There was one moment yesterday, as I stood in the galley of our new boat, Glory, putting ice in a bucket with Champagne and cheese, that I thought things might go awry. Lara was with me, helping stow bags and hand up life-jackets to the guests on deck. We could hear the Keelhauler and Anthony preparing to leave the dock, and as soon as Kent arrived, we'd be ready to go. I must have seemed nervous, because Lara said sympathetically, "I'd be nervous, too, if I had this many people out on our boat." She was referring to the five people in the cockpit who, counting Kent, brought the total aboard to eleven. I quickly reassured her that I wasn't nervous. "It's going to be fine," I said, and felt more nervous when I realized how hollow my words sounded.

Really, there was nothing to worry about, nothing serious anyway. The Keelhauler and I were taking our new (to us) boat out for the first time, and most of the nerves came from excitement. Anthony had called the night before to ask whether, if he brought extra life jackets, he could bring three friends. Naturally, I said yes immediately--I love company. The next day, he called the Keelhauler to see if it was all right to bring five extra people (and life jackets), and the Keelhauler readily agreed. We added Kent, who'd just returned from an island trip and barely had time to tie off his own boat before jumping onto ours, and the eleven of us set out from the dock.

Kent, Anthony, and Lara are all very good sailors, so the Keelhauler and I were glad to have them aboard, just in case any oddities arose. I drove the boat through the harbor and over to the breakwater, where as I turned up into the wind, the guys raised the mainsail, then furled out the jib. The boat's a lot bigger than our last one, but we had a fair amount of wind to carry us along. Faced with a number of kayakers and incoming traffic, I felt momentarily overpowered, and asked the Keelhauler to take the wheel. There's nothing to inspire passenger confidence than a wide-eyed helmsman yelling, "AAAA! I don't wanna drive!!!!!!!" but after a moment, I got myself under control and, with Anthony at the helm, set about pretending that nothing amiss had happened. "Oh, that high-pitched, pathetic shrieking? That's part of the ritual the first time you take a boat out, to honor our fellow sailors who... valiantly fought off seasickness back in the days of whaling ships." As we passed the No.1 buoy, the Keelhauler emerged, grinning, holding a bottle of Champagne aloft, and popping the cork, christened the docks and then our glasses as we drank a toast to the Glory.

Anthony and Lara's friends were visiting from LA, and there was lots to talk about, including the ever-popular "What was your first concert." Canon (first concert: Krokus, Poughkeepsie, NY) who I eventually recognized as a former columnist from the "Casting Connection" paper that Carson subscribed to, brought her husband Omry. Canon has the best job ever--she gets paid to name things. Like, restaurants, or products, or other people's kids. She was working on a restaurant name--it had to be four or five letters--and we all enjoyed giving suggestions. "Flem." "Bites." "Hiney." I don't think she'll be taking our ideas, although I was fond of mine, which was Dais. You know, it's where the important people sit! I am a genius. It is true.

Along with them were the lovely and witty Jen, a designer, and her boyfriend Brett (first concert: The Jackson 5 "Victory" tour, Denver, CO). I later found out he is this genius painter whom everyone should immediately support and purchase works by. If you have no room for his paintings, you might think about adding on to your apartment or house, to create space. Plus, he's an awfully nice guy and he and Jen are great company.

Also present was the vivacious Nancy (first concert: Dokken), a college friend of Anthony's, was present with her brother Adam, who was celebrating his birthday and who told us fabulous tales of terrible scripts he's had to read lately, one involving an oil rig and demons or ghosts, or something. It actually sounded like a great premise, and as we were headed out to Platform Gina at the time, seemed plausible enough.

Everyone was talking about going to see the White Stripes at the Greek, which made me instantly jealous. My friend Nate had called just before we left the dock to tell me he'd seen them at Berkeley on Saturday night, and stating, in reference to my general appearance and demeanor, "Meg White is your soul sister... you know that, right?" thus ensuring my undying loyalty to him. The whole outing made me want to move back to a city--LA will do--and be around people who are excited about things and participating in life. Don't get me wrong--I love living on a boat and turning it loose with a crew of folks to whirl around for a while, but I also love the idea of walking a couple of blocks to see friends, or a great band, or friends in a great band. I am not cut out to live in the suburbs, or drive a car everywhere I need to go (although in LA, I know that's pretty much the scene). I just want a CHANGE!

Looking around at the crew, Anthony (Prince, at the Carrier Dome, Syracuse, NY) cocked an eyebrow and said, "You know this entitles you to one bum-rush." The Keelhauler and I laughed, and did a psychic high-five. Anthony and Lara own a brewery with a tasting room! You could not ask for a better place to bum-rush! That being said, I'm taking applications from those of you who'd like to come along.

So all in all, it was a great sail, with a lively, spontaneous party--my favorite kind. I love having a boat big enough to have a floating party aboard, and enough room inside to lounge around without everybody's elbows in the salsa. The Keelhauler and I are happy about it--our house motto, if we could be said to have anything so official is a line from a Jonathan Richman song, and it goes like this:

I need friends to come over to our swinging pad.

Star of the day. . .Sam Ann-- happy A Day!