My First House Party

 

Hey everybody, you’ll never guess what I just remembered from that time when I lived in Lawrence. At the Learnard house where my family and I lived there, I had an idea of throwing my first dance party here in Lawrence and my mom and dad agreed with me on that. This time, I made it into a Nickelodeon theme. The first thing I did before this happened is to invite my friends from school and my neighbors. When I handed out my invitations to my friends, they agreed on that for the very first time. I even invited my friend Katie Altenbern to join us for my first dance party. I picked the songs from the artists I love listening to. It was in the year 2000 when I held my first dance party at my house. It was awesome, and everyone was invited there. Mrs. Orth-Lopes was there, even Stephanie was there, Sebastian, Ms. Kitchen, and everyone else was there too. Even my friends from Cordley were also there. We had a really fun time, except for the fact that the power went out. It was really weird when it started raining outside. It was really stormy that day. But at least everyone had a lot of fun. My dad played the song “All The Small Things” from blink-182 on his guitar, and everyone was singing along to it. It was fun! I just wished I’d make green slime out of pudding so that I can get my friends slimed for fun.

This is who I invited to my first dance party at my house.

My friends, my neighbors, and my favorite paras.

Here's who I invited to my first dance party in Lawrence:

• Katie Altenbern
• Kirin Arnold
• Phillip Wahwahsuck
• Christena Morgan
• Lydia Caron
• Evan Compton
• Joshua Warner
• Jessica Reeves
• Mark Turner
• Grady Underwood
• Daniel Lassman
• Erik Nice
• Ryan & Brian Murphy
• Matthew Rogers
• Genevieve Rucker
• Dan Stemmerman
• Kara Wahnee
• Steven Baker
• Jeremy Hardman
• Elizabeth Johnson
• Kale Atwood
• Chase Samuels
• Lauren Ryan
• Lydia Shontz
• Maya Weil
• Lois Orth-Lopes
• Sebastian Alfie
• Stephanie Alfie
• Jocelyn Kitchen
• Erik Kling
• Jennifer Unruh
• Heidi Cokley
• Ms. Bodensteiner
• Mrs. Shaw
• Beth Scandrett-Leatherman
• Emily and Anna Thurmaire
• Jacob Schultz
• Alyssa Theil
• Brianne Webber
• Ms. Sanders
• Mr. Flyer

...and others

The music that played during the party was the artists I was listening to on my Now 4 CD. That was when I started my Now That's What I Call Music! collection. The other music played was one of my dad's favorite songs and my family's favorite songs from back in the day. The kids really loved the music from *NSYNC, Backstreet Boys, Eiffel 65, and Britney Spears. That was really cool to listen to. It was just like when I kept watching Nickelodeon in my younger years, it was fun!

The next day after that party, My family and I took Katie out to a fair somewhere where we got together, hung out, and went on some rides, even watch a performance playing. It was fun too. I just wondered if maybe I can look back in all the good times I had together with my friend. We’ve gotten really wild at the Learnard house. Like that time she and I played around in the backyard, we were playing around with the water hose and we both got really wet. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I’ve gotten water all over my clothes. It was awesome!

I’m also thinking about maybe planning another party when I come back to Lawrence again. I was even thinking about planning another house party, just like old times. This time, I’ll make it into another Nickelodeon theme. That way I can get the green slime all set up. I’ll bet that my friends would love it if I can slime them once again just like the time I got slimed by my cousins in California. It’ll be just like old times at the Learnard house when I was a kid. And once I do that, I’ll get the chance to invite everyone including all my friends. I’ll plan on snacks, burgers, soda, and others. Plus some family friendly music and songs from the Y2K era. I always hope that it will be another good one since the first time.

In fact, I have a special info and ideas for you on how to make homemade green slime.

Here's what you'll need:

• 2 cups of oatmeal
• 3 cups of applesauce
• 4 cups of vanilla pudding
• 3-4 drops of green food coloring

According to TeenVogue, it says here that making classic Nickelodeon slime is super easy. Mix together the oatmeal, applesauce and vanilla pudding in a large bowl, stirring slowly and thoroughly as you go. Add the green food coloring at the end, and voilà, you've got your very own batch of slime. Double, triple, or quadruple the recipe to get even more slime.

(Bonus: It's totally edible, so no worries if someone you slime ends up getting it in their mouth.)

Shows like Double Dare and Figure It Out, of course, made much larger batches in gigantic vats. Truth be told, we always kinda wished we could be doused in that mysterious green goo just like the screaming teens on the shows. It was half-gross, half-awesome — and we wondered what exactly those Nick stars were being covered in. Was it liquefied silly putty? Melted Jolly Ranchers? It's pretty much always been a mystery, but now we know it was just plain old oatmeal, applesauce and pudding, which makes sense, given that contestants were always licking it off their fingers.

Given that today's slime — which you can still catch celebs dodging at the Kids' Choice Awards — is a little smoother, more liquid, and a much more vibrant green, we're betting that Nickelodeon's recipe for the neon stuff has changed a bit over the years.

Not to mention that my next party will also include Nick-themed activities here inside the house. I’ll bet that my dad will love that idea too. I’ll never forget my first dance party at my old house where I grew up at. Thanks for that.

The very next week right after we partied, I made a call to my friend Kurt Henning and asked if we could come over to Avalon Video to create a slideshow on VHS. And when I did, Kurt and I took all the photos of the dance party at my house and put them all together. I even put a picture of SpongeBob on there at the end. We were gonna choose the song from Smash Mouth from my Now 4 CD. That song was ‘Then The Morning Comes’. When we were gonna do that, we heard some weird CD skipping sounds and it felt like something was wrong with the CD player. So we chose the theme from Mission Impossible as the theme for the slideshow. The CD player had to be fixed though. But, good thing we got the slideshow done. My friends and folks really loved it. They were so proud. I’m just so glad I got together for my first dance party at my house in Lawrence. I just wish that I had all my photo memories of the time my family and I had my dance party together on my photo album. It’s like when Starship built this city on rock & roll like back in 1985.

And next time when we plan my next Lawrence dance party at my house, I can do the DJ with a little help from someone who also did that during the summer at the outdoor aquatic center. I know someone at the outdoor pool who DJ’d when there was a pool party. His name is Jaden and I met him one time when I was out swimming there. There was fun and games, music and activities, and I got the chance to hand out some prizes to everyone who won. It was an extremely fun time, although the flash drive didn’t work. At least he played some music though. I’m also gonna plan on doing that again too. Only this time, with a special pool party movie.

Man, those were some wonderful times together here at the Learnard house.

Anyways, let me know on some more ideas for the next blog. Cause if you like what I wrote about my first dance party, feel free to let me know on some tips and more info about planning the next party in the future. This time, I'll make this next one more family-friendly and more fun for the kids. I hope that someday I can DJ again.

Here's a list of some music options of your choice.

(Genres and artists included)

Pop

• Britney Spears
• *NSYNC
• Backstreet Boys
• Smash Mouth
• Mandy Moore
• 98°
• A*Teens
• soulDecision
• S Club 7
• Vitamin C
• Aaron Carter
• Lil Romeo
• Hoku
• LFO
• Jojo
• 3LW
• Sugar Ray
• Baha Men
• Christina Aguilera
• Dream Street
• Savage Garden
• Lou Bega
• Nelly Furtado
• Barenaked Ladies
• Jennifer Lopez
• Jesse McCartney
• Justin Bieber
• Shakira
• Madonna
• Kylie Minogue
• Hilary Duff
• Stacie Orrico
• Santana
• Spice Girls

Rock

• Everclear
• Jimmy Eat World
• Blessid Union of Souls
• Fastball
• Aerosmith
• U2
• Weezer
• blink-182
• Lenny Kravitz
• Simple Plan
• Good Charlotte
• Jonas Brothers
• The Beatles
• The Beach Boys
• Avril Lavigne
• Bowling For Soup

Dance

• A Touch of Class
• Mr C The Slide Man
• Cupid
• Blue Lagoon
• Daddy DJ
• Marky Mark
• 2 Unlimited
• Robin S.
• Fatboy Slim
• Faithless
• Moby
• Lemon Jelly
• The Chemical Brothers
• Röyksoop
• Featurecast
• The Wiseguys feat. Greg Nice
• Dirty Vegas
• Basement Jaxx
• Junior Senior
• Daft Punk
• Paul Oakenfold

Classics

• The Commitments
• James Brown
• Little Village
• Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
• The B-52s
• Pretenders
• Danny Gatton
• Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble
• The Vaughan Brothers
• Pigeons Playings Ping Pong
• The Majestics Rhythm Revue
• Nick Lowe
• Hoodoo Gurus
• Paul Simon
• The Wonders
• Don Henley
• Cyndi Lauper
• Lyle Lovett
• No Doubt
• Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
• The Ramones
• The Mamas And The Papas
• The Monkees
• Chubby Checker
• Sesame Street
• Carlene Carter
• UB40
• O Brother, Where Art Thou?
• Texas Tornados
• Coldplay
• The Byrds
• The Notting Hillbillies
• Joni Mitchell
• Neil Diamond
• Los Lobos
• Glen Campbell
• Steely Dan
• The Hellecasters
• Leo Kottke
• Thom Alexander
• Michael Paull
• Mojo National
• Sissy & Earl

Other song requests are also available.

Once again, I wanna thank everyone at Cordley Elementary School for coming to my house for the very first dance party. It was really nice of you to join me and my family, and I hope that someday I will do it again when the time comes. Let's make it happen you guys. Anyway, that's all for now. Come back later for more stories on my next blog entry. See you later.

(Over and out.)

P.S. If you see Heidi Cokley somewhere from Cordley School, tell her that I said 'Hi'. She would really like to hear from me sometime later on. That also goes for Ms. Sanders, Mr. Kling, and the others too. Thanks a bunch.