A Fancy Night

Not only did my early college days bring new depth to my character (I was seen as a crazy man with a mountain bike), but I was starting to appreciate the finer things in life for once. I was learning to love my new found free time, my new friends, my new life, everything was just going well. I was even losing all that weight that didn't go away in high school, but that most mostly due to the "college diet" where you eat cheap and eat little.

One of those things I was starting to appreciate were the arts, especially classic art. I discovered a Van Gogh painting (Starry Night) sometime during one of my days in class and it was an instant hit. The world of literature soon opened up even more, as I somehow submerged myself into the arts (not just because I was a humanities major at the time). And with my new found appreciation for the arts, I suddenly saw an opening to be a fancy gentleman.

One of our humanities professors had invited the class to an art gallery near the university for an event (which I seem to forget what it was) and any student who went would get extra credit. So I had a chance to be all artsy fartsy and try to improve my grade in a difficult class (history was never my strong point when I started out) all at the same time? Where do I sign?

Twas my time to be a gentleman!

Not just that, but there was also this girl I was trying to impress. What? It wouldn't be me if there wasn't some kind of conquest involved, now would it? Thought so. I was trying to impress Sally, a girl from our class (and freshmen survival group) that seemed to bond with me somehow. Hey, I sure as heck didn't complain. It was college, a whole new ball game. All my embarrassing shenanigans from high school were gone.
So then, at the night of the event, my friends and I congregated around some fancy art and everything seemed fine. That is, until they brought the wine.

This was my first time facing any kind of drink in the college environment. But this was somehow different. There was no pressure at all to drink. In fact, nobody seemed to care. However, I still wanted a bit of that wine. After all, I was trying to be as fancy as I could.

So I went with a friend who knew a thing or two about wine. And I simply followed his lead. Little did I know, I was in for a surprise. This man knew wine well, so of course he would pick some strong stuff. And like a little boy trying to imitate, I chose the same wine he did. Mistake #1 right there. And then I did what should never be done with wine. I took a giant gulp of it. That right there was mistake #2. You don't gulp, you sip.

Lift the pinky and be fancy!

My throat was so dry, I quickly looked for an immediate source of hydration. I had to conform to Pepsi, since there was no water around (surprisingly). After that, I realized what had happened. My friend was laughing at my mistake, especially since I had taken an "expert's wine" instead of a starter. So I started to look around and found white wine. And yes, I mixed wine with soda. And I took a few of each, not sure why.

So then, I started to feel a bit tipsy. However, I realized that these kinds of drinks affect me in a different way. Just like people can turn into annoying clowns when they drink, I turned into just the opposite. I was as quiet as can be.

And that's when Sally showed up. Crap!

The rest of the night was spent with her and friends, and I was as quiet as can be. And yes, I had my alone moments with her where I could have been gone all Antonio Banderas on her, but instead I was as quiet as Mr.Bean during a good comedy.

Yep, it was a fancy night indeed.