Family Style

I have catered on and off for the better part of fifteen years.

Most of the parties are broken down into a service style: heavy hor d'oeuvres, buffet, served and family style.

Family style, for the uninitiated, is when you put just about everything you can on the table: preset as we say in the business.

So the other day I worked a party.

Family style.

Cue No Trend...

Do You Know What This Is?

It's called a Cootie Catcher.

As a parent, I am continually amazed at what things transcend generations.

Take this little bugger for instance. This origami-like fortune teller is a flashback from my days in elementary school and I was quite surprised when it resurfaced a few months ago through my boys. Hell it probably was more than a year ago but the parental calendar isn't always a Gregorian one knowwhati'msayin'? In this modern age it is good to see them enjoying things from my youth - in those days before cell phones and streaming movies - like rubber band airplanes or skipping stones on the water.

The basic premise of these is that you choose from a word on the side, then the letters are counted out. This exposes the innards of the mechanism which has each open-faced page printed with a number. You choose a number, the child flutters it, then you chose another number and yet another round of fluttering ensues.

Then you peel back the number it landed on and it reveals your fortune.

The words on the outside of this homemade cootie catcher?

Iron Maiden, Chest Pains, Shang-a-Lang and Led Zeppelin.

Nice right?

Now the fortunes:
-Sing any song you like.
-Sing a Led Zeppelin song.
-Sing any song you want.
-Free pass.
-Sing Especially in Michigan.
-Sing a Chest Pains song.
-Sing a Jimi Hendrix song.
-Sing a Black Sabbath song.

Fuckin' priceless ain't it?

Now you know why I'm holding on to this one for the memory books.