Living Wright: Let's put fun back in January

Living Wright: Let’s put fun back in January

BY JASON ASHLEY WRIGHT World Scene Writer
Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Despite plans to accomplish nothing on Sunday, the picture-perfect weather and a friend’s company lured me out of the house.

E picked me up in her convertible, top down, and we headed to Guthrie Green to hear Uncle Lucius and the Paul Thorn Band — had a blast. After an hour, we ambled over to Caz’s, then came back to the park to hear the band’s last two songs. It was an awesome day.

This coming weekend promises fun at Oktoberfest, and the next one is all about Halloween. A spate of other social goings-on will fill up my calendar through the holidays.

Then January hits, which — my apologies to friends both Capricorn and Aquarius — sucks. I am usually bored out of my gourd until mid-February, and that’s only because Valentine’s chocolate goes on sale.

Now that I’m back on Weight Watchers (12 pounds down so far), it seems counter-productive to pine for Feb. 15 clearance sweets starting Jan. 2. So maybe we should pitch some festival ideas for when the social whirl tops twirling New Year’s Day.

Fillin g the holiday lull

Earlier this year, I blogged about having a Mississippi Picnic in Tulsa, like they do in New York and other large cities for Magnolia State expatriates. Perhaps we could expand that to include other states, so that folks with Alabama or New York roots can bring a covered dish from their native land (Moon Pie Casserole from Alabama, for example — assuming that exists), and then everyone would … I don’t know, eat it, I guess. Apparently, this plan needs to bake some more.

Or we could have a holiday gift swap, kind of like a re-gifting free-for-all that would (1) be free for all and (2) provide ample opportunity to swap Christmas or Hanukkah gifts you didn’t like with someone else. It could be held Jan. 6 and called the “Have an Epiphany Gift Swap” or something much better than that. It could even be the kickoff for the Mardi Gras season in Tulsa, with king cakes sold for charity — I humbly recommend the Jason Ashley Wright Debt Foundation.

Or have a Fourth of January fireworks celebration that could also double as a preliminary Christmas tree drop-off and bonfire. Although the idea of fireworks and a bonfire in the same vicinity might seem dangerous, I imagine the opportunity to both express patriotism and get rid of your dead Christmas tree far outweighs the risk.

The only other idea, and potentially safest one I’ve had so far, is a board game competition. Oooh, maybe 12 Days of Board Games, with a Monopoly event the first night, a Risk event the second, maybe Battleship on the third — for which we could try and wrangle an actor from this summer’s live-action film version. Something tells me Liam Neeson has never been to Tulsa, and I can’t imagine his not being smitten with our fair city. In fact, it could double as a locationscouting opportunity for “Taken 3: Take Me Back to Tulsa.”

Or we could just take a breather for a month and embrace boredom and all its free-ness. Ugh … I sure hope the Guthrie Green has something lined up.

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