I have a monthly dinner for my friends in the Queer community, mainly trans. But family (like my daughter) and friends are welcome as well. The last few months had been only me and a couple close friends. Several regular attendees had moved away or gotten involved in other things. But there was a lot of interest from my friends in the support group. So I invited several of them that I had built a relationship with. And I reached out to a couple good friends who had attended previously but hadn’t made it for a while. They joined us and we had a fantastic evening!

I picked up one girl (H) who can’t drive and gave her a ride to join me. She helped with getting setup. In particular, she helped me bring in the Tree from the garage and start plugging it in. She also prepared a great charcuterie for people to snack on.

One of our prior attendees (G2) brought her new friend V. They helped me figure out the connections on the tree lights. And I brought out my collection of Star Trek and Star Wars ornaments and got everyone to help trim the tree.

Then we settled around the table and munched on cheese, meat and crackers as well as cookies and candy while the roast beef and onion rolls heated up. We placed the mac and cheese that G2 and V had brought on a warming tray with plain roast beef and some rolls. More roast beef was heating with Bachan Japanese BBQ sauce in my crockpot. And there was au jus on the stove which made the sandwiches taste even better.

Most of us were into gaming and anime/manga. Thus, much of the dinner conversation was about those. I showed them an old fantasy board game from my collection and a couple of them had fun looking over the pieces and character cards. But the rules are a bit deep for a casual group. So one of my tasks for the next week is to read the Avalon Hill rule book and figure out how to teach it to others.

As we finished dining and a couple more people joined us, we adjourned to the living room. There was a lot of talk about various anime genres. People were swapping program recommendations. Then we shifted to South Park. E is also a huge South Park fan. And B, who had invited her, insisted that we watch a classic South Park episode, S8 E14, Woodland Critter Christmas. The Woodland Critters were all killed off in that one. But I decided we should watch this year’s Christmas episode, The Crap Out. And guess what? The Woodland Critters made a return!
Then my daughter (G1) recommended the Yu-Gi-Oh! Theme “It’s Time to Yule” Holiday Remix. So, we watched that YT provided a couple others before I shut it off. G1 also took some funny group pictures.

Eventually people had to leave. My friend K is a truck driver and needed some rest before her overnight deliveries. Another friend M arrived later, and we heated some food for her. Then, H and I chatted with her. At the end, I drove H back to her apartment and we said good night.

I've had some wonderful dinner parties. But this one will always be special!

Also a special thank you to my fellow writers who feature anime or manga in their stories. In particular, Maddy Bell and Alecia Snowfall! I'm an old lady playing catch-up and I really appreciate the helpful hints!

Happy holidays or Newtonmas to you all!