The fund-raiser seems like it was very successful, lots of people there. We had over $7000 in sponsorships, and I am sure we made at least $5000 more. Two bands: Thieves market and Modern Skirts. They were both good--not my very favorite, but listenable. There was a silent auction. Fortunately, nothing I really wanted to bid on, but one garnet ring was at $300 when I left... The space was really neat. We have a new green hotel, the Hotel Indigo, and I like it a lot. There is a "club" room downstairs, a bar with couches and cool decor and a small room with a stage. It was set with little tables with buckets of champagne for the sponsors in front and then chairs for the rest of us. The whole thing was organized by numerouno, a hair salon and event planning business and who knows what else. John Robert is the main guy. He is as flamboyantly gay as you can possibly be, way over the top for Athens. I saw him kiss another man on the mouth last night--and that was as he was arriving. He was wearing a sort of Tyrolean hat with a silver-edged white plastic poinsettia on it, gold dangly earrings shaped like Christmas packages, tight jeans with some sort of plants or flowers textured into them in 3D and boots I think. Eye makeup I'm pretty sure. Also the ever-popular 5 day beard stubble. He made almost all the decorations, huge feather and fake-flower things (from things he bought at Michael's). He also made some women's tops that were in the auction that I quite liked (for someone else). Some of the women were wearing some quite glamourous outfits that he may have loaned them--short diaphonous jewel-toned dresses. I sure wished Amelia and Molli were there. He was such a stereotype--asking me twice how I liked it--and declaring it a disaster when he couldn't pick up the hors d'oeuvres because the streets were closed due to the Christmas parade. I sent Ray and Jaron and one of the Athens Academy students to pick them up on foot. There were only about 4 trays of hors d'oeuvres. I and many others, I'm sure, were planning to make dinner out of hors d'oeuvres. I had one delicious bronie and one sort of bruschetta. I passed on the pickle and radish and someone else said the dates with fennel were really good. Ray finally went upstairs and bought a burger and a panini that we shared with Mom. Mary Kelly invited her to sit at her table and share their champagne. She had a good time, I think, but was exhausted and could barely walk to the car. Valet parking.

Kent S. was a sponsor. He and Becky were there. some of the staff. Joanne P. (Elizabeth's mother), Sharon A. (marla's mother), other people I knew somewhat, but mostly people I didn't know, maybe fans of the band or friends of numerouno. A good time, but I did wake up in the night with painful stomach cramps and diahrrea. I do not want to go to work right now! Of course, yesterday was crazy, but I did manage to do the necessary prep for today's DCA audit and work some on the grants. Jaron was keeping the list for the door last night, but somehow an old version got saved over the new version and we had to go back and check all the emails. Hopefully we didn't leave anyone out.

In between, Ray and I went out to the funeral home because Phyllis Barrow died. She was 89. It was nice to see John and his brothers and sisters. Parker was there. Also, little Jim who played the monkey with us in Inherit the Wind. It is always a little strange to be having conversations with people with a dead person lying in the casket next to you. She even had her glasses on. She was 89 and was a great model for all of us--6 kids, taught at the university 20 years, politically active...she had been sick and no one seemed very sad. Lots of pictures of her when she was younger--quite beautiful.

Must go--it's 7:00.