a milestone birthday

Although we've been doing work on the condo to prepare it for putting on the market next month, this most recent trip to Vancouver coincided with a friend's milestone birthday.  60 years for Steven - hooray!

Steven is someone Conrad first met some 15 or more years ago through work in DC on a grants or other similar panel.  Over time, we've gotten together with him and Jenny and their children in Vancouver as well as here in California and in Chicago when we lived there.  It's been terrific knowing them, and so we were delighted to be in town to celebrate the event.

Steven was born in Mumbai, and that connection to India led him to choose an Indian buffet restaurant for the birthday party.  About 40 of us were sectioned off in the back of the restaurant.  That afforded us the space for speeches, a trivia quiz, the cake cutting, and a little karaoke.  That's Steven's dad rocking the microphone. 

His singing was pretty awesome, I have to say.  Steven joined him briefly,

and it's clear that Steven should do more karaoke himself.  No, Conrad and I didn't brave the microphone, sorry.

It was a great party, and it was a real honour to join his family and take part in it all.

I think Jenny is up next, 60 in a few years, which will coincide with Conrad turning 70.  There should be some good parties to come!

karaoke

Oh, don't get your hopes up. Remember how I'm actually a shy kind of guy? You know, the sort of shy guy who can stand in an exhibits hall for an hour and talk with any person who comes by to look at my poster session? Yes, that kind of shy guy, the sort who will sit back and only watch/listen as his friends tear through karaoke.

I sing, as CG (for one) will tell you, but I have no confidence in my voice. So it was that Friday night was a late one for me (happily, little alcohol, just a late night) with some De Paulians and associated librarians, enjoying a karaoke bar. Hula Hula Tiki Bar, I think it was called. Sweetest mai tai I've ever had (and I've had more than a few in my time now), but gosh darn, was that a fun night.

I mean, come on, there were some mighty good performances. One librarian (the place was overrrun with us) was a ringer, voicewise, for Steven page as he wailed through "Brian Wilson". A friend of his, a woman, was not just a good singer, but she worked the room very well. I was impressed.

And then there was my crew:

Missy, singing country. I just wish she'd turned to face all of her admirers.

Jake.
Straight and married, a cross between Barney from HIMYM and Howie Mandel, and yet just super cool and (I admit) kind of (quite) sexy. Whatever. He ripped through "Need You Tonight", and he had people up dancing and cheering.

My favourite, not shown here, was CG's take on "Black Horse and a Cherry Tree". I've long liked the song, and she did it well. Almost as good, though, was her take on that forgotten (at least, I'd kind of forgotten it) 80s duet "Separate Lives". Remember it? Her friend Josh was Marilyn Martin, CG was Phil Collins. The emoting was fantastic.
It rather makes the three young men who did "Welcome to the Jungle" later in the evening seem all the sadder for it.

Maybe one day I'll be braver, but not that night. Ah well. I have fun photos to show for it, at least. And yes, I really did go do actual conference activities!