MJ came back from the dead

Last Friday Chlo and I got crafty again. This time, it was for a better reason than Halloween, though. It was MJ's birthday and we decided to throw her a surprise party (which, if I might add, was extremely successful. I saw a few tears).

First of all, as proof that yours truly did in fact help with the decorations please check out the picture below. That's right, I cut those babies up my self. And no, that's not a silhouette of Jesus

(rule #1 no religiously themed parties are allowed in The Hallway). It's a carving of Michael Jackson's "This is It" pose. Michael Jackson--MJ--Maria Jose-- get it? The party was themed "MJ's not Dead" since MJ is in fact. Not dead. She's 21. And alive.

Barely, though.

As I said, it was a good party.

So MJ, the living one, had to leave an hour into the celebration in a quasi cadaveric state. Happy Birthday M! And, ironically enough, Chlo and I had an entire wall of our apartment that read--MJ's not dead. And random guys, who supposedly were friends of a friend of a friend but who no one really knew* were questioning our thematic.

Apparently the "Michael Jackson Greatest Hits" DVD that was playing in the TV the entire night was creepy and confusing. Not cool. Damn. So close.

It's all part of the syndrome that Chlo and I have coined as our "Misunderstood Brilliance"--parties and costumes that no one understands and that we believe should be reason enough for a Nobel Prize for Brilliancy.

Now that we've established that MJ's not dead and that brilliancy isn't always so obvious, let me tell you about the fire. I made the mistake of telling our Colombian guests that I had arepas. "We have to have one" they said in unison. Midway through the cooking my friend comes up to me and with a very non-chalant tone says "Lau, I think we have a problem in the kitchen." You think? Because there are flames coming out of the stove. And if my nose serves me right, that metal decaying smell is not exactly normal.

Tiff Almighty manages to put the fire off and, since neither the fire alarm nor the carbon monoxide detector work in The Hallway, the majority of the party remains unaware of the burning episode. Rule #2 If you're going to cook arepas, make sure to leave the door open. Just in case, you know, you have to sprint out.

So no more fire and no more toilet paper. Halfway through the party the toilet paper supply is gone. People going into the bathroom were using paper towels from the kitchen. Not a problem though, since our bathroom is so conveniently located inside the kitchen.

Our freezing kitchen. Which reminds me of our new roommate. Since Remy (the mouse) left, we needed a new friend, so we purchased R2D2-- our loyal and trustworthy heater. All night people congregated around him (her?) and by 4am what was left of the party was basically R2D2 and the random guys who, again, no one knew. Apparently we underestimated the success of "Misunderstood Brilliance."

But the party was not over. The next day the Herrera Clan (my super and his look-alike cousins) decide to stop by at 10am to put up our coat hanger. Oh yeah, we had 30 people over in the middle of winter and we had no coat hangers.

So the Herreras walk into a trashed apartment where everywhere you look there's pictures of MJ with falic drawings on its body. (This would be images of the late MJ. I would never put up falic pictures of the living MJ. I doubt she would approve of this.). Since I'm obviously still asleep and not even a bomb explosion would wake me up, it's Chlo's turn to let them in. Chlo who likes to sleep, well, with few clothes on. Welcome the Herreras. Make yourselves at home!

Rule #3 (Chlo) Make sure to put on clothes before opening the door to The Hallway.

* We accept and embrace, especially embrace, everyone at our parties. So if you're not invited to the next one, just show up. Just make sure that no one knows who you are.