The Last 27 Days of Being 27: Taking It Back College Style

Yesterday I walked; today, I did some "construction". With the release of the movie "Project X" (which is all the "rage" with the high schoolers these days), beer bongs have been back on my radar. Now, in college I did my fair share of beer drinking--beer pong, beer bong, Circle Of Death, F the Dealer, the age old "Dictionary Game", quarters....you get the idea, right? But, I have to say that in my 27th year I did not have as much "college style" fun, because let's face it people, I haven't been in college for 5 years. So I decided, by the encouragement of one of my BFF's, sorority sister, and fellow beer partner in crime, Summer Lee Wagner-Janke, to construct an old fashioned beer bong and then find an excuse to use it. (Thanks for the idea Sum!) When we were in college we had a beer bong that we lovingly named "George Banta" after the only male member of Delta Gamma--so, here's how I revived "Banta"...

Of course, I had to go to my FAVORITE local hardware store: The Home Depot. I have many fond memories of this place because my dad used to take Jos and I along everytime he had to go there. That smell of lumber just takes me straight back to my childhood. And now, it reminds me of MY "Project 27"



There are so many aisles in The Home Depot, and I canhonestly say that I kind of love walking up and down them. All of the possibilities...ALMOST as exciting as "Henry's Shoe Experience"....but not quite!


My partner in crime (whose eyes I had to black out--US Weekly "Worst Dressed List" Style) and I enlisted the help of our trusty Home Depot, orange apron wearing worker, Gary. It took him about 10 minutes to cut our tubing and the roll of tubing fell off the shelf and we had to catch it for him....it was a harrowing experience. Good thing we had Gar-Dog.


At first I felt embarrassed to be walking through Home Depot with all of these products, because on their own, they are just a funnel, a turny-thingie, and a rubber tube....but put them together and VOILA! Hours of fun for kids of all ages---over the age of 21, duh!


So here we are, about to test it out...I blacked out my Partner in Crime's eyes to preserve his identity :) Is it working?


He took it like a champ. You never would have known that he only took Greek history classes in college and didn't "Go Greek" with his skillz. Some fraternity really missed out at Cal Poly Pomona: Home of the Cougars.


Ahhh...it feels like only yesterday I was doing this in the garage where Summer lived for all those years. The little turny-thingie (what IS it called???) is KEY, because it enables people like me (who are out of practice) to control the flow of beer. Phew! I still made a mess, of course, but how fun!


So, what did I learn from this?

1. There is a reason that 27 year olds haven't beer bonged since college--this activity is not for the faint of heart. While it is admittedly fun, there is just something gross about kneeling down on the floor in the kitchen and rushing through a delicious beer. In college, we were on a mission to be inebriated. Now, I am on a mission to enjoy my Dos Equis.

2. People at The Home Depot mind their business. That is a place where people who are "for real" go. Lowes may be deemed "nicer" or whatever, but the dudes up in that place (The Home Depot) are manly, wearing construction boots, dirty jeans, and have filthy, calloused hands---ahh so dreamy. Seriously.

3. If you have the right people with you, you can have fun doing anything. My Partner in Crime and I had more fun tracking down the supplies and constructing the beer bong than we actually did using it. It's all about WHO you are with for the journey--if you've got fun people with you, you will have fun. If you have "Fun Vampires" aka people who suck the fun out of everything and make every experience horrible--then you will have a horrible time. (Thanks, Dude)

Life Lesson Learned: Fun is relative. So make it happen.