2004-03-21 - 9:55 p.m.

astrologically speaking, it was the perfect night for a party. tempers ran hot. friends wandered in late, most were already inebriated. new relationships formed, old ones were redefined. i've never seen sixty people drink so much alcohol.

a's birthday falls right on the spring equinox. it's the ideal day for spring cleaning, so i spent the morning scrubbing my digs and the afternoon watching a concoct amazing desserts and appetizers. she was enjoying herself so thoroughly it was all i could do to pry her from the kitchen as the party guests arrived. we enjoyed a champagne toast to the new moon with a few intimate friends and then began to welcome our guests.

the craig's list experiment was not as exciting or successful as i would have liked. three of nine actually showed. i spent seven minutes in heaven with the first two, who were both polite, seemed a bit intimidated, and left shortly after. i don't think any of them kissed a, which was kind of the point. the third craigslister was caught up in a violent altercation with z over whether or not he should have been so intimate with z's wife. only the concentrated abundance of goodwill and playfulness displayed by myself and my compatriots convinced the interloper to leave without further incident.

despite the jarring flare of masculine tempers late in the evening, seven minutes in heaven was a runaway success. several new couples formed at my party and left together. the rest of us made out with and teased each other. i kissed a.b. and made her blush down to her toes. everyone sparkled and flirted. my breasts have never before received so many compliments. or been the subject of so many photographs.

around 1a, my cellphone rang a manhattan number. the brazilian go-go dancer called to find out if the party was still going on, and whether i would save him a beer. i said yes to both, and felt a smile spread from ear to ear as he pushed his way in the front door. he wrapped his sculpted arms around me and kissed me deeply. my friends began to buzz with curiosity. i saw f go nearly white as the brazilian opened our beers with his perfect white teeth.

i was smoking out on the front steps by myself when cb handed me a cup of champagne. 'i don't know who opened the pommery, but i wanted to make sure you got some of it before it was all gone'. his handsome round face glowed in the reflected lamplight. i remembered the feel of him next to me from earlier in the week, when i brought him home with me to talk about music and he'd ended up staying over. 'thanks', i said, and we chatted about z's martial troubles, and black heart procession, and the state of film criticism. he asked me if we'd get seven minutes in heaven together. i took a long drag on my cigarette and thought about z punching the firefighter in my bedroom, and then about trying to explain to the brazilian why i was making out with someone other than him. 'sorry, cb, my mind is just not there right now.' but i kissed him hard before he left and he walked away smiling.

back in my loft, the cleanup had begun in earnest. the brazilian had removed his shirt and was doing most of the heavy lifting, much to the delight and amusement of my remaining girlfriends. we filled five large garbage bags with empty bottles. we were a little giddy from all the kissing and excitement.

i called cars for everyone and sent b and r off with brownies and a half-bottle of whiskey. i killed the lights, put on some jazz, and joined a naked go-go dancer in my bedroom.