Invite me to your party, please

The CIAA Tournament starts today and I was up like a kid on Christmas morning. It's going to be a busy day. Gotta get an Observer-issued laptop and camera so I can write about the fans and take their photos. Then I'll attend several inner-office meetings where the bosses will tell me to write about the fans and take their photos. This will take up much of the day.

After that, I'm going to hit the streets looking for CIAA color. I know it's early but as you can tell by our lengthy calendar of events, folks are getting their party started already. I don't mean the big celebrity-studded galas. Those will be covered by my friend and colleague Tonya Jameson, who's "Paid to Party" year-round. In fact, just last week I asked TJ how we were going to cover all these huge bashes. Surely we'll have to split the list down the center. No, she said. She'll cover the big parties. Kelvin, you cover the house parties and cookouts and stuff.

Who does she think she is? Does she think I'd be intimidated because I'm pretty much paid NOT to party? You think I'm scared? Uh oh, here comes TJ...

As I was saying, I'm going to the house parties and cookouts and stuff. But I'll need your help. Anybody having a CIAA party, fish fry, BBQ, whether it's at a house, park or street corner, drop me a line with the location so I can come by and take some photos of you and publish them throughout the week.

I know you're thinking: "What a shameless way to get a meal." And you're right. But I also have unlimited space to write about how good your food was. Trust me, nobody puts their stamp of approval on some ribs like me.