Life of the Party

Hello, everybody, and a nice chilly morning to all of you…assuming that applies in your neck of the woods. It certainly does in mine. This means that instead of having a huge, muddy, ugly looking back yard, now I have a huge, ugly, frozen back yard, but at least it's not raining now. Am I really talking about the weather again here, though? It would seem I am. I can't wait to get done with work for the day today, and the day has really just begun. How sad is that? I'm not lazy or anything (okay, maybe a little), I'd just prefer to be home than at my job, and what normal person can't say the same?

For those of you who waited a long time for the reappearance of Kareem "Moon Dawg" in the neighborhood, you're probably wondering what kind of strange joke I'm trying to play having reintroduced him, then not shown him in another post since his introduction. It's because I wanted to do all these Jackson family posts back to back, since they're sort of related, so you'll probably be sick of seeing Moon Dawg and Leon by the time we move on to someone else. I am pleased to report that I was able to open a gnome shop in the shopping district for Moon Dawg thanks to OFB, but we won't get there for a little while. As we open today, Moon Dawg isn't up to anything quite that grand…he's just looking for a little fun, and the boat was not delivering...


Moon Dawg: "This place is about as exciting as a floating graveyard!"
Always in search of fun, always eager to please others, always looking for ways to keep the peace…these are the driving forces behind the sim we know as Moon Dawg. While Leon wasn't opposed to a party on the boat here and there, he'd developed a few too many enemies in the neighborhood, and was always a little leery about leaving Pimp Harbor if he didn't have to (remember the slap-fest at "Da Tiki Hut"?). Moon Dawg had no enemies to speak of thus far, so while Leon puttered around on deck with Debbie, Moon Dawg headed Downtown to "make the scene". His first stop was one of the local bars. What? No "Marty's" or "Freetime Lounge"? I might keel over from amazement!


Moon Dawg: "Nothin' like that first drink at 8am, eh mon?"
I still haven't figured out why I haven't done more exploring of the Downtown area since adding Nightlife to the mix. It's not that I have anything against a little variety, it's just that there are so many different places, their descriptions aren't all terribly helpful, and load times suck even on a decent machine. When my sims drive to a new area, I feel like I've had to sit in the car the length of an actual drive myself by the time they get there. Thus, destinations are chosen carefully. Moon Dawg didn't get this memo I guess, because he just pulled out the Downtown directory and chose the first place that looked good. It had a bar and not much else. Luckily, nobody enjoys socializing quite like Kareem, and there were plenty of ears around for him to bend…


Moon Dawg: "This new reggae mix I'm workin' on…it's off the charts!"
I'm not sure why this suddenly seems so strange to me, maybe it's because Moon Dog is basically new in town and doesn't know anyone really yet, but it seems almost like a necessity in the game for sims to have to go up and start talking to folks they don't know from Santa Clause in order to meet others. I don't have a fear of strangers or anything, but I can't really remember a single time in my life I just walked up to someone I decided I wanted to meet and started chatting. Does anyone really do that? My uncle does, but he's a little unusual anyway, so that's not a really good yardstick to judge normalcy by. Anyhow, Kareem's next stop after the random Downtown bar was the Woodland Heights resort. His first official act was to purchase "Beyond Belief" from the magazine rack. Way to go, party animal!


Moon Dawg: "I want to believe, mon!"
Woodland Heights actually turned out to be just the kind of peaceful hangout a peace loving guy like Moon Dawg could really appreciate. Really, despite his close friendship with Leon, Leon is a bit too high strung and busy for Moon Dawg's tastes most of the time, and just as in the days of old at the old house, they don't always hang together too terribly often. I think Steve and Moon Dawg actually used to do more together when they still lived together, even after Steve got married, and even after he died and came back as a green zombie (true friendship sees right through disasters like death and marriage). Steve wasn't around anymore, but Kitty Wilson was, and Moon Dawg opted to hang out in the hot tub with her for a bit…she struck him as familiar…


Moon Dawg: "Weren't you like in a movie or music video or something?"
As a matter of fact, she was…well, I'm assuming she was. Kitty's whole career in the days of old revolved around singing, videos, and the occasional movie shoot in Studio Town, although there's no way to see the results, so maybe there wasn't film in those cameras. Moon Dawg seemed to think he recognized her, though. Now, I've mentioned about a billion times that Moon Dawg is a strong supporter of the whole "peace and love" thing, and I've always mentioned that keeping the peace includes not hitting on other people's women. This remains true, mon, and although he and Kitty hit it off great and had double little lightning bolt thingies for each other, they still kept things G-rated.


Moon Dawg: "Ain't nothin' wrong with a little backrub in the woods..."
So there goes Moon Dawg, making friends with one of Leon's arch enemies…what are the odds? Even after the whole "rage" thing Kitty was feeling toward Leon had passed, she still didn't think much of him at all. That's the story of MY life - being friends with people who my other friends hate. It makes for such exciting get-togethers! Back at Pimp Harbor, Leon had finally managed to drag himself out of bed and start his day. That takes a lot longer than it should sometimes, considering his "day" consists of dancing out on the deck, eating, or sitting in the hot tub…and virtually nothing else (I would have added "hitting on chicks" in there too, but he hasn't really done that since Debbie moved in). Moon Dawg wasn't the only one who spent the morning in the hot tub…


Debbie: "Don't move! I need to find my contact!"
Heheh. This is all happening a very short time after the ridiculous number of lightning related injuries at the younger Wilson house took place, and I claimed I learned something then. Did I, though? Well, a storm came out of nowhere, and some seriously nasty lightning began to appear, yet Leon remained in the hot tub unconcerned. Leon isn't friends with any of the younger Wilsons that I'm aware of, though, so the cautionary tale of what happened at their house never reached his ears. Too bad, too, because he could have used it. Before I even thought twice about the peril he was in, Leon had been struck by lightning…sorry, Leon…I should have told you…


Leon: "Man, that just made a serious mess of my fro!"
Leon got out of the hot tub, as is the custom for tubing lightning victims, and of course he was struck a second time. As I feared, this KILLED Leon! Debbie had gotten out of the hot tub a while earlier to take a bath, and just happened to be wandering back toward Leon around the time he was fried. Luckily, she noticed he was lying there dead, and took a moment to confront the reaper (man, that guy is getting a workout these days, isn't he?). Debbie's efforts met with success, and Leon was brought back, charred, but otherwise okay. There was no time for hugs, though, because moments later, lightning struck again, this time with disastrous results.


Leon: "Not the tunes! Anything but that!"
Leon was terrified at the thought of losing his precious salsa music on deck, and since there's no chance to plead with the reaper over the loss of a household item (man, that would be fun, wouldn't it?), he quickly leapt into action. I think the rain would probably have put out the fire quickly enough, but Leon wasn't taking any chances. Hmmm…leaving a stereo like that out on deck in the middle of a rain storm isn't terribly smart to start with, is it? I know I never do that on my house boat. Anyway, the drama eventually subsided as all the fires were put out and the rain gave way to clear skies. Moon Dawg was back on the boat, and he decided it was a great time to celebrate with a drink at the bar on deck.


Moon Dawg: "Nothin' like that second drink at noon, mon!"
Moon Dawg was having a pretty good time doing his own thing, and there didn't seem to be any reason for the fun to stop just because he was back home. Back in the day, Moon Dawg loved throwing a good party just as much as the next person, but he didn't yet know enough people in the neighborhood to invite anyone (and Leon wasn't feeling social enough to do it himself after dying and almost losing his stereo). That might present a difficulty for some folks, but not Moon Dawg. It wasn't long before he spotted Kitty Wilson passing down on the street, and was quick to hurry down and greet her…and offer a backrub if that's what she was after…


Kitty: "Um…I wasn't doing anything to your trash can…really..."
Moon Dawg and Kitty had a nice little chat, then he sent her on up to the boat to go do her thing. He stayed down on the street, however, because Chloe Shikibu, who he'd met briefly at "Da Tiki Hut" came along, and he started chatting with her. She'd slapped Leon around during that visit because she thought her and Leon had something special together. Along came Rinoa, and Moon Dawg greeted her as well, and invited her to stay. Rinoa ALSO slapped Leon around at "Da Tiki Hut" for the same reason as Chloe. Katherine Shaikh, the waitress from most of the establishments in town, showed up, and was also greeted. Who needs a phone to throw a party when you can stand out on the street and usher folks into your home the old fashioned way?


Moon Dawg: "Why, yes…that 'slime sucking pig Leon' does live here…why do you ask?"
Yes, the boat was soon flooded…with people, though, not water. Moon Dawg invited the ever friendly Spruce Hartman up to the boat as well, then decided he'd rather not risk getting the place busted by the cops, and didn't invite anyone else. I don't think he could possibly have gathered a worse crowd as far as Leon is concerned…he'd been romantically involved with every single one of the girls present, and they all more or less knew about each other. Some may say Moon Dawg was just being friendly and didn't see any reason not to invite them based on past disagreements. Others might detect something more calculated, like Moon Dawg trying to teach his pal Leon a harsh but necessary lesson about not juggling too many women at once. Leon looks like he's contemplating jumping overboard and ending the misery…


Moon Dawg: "We're gonna' need a bigger boat, mon!"
Poor Leon. Well, I guess "poor Leon". He sort of brought this all on himself, but in the past, he'd been smart enough not to invite any two girls who liked him aboard at the same time (and they never boarded the boat without an invite). With Moon Dawg in the mix, things have suddenly gotten very complicated, and the irony is that Leon has been minding his P's and Q's pretty well since Debbie came along. I guess there's just no running from your past! With a boat full of people who don't like each other, someone is bound to make waves. Join us next time to see who and how…see you next week! :-)