NEW YEARS 2006

Just moments before my head burst into flames
(I wish they had snapped this picture a little sooner)

On new years eve i went to a party at my friend gareths house. I dont really like parties but gareth has a reputation for throwing bashes which are

1. Attended by people i already know and like
2. Known for having crazy stuff happen

At his fourth of july party two guys stood near the bonfire, had themsleves ignited, ran the length of the dock while engulfed in flames, and dove into the lake at the end.

Since i had been crashing on couches and sleeping whereever i fell in Tennessee for the last few months, everyone had a lot of new adventures and projects to tell me about. Randy and G and i jabbered about sailing and ju-jitsu, and we played some stupid drinking game, and david and danny and i had a good walk and talk. I also got the chance to talk to dougs new gf natalie, who seemed pretty smart and not nearly as crazy as doug himself, which made me happy.

There was some guy I had never met before at the party also. He was quite drunk, and he seemed dissapointed to meet me. "Whats so great about you?" he kept asking.
"umm.. I dont know"
"I could take you" he stammered

I was not about to fight him, he was VERY wobbly on his feet and probably had no idea what he was saying.

As the evening waned, gareth asked how his party rated. I told him it ranked at about an 8, since no one had caught fire (you see where this is going)

Then randy and i started talking about how we used to practice fire tasting at Fredonia. Soon, we had a jug of flamable liqid and some flaming torches. A small crowd assembled on the snow covered deck to watch. Not that by this time randy was quite drunk and i tho i was by no means drunk I had swallowed a *little* cahmpagine and a smallish glass of of jack daniels also.

I preformed the fire tasters routine i had practiced, passing the torch slowly along the skin, passing the fingers through the flames, puting the flame in my mouth and "swallowing" it, then the finale, the fireball blowout!

Everyone seemed duly impressed, but then more people came out and insisted i do it agian. Gareth also wanted to take pictures. So i did the routine again. Then yet more people showed up, complaining that they had missed it. Good judgement would dictate that when one has already spit a mist of flamable liquid everywhere not once but twice, it is a good idea to dry off before blowing another fireball. I was not exactly using good judgement however.

I spit another fireball, quite a large one. Unfortunately, some fuel that had stuck unconsumed on my face caught fire. Rather a large amount actualy. My head burst into a (rather impressive I was told later) ball of flame. In a fraction of a second i dove head first into the snow, then extinguished my arm, which somehow also caught fire. I had Gareth bring me a pickel to eat to get the taste of fuel out of my mouth.

I went into the bathroom to survey the dammage. I had first and second degree burns on the left side of my face, and second degree burns inside my nose and one ear. Painfull, but no big deal. I cleaned them and applyed some antibiotic.

When i returned to the party the guy who had wanted to fight me came over. He gave me a strange look, probably checking for char, then before long he struck up a conversation. He asked why i had been in tennessee (buming around, walking the streets, trying to sort out some personal problems) and about school, then we talked about soccer and sailing and this and that and were good friends after all.

This doesnt really make much sense to me, but apparently lighting your head on fire is a good way to make friends. Still, i will be carefull not to do anything that stupid again.

The dumb thing is, the picture G took of the fireball isnt that good. I am half tempted to do it again so he can take a better one...