren
Congrats for Lively! :)
Congratulations on launching of Lively... I wish my 80% project is as productive as your 20%...
Congrats on lively!
I knew you were working on a social network type thing, and when I heard about lively I wondered if it was you -- and it was! =)
any chance of a version for Mac any time soon....?
interesting
Dave: "half-baked dot com" sounds like a lot of fun. Niniane, you could turn it into a theme by making it a dot com costume party, a la those famous internet vids you've probably already seen.
(I bet that would be less fun than the game. {shrug} not all my ideas can be winners.)
hey niniane, how about this:
have *everybody* contribute to the same ghost story. each person writes a sentence at a time and see where it goes!
hmmm maybe I'll use that for my next party... you'll be invited! ;-)
Niniane: In the course of scanning through the Official Google Blog -- I came across a particularly interesting, well written entry (& intriguing video). I'm like -- how cool!...I wonder who wrote it -- only to find out...it was you! I look forward to checking out lively.com this weekend!
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