the open house

Is it weird that I still get excited about having an open house? Soon, I am going to drive my parents to the airport, b/c they are going to Israel for a week. I will then have the house to myself for about 24 hours, at which point I will drive back to philly for law school. In my head, I envision a large President's day/weekend bash taking place tonight, with lots of females and booz and people swinging from chandeliers and sliding down banisters and throwing vases and things just getting really out of control. I even have this amazing idea that everyone will wear masks of their favorite presidents, but I'm not sure if you can get a william taft mask, and he is my favorite president b/c he was a fatso. I also enivisioned many people coming over and playing like a president triva game. But Alas...these are mere fantasies- a far cry from reality. How will I really utilize the amazing oppurtunity that is the "open house"? I will most likely watch the NBA all star game, and play video games while eating shabbos leftovers. My biggest form of "open house rebellion" will probably be drinking liquid in a glass without using a coaster! Ahh it feels good justing thinking about this type of sinister behavior.

Does it make any sense that I still look forward to an "open house"? Not really. If I think about it, I have an open house/apartment every day of my life in Philadelphia. So what is it about having an "open house" that still gets me "stoked"? Lets take a trip into my mind and find out...

1) house vs. apartment: it isnt the same at all. Having an open apartment where I can do whatever I want is not nearly as exciting as having a whole house to do what I want in. Lets say i want to run around and scream and bang on a pot with a spatula while wearing underwear on my head, while singing "Chazak" by Avraham Fried. (this is my normal open-house ritual) So if I am in my apt. there are only a very limited of rooms I can run into and do this; basically only the kitchen, den, and my bedroom. I am excluding my roomate's bedroom b/c I don't think he would like it if i ran into his room doing this. But, in my house, I have 3 whole Floors to run around doing this. It makes all the difference.
2) Not mine. what I mean is that the apt is mine, so there is nothing exciting about using it. The house belongs to my parents, so there is some type of intrinsic thrill to getting full possession of it, even if only for a very limited amount of time. Maybe this is what they mean when they talk about the "American dream" and having your own house and all that crap.
3) Living in the past; When I harken back to the days of old and think about the fun times I had, a good number of them occured at an open house. I recall being thrown in a pool with all my clothes on and pretending to laugh about it, when I was really thinking...I am very upset right now. I also recall that I was holding a bottle of wine when this occured. Also, I am talking about one of those makeshift kid-pools that you buy at toys r us. good times all around.

Anyway, there is this famous line in a CSN & Y song that goes "Don't let the past remind us of what we are not now". But in all respect to David Crosby, I would like to be reminded of certain things, and one of those things are the exciting and fun times brought on by the "open house."